Handling the roach proof lifestyle adjustment
About 2 days into moving into a new apartment (3 unit building) I discovered and confirmed a German roach.
After one night with glue traps, no further spottings so far, so the issue seems small, fortunately.
The most challenging part for me is not the diagnostic and eradication steps (glue traps, bat stations, alpine wsg, etc). In fact I find that part fun and fascinating.
The real hard part for me is the extensive set of restrictions it puts on my day to day life:
- Leaving no water residue, despite needing to shower, wash hands/dishes/clothes.
- Leaving no food, despite most conventional food packaging and storage areas not being roach proof (the amount of airtight containers required adds up quickly). Feeding the cat will require an overhaul since we previously used an automatic dispenser to handle a good portion of his feeding schedule.
- Overhauling the way trash and recycling are handled
- Keeping the house cardboard free despite most things coming in cardboard packaging plus the need to get rid of cardboard boxes used for moving.
- Any personal belonging being a potential harboring site
- Any food not perfectly stored being potentially contaminated
- Having to sanitize hands and toothbrushes etc often due to potential contamination.
- Living clutter free being no longer cosmetic but necessary (with “true” tidiness seeming like an unattainable ideal)
In an effort to switch from a victim mentality to a hunter mentality as discussed in the sticky:
- How should I prioritize these lifestyle changes? I want to be diligent but not paranoid.
- How do you go about implementing these changes on an incremental basis? This doesn’t seem achievable overnight.
- Does this way of life get to the point of becoming a habit that can sit backstage in your mind allowing you to focus on your regular order of life again?