Tiny flies buzzing around the kitchen are annoying. You can buy sprays, traps and serums full of chemicals to help you rid yourself of the problem, but non-chemical traps are just as effective -- and free!

If the summer heat has turned your kitchen into a fruit-fly playground, help is here! Rid yourself of pesky kitchen flies with a homemade trap using natural ingredients.

How to make eco-friendly trap

While assembling your trap, boil a pot of water to pour down your drains. Fruit flies and their kin like to breed in the pipes, so a good amount of boiling water poured down the drain will help stop future generations from hatching.

While the water is boiling, grab a can or jar from your recycling. Fill your container with an inch or so of something sweet from your fridge. Juice and wine work really well. Cover the container’s opening with plastic wrap and tape securely. Poke some holes in the plastic with a toothpick, then place your trap someplace high and out of the way (like on top of your fridge).

After a few hours, you’ll see more flies in your trap than you even knew you had. After a day or so, dispose of your trap in the greenest way you know how.

If weekly boiling-water treatments don’t keep your flies at bay, keep refreshing your trap. It really works!

Leonardo Caion-Demaestri was born and raised in Brazil, and now makes San Diego his home. He is a practicing architect, student and professor who will be sharing his knowledge and interest in art, architecture and sustainable living practices to show readers the lifestyle of the future while being socially and environmentally conscious. E-mail him at leonardo.caiondemaestri@gmail.com.