Sentricon HD Bait now is patented.

Termites active in Sentricon AG (above ground) station.

Dow announced that Recruit HD bait was given a patent.  They credit the rapid adoption of the HD bait in helping get patent protection.  We switched all our existing bait stations to HD as soon as it was available and unlike other companies that offer ESP and HD we only utilize HD for its ability to control termites and the fact termites prefer HD bait over wood.  HD bait improves in the ground, it gets better with age from the perspective of termites.
Read more about the patent at the Dow blog.



-Lauren Greenhow, General Manager, GreenHow, Inc. GreenHow.com. Effective Organic and Low Impact Solutions, Lawn Care, Pest Control and Termite Control in Newton and Metro Boston.

Termites Made Nervous by Rock Music

A study done in Florida in 1968 found that termites exposed to rock music ate wood faster, but also abandoned social responsibilities like taking care of the queen.  The research indicated that the termites would consume more wood.  The behavior would endanger the colony because the termites neglected the other worker duties that included caring for and feeding other colony members that cannot feed themselves.  This nugget was mentioned in a book my daughter is reading on Crazy Facts, and it can be verified at The Miami Times article from September 18, 1968 linked here.

-Lauren Greenhow, General Manager, GreenHow, Inc. GreenHow.com. Effective Organic and Low Impact Solutions, Lawn Care, Pest Control and Termite Control in Newton and Metro Boston.

Angie's List Super Service Award

I just realized I never covered our Super Service Award from Angie's List on the blog. Thanks to our customers, GreenHow was awarded a Super Service Award for 2008 for both lawn fertilization and pest and termite control from Angie's List. Less than 5% of the companies on Angie's List are awarded with the Super Service Award. It is exciting to recieve recognition for great lawn care, pest control and termite control service.

-Lauren Greenhow, General Manager, GreenHow, Inc.
www.GreenHow.com. Effective Organic & Low Impact Solutions, Lawn Care, Pest Control & Termite Control in Newton and Metro Boston.

Termites Swarming!

It has been a busy few weeks around eastern Massachusetts, with two warmer days leading to some spotty termite swarming. Affected homes and homeowners usually discovered hundreds of wings on the floor and furniture, or hundreds of wings and what resemble ants, small, black, but with a thick waist (unlike the pinched waist of an ant). Continued cool temperatures will reduce termite swarming until it gets warm, over 75 or 80 degrees F. If you suspect a swarm has occured in your home, call a professional and have it inspected.
-Lauren Greenhow, General Manager, GreenHow, Inc.
www.GreenHow.com. Effective Organic & Low Impact Solutions, Lawn Care, Pest Control & Termite Control in Newton and Metro Boston.

GreenShield Certified!

We are proud this week to become the 2oth company to earn GreenShield certification, and to be the third company since the inception in June 2007 to offer 100% Green Shield certified pest management services. Green Shield certification is a rigorous standard for Integrated Pest Management that includes an audit by a third party evaluator. GreenHow, Inc. offers Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Green Pest Management (GPM) services to customers throughout eastern massachusetts. We solve ant, cockroach and rodent problem (in addition to other covered pests such as spiders, stinging insects, pantry pests, fabric pests, fleas, ticks, mosquitoes) and termites (soon to be swarming throughout New England).
-Lauren Greenhow, General Manager, GreenHow, Inc.
www.GreenHow.com. Effective Organic & Low Impact Solutions, Lawn Care, Pest Control & Termite Control in Newton and Metro Boston.

Flying Ants.

Often the first time a customer has an idea about a termite infestation is the spring swarm. Termite swarmers differ from ants because they have a thick waist where ants have a pinched waist. Termite swarmers are black, which differ from the white of the workers. Most companies will inspect the home for termites at the time of any pest issue, even ants and mice.
-Lauren Greenhow, General Manager, GreenHow, Inc.
www.GreenHow.com. Effective Organic & Low Impact Solutions, Lawn Care, Pest Control & Termite Control in Newton and Metro Boston.

What does green mean? Continued.

Termite Control: The most difficult area to be green. Our use of the Sentricon Termite Colony Elimination system, an EPA Presidential Green Chemistry Award Winner, relies on grams of material instead of gallons to control termites. We first used Sentricon in 1996, and as a system has evolved over time, becoming more effective. In the meantime, at least 4 other liquid termiticides have made the rounds from favored product to disappearing. The strategies are the same with non repellent liquid or bait, a few termites get involved with the active material and are used to eliminate the rest of the colony, the difference is the amount of pesticide (volume) used to control them. Since I am writing about green, here is our ecological commitment.
Our Ecological Commitment: At our offices, on the road, we commit to reducing the amount of resources it takes to bring solutions to you. That means eliminating paper use wherever possible, cutting electric and fuel consumption. That means designing service routes that are as efficient as possible and using the most fuel efficient service vehicles with alternative fuels if available. It also means making your green life simpler, by offering a simple fluorescent bulb disposal program and by setting up your family’s composting program. Whether we are in our office or your home or business, our commitment is to save resources and source supplies locally.
In our office, we reuse materials, avoid printing whenever possible. Our business has regulations that require we use paper to document material usage and provide certain information to customers and regulators. As much as we can, we minimize that use. Then, when it comes time to get rid of the old deposit slips or other records, we shred them and introduce them to the compost pile, where they serve as the brown ratio (remember 3 to 1, brown to green) when leaves are not available.
-Lauren Greenhow, General Manager, GreenHow, Inc.
www.GreenHow.com. Effective Organic & Low Impact Solutions, Lawn Care, Pest Control & Termite Control in Newton and Metro Boston.

What does "green" mean?

What does “green” mean?
The answer is (obviously) stated what “green” means to us, GreenHow, Inc, in terms of pest control, lawn care and termite control. “Green” is a vague or ambiguous term. The term “greenwashing” is a response by consumers to a perceived or real misuse of the term “green.” Generally speaking “green” means environmentally-friendly products and services. Usually it is self imposed by a business, but it can be part of a certification or accreditation process. In our business lines, which are lawn care, pest control and termite control, the term “green” refers to different aspects. A brief description, in alphabetical order by our service types, will appear here over the next few days.
First, Lawn Care: The main terms we use to describe our lawn care services are organic, organic based and low impact. The organic service we describe uses materials listed on the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) list. This service includes no chemical herbicides or insecticides. This service is also accredited organic by the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) Organic LandCare Program. The organic based service uses blended or bridge materials. These materials are mostly (as a percent of weight) organic, but contain synthetic forms of nitrogen. The purpose of the synthetic nitrogen is to 1) provide a more rapid nitrogen or fertility and 2) to allow greater coverage per 1,000 square feet which decreases material and labor costs (and consumer price). This service may be a better option for some customers who are transitioning to organic, and may opt for organic based for one intermediate year from traditional lawn care programs. The low impact lawn care service utilizes more traditional types of materials including synthetic nitrogen with options for herbicide and insecticides as needed depending on the site.
-Lauren Greenhow, General Manager, GreenHow, Inc.
www.GreenHow.com. Effective Organic & Low Impact Solutions, Lawn Care, Pest Control & Termite Control in Newton and Metro Boston.