Sure, the market is there for natural pest management. There are customers to satisfy and there’s money to be made. But more often than not, the companies that commit wholeheartedly to providing outstanding green solutions are led by individuals who are themselves personally committed to protecting the planet and its people.
Take Brian Metzger. Before he established GP Home Defense, he was a full-time landlord for 20-some years. When some of his tenants reported bed bugs, he committed to getting rid of them ASAP. “I was a hands-on landlord and became obsessed with learning all I could about bed bugs so I could help my tenants,” says Metzger. “I started treating them with chemicals and heat, but then as I learned more and more, I saw that there were safer options. I also realized I could help the community at large and not just my own rentals if I moved into pest management, and so that’s what I did. My son manages the rentals now, and I provide natural bed bug control services.”
Metzger says he is driven by the knowledge that he can gain complete control over bed bugs without exposing his customers, himself or his team to various chemicals. Incorporating biopesticides into his protocol has offered him “phenomenal effectiveness.” In fact, he uses biopesticides at home in his greenhouse garden. “I don’t want to be eating pesticides, and I don’t want to expose my customers to them either,” he says.
In New York, Dawn Tennenbaum likes that customers perceive Mosquito Hunters as an environmentally conscious company; it’s good for business and positions the company as forward-thinking. But there’s more to it for Tennenbaum: She’s personally concerned about the environment for her children and the generations to come. That’s why she prices her green services the same as traditional services, even though the green products cost her business more. “Customers will pay more for an all-natural program, but we don’t charge more,” she says. “We want to encourage them to make the environmentally friendly choice.”
