Getting Rid of Flies in an Environmentally Friendly Way

Memories of summers in India are of delicious mangos and of the terrible heat. In Madras, the afternoons and the evenings were times when people could enjoy the pleasant sea breeze blowing over the city. The two city beaches are, rightfully, lovely places to hang out at though the discharge of sewage into the sea near them has made them stink horribly these days. But, long before these places stank, even when ferries used to run up the Cooum from Madras to Chingleput, (yes, that did go on while I was a boy and there even was a ferry across the Adyar until the bridge was built - when I was a university student - at Kotturpuram) there was the nuisance of flies. As boys we had several ways of despatching these pests, many of them great fun as we kept score of who killed the most. My favorite way was with a cane "sword" that my mother bought me at a trade fair. Even if it did not hit a fly, the thing would stun them and leave them belly-up if it whizzed past the insects. Ah, those years! Great fun, though I am too old to do anything like that now.

Voila, this piece from Green Daily on getting rid of flies in an environmentally way: http://www.greendaily.com/2008/09/07/shoo-fly-rid-your-house-of-flies-naturally/ Some of the suggestions are more focused on the USA where homes are left shut in the summer while central airconditioning works inside. In India, people prefer fresh air, and I presume that this is the case in Sri Lanka, Pakistan etc as well. But the idea of fly paper is an interesting one though it might be somewat expensive for use in South Asia. I hope this gives some ideas to people here, though. If you think about something, do let me know.

Cheers!