You’ve heard of the cash for caulkers idea idea, right? Incentives for home weatherization projects to reduce energy use.
What would it take to get NYC apartment buildings bed bug-proofed, to see the growth of bed bug proofing businesses?
The problem — aside from the overarching problem of nobody really caring about bed bugs — is that, like weatherization though perhaps not to the same extent, pest-proofing and bed bug-proofing in particular is not simply “caulking” and requires a certain level of skill. I’m not sure if the difference is trivial but bed bugs are very small and ordinary caulking is not up to the job. Sloppy caulking potentially provides yet more hiding places for our friend Cimex l.
But skilled bed bug-proofing services (and bed bug steaming services) would have an impact and reduce infestations, I think, though this is largely a guess — the only organization that has mentioned internal data on the effectiveness of sealing apartments for bed bugs is Toronto Community Housing (PDF). (See related Toronto Bed Bug Project and Medical Officer of Health reports here.)
So. Bed bug jobs? Toronto pioneered the idea of social enterprise bed bug services. Some bed bug preparation services have started to appear in NYC (and are still unaffordable) and there is one social enterprise bed bug control company and at least one social enterprise bed bug project in the works. But it’s a big city.
And there are a lot of bed bugs.
These pages may be of related interest:
