President Obama has been lauded by some for including an organic garden at the White House over objections of chemical companies. However, today's big headline at Yahoo News was—no, not any criticism of the war appropriations bill or mention of single-payer healthcare— Obama swatting a fly. (Footage plus PETA's reaction: http://www.examiner.com/x-8357-DC-TV-Examiner~y2009m6d17-PETA-reacts-to-Obamas-fly-swat-video.)

There is a better way to deal with insects. Various companies make a science toy called the Bug Vacuum. (The one I've been using is made by a company called Summit, which I bought at a school supply store .) It sucks insects into a transparent holding area so that children can study them and then turn them loose. However, for the last several years, I've been using it to catch bugs in my home and set them free outside.

I have found it amazingly effective, even for bugs that look delicate like daddy longlegs, spiders(1), or mosquitoes. Flies, especially smaller ones, can be good at evading the vacuum, though I've captured and released many of them, too.

In her book All Our Relations, Winona LaDuke mentions the “spiritual mistake” of “killing without reverence” (page 147). And although she discusses this in the context of wholesale slaughter of buffalo, I personally apply it in my daily interactions with other beings. LaDuke further says (on page 148) that “to kill incorrectly, many would say, affects and disrupts all life.”


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(1)I allow some spiders in my house, partly to deal with flies that I cannot catch, partly to give them shelter in case there is ever malathion spraying in L.A. again. The last time malathion was sprayed, it took years for some spiders to return (and the ladybug population still hasn't recovered).

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Batteries and plastic, good for the environment? does this belong here?

Not everybody can be plastic-free as you purport to be (and I'd like to know how since you apparently accessed this from a computer), just as not everybody can be car-free (though some of us are).

Activism entails choosing battles. A person may choose not to eat products by Chiquita (formerly United Fruit) Dole, or the many products by Coke and Pepsi, but chances are, they will not be able to avoid spending money on something bad. Yet, they can focus on one of the above-mentioned corporations.

Does a person who tells someone else to "go away" belong at a site that deals with "peace"?

go away: Why are you so insulting to the author of this article?

I found this a very nice article. Positive, informative and different from many of the articles on this site.

The author is thoughtful person who does not want to hurt or kill any living thing. With the bug vacuum they have found a way to help them do so.

Plastic is now everywhere, it would very difficult to find a product not made of plastic or wrapped in it. It is how we dispose of plastic that is main problem.