Scotts Miracle-Gro has launched the Ortho EcoSense Brand of Insecticides. Having seen all the chemical laden Ortho products in Home Depot, I was surprised to see this. Let’s examine how green this is.

From web site:

“Formulated with specially selected active ingredients, Ortho® EcoSense™ Brand* offers sensible effective solutions for insect control, plant disease and rose care. Kill bugs and control disease to help flowers, vegetables and roses thrive.”

Hmm…

“*not intended to imply environmental safety either alone or compared to other products”

Looking at one featured product:

Ortho EcoSense Brand Indoor Insect Killer Aerosol web page states:

“Safely and effectively kills insects inside your home. This one-of-a-kind formula uses 100% natural soybean oil as the active ingredient. It is also safe to use around kids and pets (when used as directed).”

Material Safety Data Sheets must be requested from them. We dug one up here.

Ingredients include: Water 40-70%, Soybean oil 18.75%, Polyglyceryl oleate 3-7%, Lauric acid 3-7%, Sodium Caprylate 1-5%, Sodium Benzoate 0.1-1%

Potential health effects:
Eye contact: May cause slight irritation.
Skin contact: Irritation not expected.
Ingestion: Considered practically non-toxic.
Inhalation: May cause irritation of respiratory tract.

Looking at the Cosmetic Safety Database:

Lauric Acid, Sodium Caprylate,  Sodium Benzoate – Has some interesting alerts.

This product is far from being really green but is a step in the right direction.

Here is a more green pesticide recipe.