Repell-em Blog

Hi, my name is Terry Feinberg, president of REPELL-EM™ consumer products company, and I developed the REPELL-EM™ garbage bag knowing that whether it’s at home, on a camping trip or at a picnic there is nothing worse than dealing with the insects and animals that always seem to be attracted to our trash.

The flies that swarm around trash receptacles in the kitchen are an embarrassing annoyance that never seem to disappear no matter how clean the rest of your home is and bees and wasps that buzz around garbage outdoors can mean painful stings for anyone who gets too close. Dogs, cats, raccoons and other animals that attack your garbage can be such a nuisance. This is why I developed the REPELL-EM™ bag.

After much research, I found that insects could smell garbage through plastic garbage bags regardless of the bag’s thickness. So I knew my bags needed to contain something that would repel these pests.

Discovering the perfect all natural repellent:

Many products on the market that claim to repel insects or animals have mixed results and many don’t work. Many have chemical ingredients that are a safety concern, while others might be natural but have unbearable odors, and still work poorly. My goal was to produce a safe, effective product that had a pleasant odor for all but turned away the animals and insects using all natural ingredients.

During the past 3 years of product development, an all natural repellent that proved to be effective in deterring a wide variety of animals and insects was formulated. This all-natural formulation worked so well that it blew away the competition.

Bag design- no longer seeing things in black and white:

In my research, I also discovered that animals and insects see things very differently than humans. In fact, I found that animals and insects were specifically attracted to some colors more than others. As it turns out, black and white are two colors with greater pest attraction and coincidentally, they are also the colors of most popular trash bags. One part of the visual spectrum that animals and insects can’t see very well is the red spectrum of light. This was the scientific reasoning behind producing the REPELL-EM™ trash bags in the red, translucent color. The color doesn’t attract them to the bags and the scent repels them if they are close.

Supreme durability:

It’s also important to keep in mind that most bags on the market today are made to be extremely thin so consumers get more bags for their buck. Unfortunately these cheap bags are so poorly made that they usually rip and break apart easily. That’s why I made my REPELL-EM™ garbage bags 2-3 times thicker and stronger than those supermarket bags.

Keeping the environment in mind:

Above all else I thought it was important that REPELL-EM™ garbage bags and the packaging be as environmental friendly as possible. To achieve this, I combined the natural, safe, chemical-free repellent with up to 80% recycled plastic resin to create the bag you see today. In addition, the packaging is 100% recyclable and/or reusable for other purposes in the home. No bag today looks like, works like it, or is made like it!