I Think These Are Worth Another Look!

By Rich Kozlovich

At the end of May I blew out my right knee and a week before surgery I blew out the left one. Getting old is really the pits. At any rate, I had the first surgery two weeks ago Friday and went back to work the following Tuesday and have been working every day since then. Maybe, just maybe, that may have been a mistake. I am taking five days off for some R&R and so now I have some time to start working on my book. I intend to rework all of my articles that I have written over the years into chapters; so I’m going back over everything and lo and behold, (here it comes now, get ready) I still have the same views I did then. Of course being right well over 95% of the time makes that easy. Especially if all that you are concerned with are the facts and you prepared to follow them no matter where they may lead. The other 5% or less was holding on to the mistaken belief that I could go back to work so early.

As chairman of the Editorial Review for our state association’s newsletter I am always so impressed with Michelle, the professional writer we hired to write some of the articles and to organize and correct the rest. I am always so impressed with her work, especially her ability to do interviews. That kind of talent shouldn't be wasted so I am always looking for ways to utilize this wonderful ability. I am more of a bomb thrower and sorely lacking in that skill so I really appreciate it all the more. That is the difference between a professional writer and someone who is winging it like me. The only thing that I can say is that I wrote what I felt, and said it the way I talk; with authority, passion and humor. I read a great deal and I used to believe that this gave me the ability to say things in a logical order that is compelling; even if I am the one saying it. The reality is that there are a great many well read people that are….well….idiots. As one author said in his book. Ideology makes smart people dumb.

I started with posts going back to 2007 and I actually thought they were pretty well done for a bugman. I have worked hard to go passed passion to be as good a writer as I can. However, I have struggled with every dotted ‘I’ and every crossed ‘t’ in writing these articles; and thank goodness for spell check. The more you do it the better you become so I have reworked some of these older articles. But I didn't have to change the thought content at all. My views on these matters are rock hard and my personality is not prone to following the latest philosophical flavor of the day. Heterodoxy isn't for the faint of heart, but someone has to be the rock in the current. I have been fortunate to be surrounded by a number of prominent pest control people in Ohio that are as rock hard in their views as I and are willing to say so. The current doesn't move so fast when there are more rocks.

Here are some of the articles I have been working on. I hope you enjoy them.

Through The Looking Glass
By Rich Kozlovich
Published Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Heisenberg’s uncertainty Theory – The more closely you study the subject the less clearly defined it becomes. May I be so bold as to entertain the thought that this certainly would apply to those who attempt to define Integrated Pest Management (IPM) or Green for the structural pest control industry? Here is the reality we are faced with; we have agreed to use these terms without agreeing on what they mean. I hear the statement often; “we all know what IPM is or; we all know what Green means”. Really? The reality is that there is “no universally accepted definition of the IPM and Green phenomena; there is no consensus as to their range, their ideological origins, or the modalities of action which characterize them.”*

What Does It Mean To Be Green, Part IV
By Rich Kozlovich
Published Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Everyone who knows me knows what my position is regarding our industry going green. However, I have found that there are misconceptions as to what I think going green really means. First off, being green has nothing to do with whichever products or techniques are being used to control pests.

Some months ago I bought a steamer to use on bed bug jobs. As I was walking out with the steamer an industry friend, who knows me very well, said, “Rich, what is happening here? Is this IPM?” (IPM stands for Integrated Pest Management for those outside of pest control) I responded by saying, “No, it’s pest control”. Although he knew the answer and agrees with me, he just had to bust my chops….

What Does It Mean To Be Green, Part III
By Rich Kozlovich
Published Sunday, April 6, 2008

Since I have been publishing Green Notes as a weekly E-Newsletter I have gotten some feedback from readers who have been appreciative and supportive and a number of them have sent me updates on issues and articles worth linking. There also have been some new acquaintances…… who have been….let us say…..not as supportive. But that is what Green Notes is all about; forcing dialogue about issues facing our industry. Green issues in particular. It really comes down to what it means to be green and why we would want to be green. We have to ask; what is this overwhelming need to change what and who we are?

What Does It Mean To Be Green, Part II
By Rich Kozlovich
Published Monday, March 24, 2008

Many years ago I was watching a television show dealing with how seriously peer pressure impacts children, in this case teenage children. They demonstrated a study using a classroom as the lab for this experiment in human nature. Two sentences appeared on the blackboard, sentence “A” and sentence “B”. The class was asked; “Which sentence was the longest?” I don’t actually remember which sentence was the longest, but for this commentary let’s say that sentence “B” was actually the longest. This test was structured in such a way that only a small number of the kids in each group was unaware as to what was going on and could vote which- ever way they saw fit. All the rest were in on it and their job was to vote for sentence “A” as being the longest when in reality it was the shortest. Now the question! How many of the test students voted along with the crowd for sentence “A” as being the longest, ignoring the obvious truth that sentence “B” was in reality longer? It appears that 93% of the test subjects chose to go along with the crowd rather that have the courage and integrity to stand up for the evidence of their own eyes. Going along to get along!

Rising Up or Laying Down
By Rich Kozlovich
Published Friday, February 22, 2008

Recently at RISE’s annual Industry Grassroots Breakfast Karen Reardon, director of communications and grassroots, announced that RISE was going to attempt to increase its “army of industry advocates” by 600, increasing the membership to 1000 by 2009.

To work to develop a grassroots movement nationwide in support of the nation’s pesticide applicators is a work to be applauded. However, I find it most distressing when someone in a position of responsibility, such as RISE President, Mr. Allen James, states that “We’re being left behind in the green sustainability movement,” “In fact, we’re being looked at as the demon in this one.”

What Does It Mean To Be Green?
By Rich Kozlovich
Published on Friday, December 14, 2007

Mike Potter once said that the greatest challenge of the 21st century for the pest control industry will be the control of bedbugs. While controlling bedbugs may be our greatest pest control challenge, the real challenge for the pesticide application, manufacturing and distribution industries will be to define what it means to be “green”.

The people in pest control have a rational concern for the environment. We are trained to do good things for people while not harming the environment. Furthermore we actually believe that we do good things for people while not harming the environment, and we do. We believe that we are part of that thin gray line that is the first line of defense in the war for public health, and we are. We are the “hunters” that keep the tribe healthy. However, being concerned about the environment along with good health and being green are two entirely different things.