10 tips to avoid bedbugs

10 tips on how to spot the blood-suckers and what to do if you find them.

1. When sleeping in a new bed, check for signs of their feces: small, black or dark brown dots on sheets or the mattress. (If you are in a hotel and find potential bedbug fecal matter, ask for a new room far from the original.)

2. While bedbugs mostly hide out during the day, you may be able to spot the actual bug at night (using a flashlight may be helpful). Baby bedbugs are nearly invisible, but their older relatives are brown to red-brown and oval-shaped (see image above).

3. Regularly inspect places where pets sleep for signs of bedbugs.

4. In some heavily infested areas, a coriander-like odor may be present.

5. If you suspect you've been exposed to bedbugs when traveling, clean out everything you traveled with. Vacuum out your suitcase and wash all clothes in hot water if possible, whether they are dirty or not. When traveling, leave your suitcases on hard surfaces if possible (rather than carpet or upholstered furniture).

6. If you suspect there are bedbugs in your home, do not jump directly to pesticide application. Many pesticides, especially over-the-counter treatments, are ineffective in killing bedbugs and their eggs, and only add unnecessary chemicals to your living space. Professional steam or heat treatments kill eggs and adults.

7. Make sure it is indeed bedbugs that are causing your bites before treating the problem. Fleas, ticks, mites, mosquitoes, or allergic reactions may be the cause of the skin lesions. IdentifyUS suggests a variety of trapping methods you can use to find and identify a bedbug.

8. If you cannot find a bedbug, but suspect they are present, a bedbug-sniffing dog may help sniff-out the culprits.

9. Do not put infested furniture on the street or in common areas, as that may spread the problem to other homes. If you do move infested furniture out of your house, place in a locked dumpster and label it as bedbug-infested. If you have infested furniture that is useful, you do not need to dispose of it; it can be cleaned and treated.

10. Clear your clutter. Having a non-cluttered home also makes treatment easier, as there are less objects to clean.

Five ways to get rid of bedbugs

1. Steve Tvedten, author of a nontoxic pest control website, suggests using a steam cleaner on cracks and mattresses weekly, if you suspect bedbugs. Bedbugs are very sensitive to heat and cannot stand temperatures above 111 and 113 degrees Fahrenheit. An hour of high heat exposure should eliminate most infestations, according to Tvedten.

2. Low temperatures (32 to 48 degrees Fahrenheit) for longer periods of time (30 to 50 days) can also eradicate bedbug infestations.

3. Vacuum anything you can. Put other items in sealed plastic bags.

4. Wash any fabric you can in hot water.

5. You may want to use a nontoxic spray for controlling bedbugs.

20 ways to detox your house

There are many things you can do to "detox" your home, some more practical than others. Here are my 20 suggestions:

No shoes in the house.
Most household dirt, pesticides, and lead come in on your shoes. Go barefoot or wear slippers. Place floor mats vertically by your entryways to wipe your shoes. This way more dirt and residue from your shoes stays outside on the mat.

Keep the air clean.
Keep your windows and doors open as much as possible to ventilate. Use green plants as natural air detoxifiers. Remove odors with baking soda. Use fresh flowers or bowls of herbs like rosemary and sage to add a pleasant fragrance to rooms. Have your air ducts and vents cleaned with nontoxic cleaners. Get a portable air cleaner/purifier, especially for the bedrooms.

Switch from the standard household cleaning products to cleaner and greener ones.
These don't damage your health or the environment's as much and work as well as the mass marketed ones. You can also use basic ingredients you have around the house, for instance, vinegar in place of bleach, baking soda to scrub your tiles, and hydrogen peroxide to remove stains. According to Annie Bond, the author of "Better Basics for the Home," she can clean anything with water and these five basic ingredients:Baking soda, washing soda, distilled white vinegar, vegetable-based liquid Soap (e.g., Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Soap), and tea tree oil.

Replace your skin care and personal products with less toxic and chemical-free options.
Deodorant, toothpaste, cosmetics, hair products, nail polish, and perfumes are often loaded with toxins. Learn how to identify them and avoid them.

Use plastics wisely
Some plastics contain Bisphenol A (BPA), which is linked to cancer, and phtalates, which are linked to endocrine and developmental problems. Avoid plastic food packaging (when you can). Don't wrap food in plastic. Don't microwave food in plastic containers. Choose baby bottles made from glass or BPA-free plastic. Avoid vinyl teethers for your baby. Stay away from children's toys marked with a "3" or "PVC." Avoid plastic shower curtains.

Avoid nonstick pans, pots, bakeware and utensils.
Teflon contains perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) which have been linked to cancer and developmental problems.

Keep house dust to a minimum.
More dust means more toxins. Mop all surfaces at least once a week. Use a vacuum cleaner (with a HEPA filter, preferably) for your carpets. HEPA-filter vacuums capture the widest range of particles and get rid of allergens.

Avoid excess moisture.
It encourages the growth of mold and mildew. Check areas for moisture accumulation or leaks (particularly basements). Regularly clean surfaces where mold usually grows - around showers and tubs and beneath sinks.

Get a shower filter.
Many of the contaminants in tap water become gases at room temperature. A shower filter can help keep these toxins from becoming airborne.

Get a water filter.
More than 700 chemicals have been identified in drinking water. Filtering your tap water is better than drinking bottled water.

Avoid stain-guarded clothing, furniture and carpets.
These may contain PFCs. Wrinkle free and permanent press fabrics used for clothing and bedding commonly contain formaldehyde -- use untreated fabrics where possible.

