Noble’s Story

Noble grew up in this neighborhood. He’s spent his whole life here — playing in the yards, walking the streets, watching the seasons change. And over the years, he’s noticed something disappearing.

The fireflies don’t blink the way they used to in summer evenings. The butterflies are fewer. The songbirds that filled morning trees have thinned out. Even the dragonflies — nature’s own mosquito predators — are harder to spot than they were when he was a kid.

He started reading about it, and the picture got clearer. Scientists have a name for what’s happening: the “insect apocalypse.” Global flying insect populations have dropped more than 75% in the past three decades. And one of the biggest culprits, right in his own neighborhood, is mosquito fogging. The chemicals sprayed every three weeks don’t just kill mosquitoes — they wipe out bees, butterflies, ladybugs, fireflies, and the songbirds that depend on insects for food.

A Generational Story

Noble’s dad, Tim, grew up in this same neighborhood. He went to Hill Elementary and Murchison Junior High. And the place he describes from his childhood sounds almost like a different world.

“There were horny toads everywhere. Lizards on every fence and sidewalk. Fireflies in the backyard every summer night. You couldn’t walk through a vacant lot without scaring up a half dozen critters.” — Tim Padden

Today, none of that is true. The Texas horned lizard — Texas’s official state reptile, the “horny toad” Tim remembers playing with — has disappeared from almost half of its historic Texas range and is now listed as a threatened species. Pesticide use is one of the primary causes, eliminating the harvester ants that horned lizards depend on for food.

Two generations of Padden men have watched the same neighborhood lose its wildlife. Noble decided to do something about it.

The Bigger Picture

The numbers behind what Noble and Tim have witnessed are stark:

These aren’t abstract statistics. They’re what’s missing from Tim’s old neighborhood walks and what Noble has noticed disappearing in his own childhood. And while there are many contributing factors — habitat loss, climate change, invasive species — pesticide overuse is one of the few causes a homeowner can directly choose to stop.

Social Responsibility

Eco Dunk isn’t just a business — it’s Noble’s way of taking responsibility for the neighborhood he loves. Every customer who switches from chemical fogging to Eco Dunk represents:

• Roughly 600 pollinator deaths avoided per yard per season
• A safer environment for the next generation of kids to grow up watching fireflies and chasing butterflies
• A small but real contribution to bringing back the songbirds, dragonflies, and yes — maybe even the horny toads — that used to be everywhere
• Money saved that can go to things that matter more than chemical lawn treatments

The Smarter Way

Here’s the thing: Noble hates mosquitoes as much as anybody. Texas summer evenings should be on the porch, in the yard, watching the sunset — not getting eaten alive. But there’s a smarter way to solve the problem.

That’s why he started Eco Dunk. Instead of spraying the whole neighborhood with broad-spectrum pesticides, Eco Dunk targets mosquitoes at their breeding source — standing water — using BTI, a naturally occurring bacterium that kills mosquito larvae and literally nothing else. Bees thrive. Butterflies return. Fireflies come back. And the mosquitoes? They never get the chance to bite.

Eco Dunk is Noble’s way of giving his neighborhood back what it’s been losing — without giving up on a mosquito-free yard.

Join the Mission →