This morning while walking past bags of mulch, I smelled shredded cedar. How perfect for food storage bins!
One large bag was only $3. So I'm bundling it into organza bags, old containers -- anything that will let the pungent oil odors seep out, and deter moths.
In the past I have tried cedar twigs, a coaster-sized slice of cedar, and often run a little cedar oil around the rim of jars.
Food-grade Diatomaceous earth (crumbled fossils) is also cheap, and is supposed to be too sharp for bugs -- punctures exoskeleton, and they dry out.
I don't have evidence yet, but still toss a little in outer or inner containers. It's edible silica from the sea, contains a few minerals, and is on many lists for useful solutions. (Chicken feed, flea control, parasite prevention, toothpaste, paints...).
Both could stir up allergic breathing reactions if you are already asthmatic. DE is similar to talc, and some people are sensitive to breathing cedar.
Anyway, I was excited to find the mulch so cheap.
