Today’s Solutions: December 19, 2025

Whenever you see little critters such as ants crawl into your kitchen, your first instinct is probably to buy a bug spray and douse them with the poisonous solution. Sure, this may be an effective way to rid your home of insects, but it’s terrible for two reasons. First off, bug sprays are made of toxic chemicals that are awful for humans and can affect our cells in unintended ways. Nobody should be exposed to these chemicals in the kitchen, let alone the home. The second reason you should abstain from bug spray is that with insect populations plummeting, we shouldn’t be trying to kill insects—even if they’re in our homes. Instead of using bug spray, there’s a natural non-toxic spray you can make that will get ants out of your house while simultaneously making your home smell good. And best of all, you can make it out of basic household items. All you need to do is add citrus rinds (lemons, lime, orange) to a pot and add white vinegar to cover. Next, gently heat the mixture until it’s steaming, turn off the stove, and let the mix sit for several hours. After that, all you need to do is pour it into a spray bottle and store it in the refrigerator for when you need to use it. The reason why this natural citrus vinegar spray is so effective is that it disrupts the pheromone trail that ants use to navigate along their paths. Apparently, they get one whiff and hightail it out of there. That’s much better than dousing it over the ants and making them suffer.

Solutions News Source Print this article
More of Today's Solutions

New method uses sound waves to map soil health, stop famine, and restore farm...

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Across the world, soil scientists are trading in their shovels for something unexpected: seismic sensors. In a breakthrough ...

Read More

This simple 15-minute mindset exercise can ease anxiety, science shows

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM A growing body of research is revealing how a short, simple activity that is done in just 15 ...

Read More

3 habits of the happiest people

Think of the happiest people you know. Do you find yourself often wondering what they are doing to maintain a general level of joy? ...

Read More

Changemakers of the week: GRuB and SparkNJ

Every day on the Optimist Daily, we report on solutions from around the world. Though we love solutions big and small, the ones that ...

Read More