4
Environmental Focus . . 5
Food & Fitness . . . . . . . 6
Home & Family Living . . . 7
4-H & Youth . . . . . . . .89
Community Focus . . . . 10
Miscellaneous . . . .1112
EBLINE
N
The
Helping Nebraskans enhance their lives through research-based education.
441-7180 http://lancaster.unl.edu
®
April 2007
In This Issue
Barb Ogg
UNL Extension Educator
A few years after she bought her
home, a Lincoln homeowner noticed the
paint in her laundry room was peel-
ing. She thought it was odd, but wasnt
concerned because it wasnt a room guests
would see. She was busy remodeling and
decorating the other rooms, and it was the
last room on her list. In 2003, she finally
decided to tackle the paint problem.
To her dismay, she started peeling
the paint off the wall and found termite
mud behind the paint (Fig. 1). The ter-
mites had completely eaten the paper off
the drywall. Little did she know this was
just the tip of the iceberg. A professional
inspection revealed damage to the home
was extensive. The beam to the second
floor was completely broken through (Fig.
2). Total cost to repair the damage to her
home was approximately $30,000.
This situation is unusual in Nebraska
because there are usually signs of termites
before damage becomes so great. It is
important to know what the signs are (see
page 5 of this issue).
The average value of a termite treat-
ment is more than $1,500. Unfortunately,
there are no effective do-it-yourself
treatments for homeowners. If termites
are found, homeowners need to hire pest
control professionals who are knowledge-
able and skilled in termite treatments. It
does pay for homeowners to research all
the options and become informed before
making a decision.
University of NebraskaLincoln
Extension has developed a two-pronged
approach to improve the overall quality
and cost-effectiveness of termite treat-
ments done in Nebraska. An annual series
of workshops educates homeowners and
a hands-on termite school trains pest
control professionals.
Homeowners
Workshop
The workshop
Everything Homeown-
ers Need to Know About
Termites and Termite
Control educates hom-
eowners to recognize
the signs of termites,
understand differ-
ent treatment types,
understand why quality
treatments are expensive
and how to make sure
they get the quality
treatment they want.
Most of the work-
shops have been held in
Lincoln and Omaha, but it has also been
presented in Auburn, Beatrice, Columbus,
Fremont, Grand Island, Hastings, Lexing-
ton, Nebraska City, Norfolk, Wilber and
York. More than 1,600 homeowners and
164 real estate licensees have attended
since 1995.
A post-workshop survey of attendees
found:
98 percent said they obtained infor-
mation needed to better protect their
property.
93 percent received a good quality ter-
mite treatment at a fair price.
87 percent were less apprehensive about
working with a pest control company.
82 percent said they saved money after
attending this program (average savings
was $312/person).
Some of the testimonials include:
This [workshop] is a wonderful
public service! It has given me peace of
mind and confidence as a homeowner.
This class was very informational and
all of the speakers gave great presenta-
tions.... I would recommend this class
to anyone purchasing a home.
The most valuable information that
I received at the workshop was the
proper technique for termite control
applications. This helped me inspect
the work of my pest control company.
This course should be mandatory for
all real estate licensees in continuing
education requirements [from a real
estate licensee].
The 2007 workshops will be held in
Omaha (May 3), Weeping Water (May 15)
and Lincoln (May 17), see page 5 for more
information. Many termite resources
for homeowners are available online at
http://lancaster.unl.edu/pest.
Hands-On Termite School
for Professionals
As a result of the homeowners
workshop, enlightened homeowners have
barraged the Nebraska Department of
Agriculture the pesticide regulating
agency in Nebraska about question-
able treatments they have received. In
ensuing investigations, NDA uncovered
compliance problems; some resulted from
entry-level pest control professionals not
being given adequate training by their
companies.
In 2005 and 2006, UNL Extension
organized a termite school for entry-level
termite application professionals. This
intensive, 15-hour training program used
both classroom and on-site demonstra-
tions. Real homes with termite damage
were used to show termite damage and
actual application methods to different
parts of the structure.
Presenters included UNL faculty,
NDA personnel and industry profession-
als. Companies helping with the training
included Dow AgroSciences, Bayer Envi-
ronmental Sciences, BASF Corporation,
Nisus Corp., B&G Equipment Company
and UnivarUSA.
