Heather's Corner: Local Oro Valley Company Doing Great Things For the Environment

The use of pesticides has been a common practice to control insect problems for many decades. Pesticides are used in farming, parks, schools, and inside and around our homes.

Much research has shown that exposure to pesticides have caused health risks ranging from headaches to nausea and from cancers to reproductive harm. Though preferred by many because of their quick effects with pest control, there are safer methods with successful results. We happen to have a company doing great things for our environment offering natural solutions for pest control in our own back yards.

Originally a high school biology teacher, Rick Frey spent his summer fascinated and killing time with bugs. Not just any bugs but those that would destroy common houseflies and other irritating pests. Rick traveled the country learning about bugs and the need to control them and eventually would take on orders for "fly eliminators" control.

As this expanded and realizing demand could not be met under the current circumstances, Rick and his wife, Sheri Herrera de Frey, began the 10 acre Arbico facility, located on the backside of the Catalina Mountain range and having been going strong for thirty years. Recently they have relocated their office to Oro Valley in order to allow them closer convenience to Tucson while still remaining close to their facility.

As Rick explains, "Just imagine how many tons of pesticides we have stopped from going into the environment over the years. Sometimes I try to calculate it, but how do you measure what hasn’t been used?”

So how does this type of pest control actually work?
Located on their website, arbico-organics.com, is a wide variety of organisms, fungi, insects, nemetodes (roundworms) and parasites all intended on enriching soil, bug control, and garden support.

For instance you can order the Green Lacewing eggs, of which their "larvae are voracious eaters of the eggs and immature stages of many soft bodied insect pests, including several species of aphids, spider mites (especially red mites), thrips, whitefly, leafhoppers, some beetle larvae, eggs and caterpillars of pest moths, and mealybugs."

Simply order the correct amount of eggs for your garden and in 6-12 days larvae appear and you have natural, organic, and environmentally safe pest control.
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Heather Nenadovich has lived in Oro Valley for 6 years. She has a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Arizona. She loves gardening, nature, art, and travel. Currently her two young children fill up most of her days (and nights) with chaotic bliss. Oro Valley favorites: memorial bench at the entrance of Romero Canyon Trail in Catalina State Park, Toscana Studio and Gallery, OV Fall Festival, the gumption and determination of OV residents!