8/31/2022
Innovation Series: Meet the P&G Scientist Helping Rid Your Home of Bugs
P&G Scientist Chris Smith Helps Develop a Safe, Set-And-Forget Product to Help with Household Bugs
“Who wants bugs in their house?!” It’s a question P&G Group Scientist Chris Smith asks everyone when he talks about Zevo, a line-up of products dedicated to ridding your home of unwanted bugs.
Zevo products are people friendly and bug deadly! Its sprays and traps are designed to kill bugs while being safe to use in your home.
Chris has been working on the Zevo trap for the past four years and said it became his personal mission to solve for bugs in people’s homes.
Iterations of the Zevo Flying Insect Trap.
The team developed several iterations of the trap, researched what attracts bugs and then tested their findings at universities before launching the product.
“It was a little bit intimidating only because we had a biological entity that we had to deal with, and we didn’t know enough about insects or what attracted them, but we quickly learned,” said Chris.
The lightbulb moment for the Zevo scientists was around the use of (wait for it…) light!
“The innovation around this project is through the right wavelength of light. Blue and UV attract the insects and ultimately get them stuck on a sticky glue sheet in a safe and effective way to control insects in the home,” said Chris.
The innovation behind the trap.
Chris notes that his curiosity stems from his childhood and has helped shape his career at P&G.
“When I was growing up, I didn’t necessarily have all the things the other kids had, so I had to build stuff and make stuff out of things that were just laying around. I think it did give me that ability to get creative and crafty. That’s evolved into my career. I get to make things from thoughts and things I have in my head, and ultimately you see them come to fruition and really become a product, and it’s super exciting.”
Now, Chris has three Zevo traps in his own home – one in his garage, one in his kitchen and one in his sunroom.
“The Zevo trap is special because it’s effortless. You plug it in, and you can walk away. It’s solving a flying insect issue in the house without you having to do anything – the bugs come to it, they get stuck and all you need to do is discard the sticky insert and replace it.”