More than 70 people attended
most were pest control professionals,
but some were construction workers or
home inspectors.
Attendees reported:
94 percent were better able to calibrate
termiticide application equipment.
93 percent were less likely to violate
label directions.
92 percent were more confident in being
able to identify termite damage.
75 percent said they would change
methods of inspecting or treating.
Changes included taking more time to
inspect, looking more carefully at how
the house is constructed and treating
drain tile differently.
Some of the testimonials include:
I have more confidence my treatments
will be done right and know my cus-
tomers are getting a good job.
Your school will aid in reducing regula-
tory action, reduce on-the-job injuries,
increase consumer satisfaction and in-
crease application performance among
all who take this class.
The 2007 Termite School will be held
Sept. 2526 in Lincoln. For more infor-
mation about this training, contact Barb
Ogg at bogg1@unl.edu or (402) 441-7180.
UNL Extension Programs Have Improved
Termite Treatments in Nebraska
Figure 1. Termite mud behind wall paint.
Figure 2. Termite damage to floor beam.
Figure 3. (LR) Extension Educators Dennis Ferraro, Clyde Ogg and
Barb Ogg answer questions at a 2004 Workshop for Homeowners.
Figure 4. Gary Braness of Bayer demonstrates
to participants how insecticide spreads in soil.
Special Pullout
Section:
RESOURCE
CONSERVATION
GUIDE
ResouRce
conseRvation
Guide
A S
peciAl
p
ullout
S
ection of
t
he
n
ebline
Prepared by the University of Nebr
askaLincoln Extension in Lancaster County and the City of L
incoln Recycling Office
Reduce
Reuse
Recycle
2007
We all know how important it is to
recycle. But lets stop and think abou
t
why we recycle. For many people, its
to reduce waste and save landfill spac
e.
By recycling, we dont have to throw
things away, helping us to conserve our
precious resources.Recycling is worki
ng,
but recycling alone cannot solve all o
f
our solid waste problems.
Remember the three Rs: reduce,
reuse and recycle. Which one comes
first? Its reduce. And its first for a rea
-
son. Its better not to create waste than
to have to figure out what to do with it.
As Benjamin Franklin said, an ounc
e of
prevention is worth a pound of cure. While being more important, waste
reduction is perhaps the most difficult
of the three Rs. It requires us to chang
e
our lifestyles and rethink how our dail
y
actions impact the environment. In
1960, when the globe had half the cur
-
rent population, the average American
produced approximately 2.5 pounds o
f
trash per day. Today the average Ame
ri-
can produces more than 4.5 pounds o
f
trash per day. The American lifestyle
is the most resource intensive on the
planet. Even with higher recycling rat
es,
we have not been able to keep up with
consumption.
Did you know in 2006, City Solid
Waste Operations staff estimate roug
hly
304,000 tons of waste was disposed o
f
by Lincoln and Lancaster County resi
-
dents? This represents 2,294 pounds
of garbage per person for the
year. In 2000, we produced 2,311
pounds of garbage per person
for the year. The rate of garbage
disposal per person has dropped.
However, more waste is generated
per person in Lincoln than cities in
European countries such as Germany
or in Pacific Rim countries such as
Japan.
Remember when we only got one
telephone directory? Today we get four
from different companies. Help stop the
waste. Choose a directory you want t
o
use and contact the other firms and ask
them not to deliver a directory to your
home or business.
We should not only be concerned
about the volume of solid waste we
generate each year, but we should also
be concerned about the toxicity of our
waste. According to USEPA, Americans

generate 1.6 million tons of househol
d
hazardous waste each year. The avera
ge
American home has accumulated as
much as 100 pounds of household haz
-
ardous waste. This household hazard
ous
waste can also cause health problems.

Over five million poison exposures
occur each year in the U.S. Roughly 92
percent of these poisonings occur in the
home and 53 percent involve children
under the age of six. Much of this wast
e
and many of the injuries could be
eliminated through the purchase of less
toxic alternative materials.
Sunday, April 22, is the
37th anniversary of Earth
Day. It is a day set aside to
reflect about our environ-
ment and how we affect
the environment. In the
1970s, environmentalists
used the slogan think glob-
ally and act locally. That senti-
ment i