[View Point] We Must Take the Lead

The upcoming NPMA conference — “Going Green: Marketing to the 21st Century Customer” — has once again brought the hotly debated topic of “green” pest management to the forefront of the pest management industry. However, as PCT columnist George Rambo points out, the debate over whether or not PCOs should “go green” is nothing new. It’s been a topic of discussion, to a greater or lesser degree depending on the cultural landscape at the time, for much of the past decade. Recently, however, the issue appears to have gained some renewed momentum, in part because the nation is gearing up for a presidential election in 2008 and environmental issues are once again at the center of the political debate (e.g., global warming, fuel-efficient cars, endangered species, etc.).   

In response to this growing chorus of environmental activism, the industry needs to tread cautiously. It’s not a matter of all things “green” being good and all things “synthetic” being bad. In fact, basic manufacturers — and to be completely transparent here, admittedly a primary contributor to this magazine’s bottom line — have worked diligently in recent years to develop environmentally sensitive active ingredients and enhanced formulations that pose little or no risk to applicators or the environment if applied properly. In fact, most PCOs would agree that consumer use of pesticides — “if one glug is good, two glugs must be better” — pose a much greater risk to the environment than anything the professional pest management industry does on a daily basis.

So properly educating consumers about the merits of both traditional and “green” product choices, with the goal of providing the highest-quality service possible, is essential to the long-term health of the industry, and it is imperative that we as an industry take the lead in defining exactly what constitutes “green” pest management. We cannot allow politicians — or worse yet, the most strident environmentalists — to define “green” pest management for us. After all, we pride ourselves on being “protectors of health and property” and we’ve done an exemplary job of it over the years, thanks in no small measure to the manufacturers that have provided us with a steady supply of high-quality pesticides designed to control an ever-evolving pest population. But we can’t rest on our laurels and assume the public will recognize the merits of our service and the products we apply without constantly reminding them of what life would be like in a world without pesticides. And that’s where you come in. The National Pest Management Association, Professional Pest Management Alliance (PPMA), UPF&DA and Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment (RISE) need your help in defending the industry’s interests and developing a balanced, pro-industry definition of “green” pest management, while at the same time protecting our current portfolio of pest control products, which are coming under increased scrutiny, particularly at the state and local level (see “Could It Happen Here,” PCT, July 2007).

Finally, having acknowledged the industry’s commitment to providing quality pest management services in the most environmentally sensitive manner possible, manufacturers developing “green” products — and there undoubtedly will be more and more of them in the years to come — have a responsibility to not promote their products to the consumer market in a manner that reflects poorly on the professional pest control industry. There’s simply too much at stake. PPMA, as well as individual pest control operators, have worked too long and too hard to create a positive image of the pest management industry to see it all go away in pursuit of the almighty dollar.

The author is publisher of PCT magazine.