Why Glue Boards Get So Much Bad Press
Glue boards have a reputation problem. And honestly? A lot of it is deserved. Slap a glue board down on an attic floor or out in the open in a crawl space, and you’ve basically rolled out the red carpet for every lizard, bird, and curious house gecko in a three-mile radius. That’s not pest control. That’s a tragedy with adhesives.
Are Glue Traps Being Banned?
So let’s get the bad news out of the way: cities are banning them. West Hollywood went first. Ojai followed. Then Washington D.C., Eugene, Oregon, and just this past March, Ventura voted 6-1 to ban the sale and use of glue traps. There’s a federal bill floating around Congress too. And here’s the thing—when glue boards are used the way most people use them, I don’t entirely blame the lawmakers.
Why Monitoring Matters in Pest Control
Here’s where it gets complicated. You can’t run a truly green, eco-friendly pest control program without monitoring. And monitoring means knowing what pest you actually have before you treat. German cockroach? Different program than American cockroach. Indian meal moth? Completely different approach than a clothes moth—one's in your pantry, the other’s in your closet, and treating one like the other gets you nowhere.
If I can’t identify the pest, I’m left doing what we in the industry lovingly call “spray and pray”—blasting product around and hoping something works. That’s irresponsible. That’s the dark ages of pest control. And that’s exactly what these well-meaning bans would push the entire industry back into.
How The Pest Posse Uses Glue Boards Responsibly
At The Pest Posse Too, we’ve never used glue boards the lazy way. Ours go inside enclosed monitoring stations—sealed units where only the target pest can enter. No lizards. No birds. No curious cats. No traumatized homeowners. Just clean, professional monitoring that tells us exactly what we’re dealing with so we can prescribe the right treatment for the right pest.
A Safer, More Responsible Approach to Pest Control
That brings me to some news I’m pretty fired up about. We’re now a Certified Responsible Glue Trap User (RGTU)—a brand-new industry certification launched by the Academy of Pest Management that sets clear standards for placement, monitoring, non-target protection, and humane handling.
And I’ll be honest with you: our internal standards are actually higher than what the certification requires. We’ve been doing this the right way since 2018. The paperwork just caught up with us. Because here’s what it comes down to—and this is G.U.A.R.D.S. in action:
Gentle First. We use the least toxic, most thoughtful approach.
Responsibility to Protect. That means non-targets too. Your dog, the neighbor’s cat, and the lizard that lives in your garden—all of them.
Deliver Peace of Mind. Nobody—including us—sleeps well knowing an animal suffered when it didn’t have to.
Glue boards aren’t the villain. Careless use of glue boards is the villain. There’s a difference, and it matters.
If you’re in San Luis Obispo, Pismo Beach, Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach, Nipomo, or Shell Beach and you want pest control done the right way—the responsible way—by someone certified to do it, give us a call. We’ve got your back. And we’ve got the lizards’ backs too.