Be conscious of toxins in carpeting.
Avoid products made from synthetic materials. Use natural fiber wool & cotton rugs. If possible, replace wall-to-wall carpeting with hardwood floors, all natural linoleum or ceramic tiles. Use nontoxic glues, adhesives, stains, or sealers for installation.

Seal (with a nontoxic sealer) or replace particleboard walls, floors or cabinets.
These often contain formaldehyde, which can emit irritating and unhealthy fumes for decades. Avoid plywood, fiberglass, fiberboard and paneling.

Avoid harmful pet-care products.
Avoid toxic pest control (including traditional termite exterminators).

Replace toxic lawn and garden pesticides and herbicides.
Use with less harmful natural ones.

Tell the dry cleaner not to use the plastic wrap.
Or remove it as soon as possible because the plastic traps the dry cleaning chemicals on clothes and in your closet. Let your dry cleaning air out (preferably outside) before storing it. Use "wet cleaning" if you are lucky enough to have it in your area.

Use low VOC, low-odor latex (water-based) paint.
Open all windows to ventilate properly when painting indoors.

Have your house checked for carbon monoxide leaks.
These are most commonly found in leaking gas stoves, gas fireplaces, furnaces and chimneys and gas water heaters).

Check Radon levels.
Inspect poorly ventilated basements that have cracked walls and or floors. Radon is an odorless gas that forms as uranium in rocks and soil breaks down. Radon is linked to lung cancer.

We can reduce our risk of chronic illness.
Limit exposure to these toxins but don't let this become an obsession which can cause so much stress that it creates more of a negative impact on your health than the toxins themselves.

And finally, no amount of environmental toxins are as important as emotional toxicity. You can do all the above, but if your house is full of anger, resentment, jealousy, unhappiness and a lack of love, compassion, and forgiveness, the house will remain toxic.

How to find cash hidden in your house

You don’t have to look under the floorboards to find the cash that’s hidden in your home. Many of your ongoing monthly costs come in the form of energy - you know, those bills that keep showing up every month.

We can show you how to take control and reduce your carbon emissions in each room of your home -- and discover that hidden cash.

If you have a few evenings free, become a Weeknight Worker with our simple, easy projects. If you have a little more time to dedicate, become a weekend warrior -- it’s a bit of a bigger time commitment, but you’ll see bigger savings.

Laundry room: Save $60 to $185

Weeknight worker
Did you know that 90% of the energy needed to do a load of laundry goes into heating the water? The easiest way to start saving money in the laundry room is to simply wash your clothes with cold water.

With today’s advanced detergents and soaps, cold water can be just as effective as hot water. Merely pressing the “Cold/Cold” button on your washing machine 80% of the time will save you between $60 and $100 per year.

Weekend warrior
Want to “launder” even more money? Well, add another energy saving twist: Skip the clothes dryer and line-dry your laundry. By avoiding another laundry room appliance you can save up to an additional $85 per year. Adding that savings to the $60 to $100 you saved with the cold-water laundry, you could save anywhere from $145 to $185 every year.

Kitchen: Save $20 to $300

Weeknight worker
Here’s a simple way for you and your family to save money: Use the dishwasher less. Many people do a load every day, but by waiting for the dishwasher to be full before you run it, you could cut your dishwasher use by a third, saving you a total of $21 per year.

Weekend warrior
If you’re ready for extreme kitchen efficiency, it’s time to upgrade those old clunkers. New Energy Star-rated refrigerators and dishwashers use a fraction of the energy that those terribly inefficient older models use.

If you upgrade your older dishwasher and refrigerator to Energy Star models (top freezer for fridges is the best), you could lower your annual energy cost by $85 every year (from $170 down to $85). And if you use the government’s new stimulus money for upgrading appliances, you could receive up to an additional $200 for your new Energy Star-rated refrigerator. That’s a total of $285 saved in the first year alone.

Bedroom: Save $50 to $150

Weeknight worker
Replace just five incandescent light bulbs in your bedroom with CFLsand over their lifetime -- a little over three years if you average five hours of use every day -- you can save $30 per bulb. That works out to about $10 a year per bulb, so by replacing five incandescent light bulbs you can save around $50 every year.

Weekend warrior
If replacing more incandescent light bulbs means saving more money, why stop at just five? You’re a weekend warrior, you’re committed. Why not go for an additional 10 light bulbs: 15 CFLs could save you a total of $150 every year. Heck, replace every light bulb in your home, and cash will pour out of every light socket.

Living room: Save $20 to $225

Weeknight worker
Money is flying out your windows: Leaks can be responsible for 30% of the total heat lost in your home. There’s a simple solution though -- and that’s weather-stripping.

Depending on your window type and air-flow method, you could potentially save $7 to $14 per window, per year in efficiency upgrades. If you weather-strip just three windows in your living room, you can save $21 to $42 every year.

Weekend warrior
Why not weather-strip your entire home? Increasing the efficiency of your windows and blocking the small leaks that allow air to go in and out, you can knock off up to 15% of your annual heating and cooling costs. A typical U.S. family spends about $1,500 on its utility bills every year, so by minimizing air leaks through your windows, you could save around $225 every year.

Adding it all up

So how much cash is hiding in your home? If you follow all of the weeknight worker tips, you can count on saving $152 to $213 every year, and all for a few simple changes and a few hours of dedication. Now, if you put in some serious time as a weekend warrior, you’re looking at annual savings of $805 to $845.

Yes, you’re saving a lot of money. But don’t forget the environmental benefits as well: For example, just one CFL bulb can save over 2,000 times its weight in greenhouse gasses over its lifetime compared to an incandescent. Now that’s big savings.