Mall Of America Hires 72,000 Hungry Employees

There's no doubt the Mall of America in Minnesota is the largest building of it's kind anywhere in the world and with it comes some very unique problems and ways to deal with them.

The Mall of America is so big that you could fit 7 Yankee stadium inside it's massive area.  One thing that makes the Mall of America so unique is the fact that even in it's frigid climate, it has no central heating system.  Rather it relies on the actual body heat from it's patrons and the miles of skylights that radiate heat.  It's truly an amazing feat of construction.

Without a heating/AC system, air circulation becomes an issue so they planted over 400 live plants and trees that help purify the air inside the building. With live plants comes bugs and now the mall is facing an aphid problem.  But how do you deal with an indoor aphid infestation of this magnitude?

So they have 3 ways to solve their problem as I see it:

1. Remove all live plants
2. Spray pesiticides
3. Introduce a colony of ladybugs

As we have already learned, the live plants and trees have an intricate part in how the mall purifies it's air. Removing the plants would not only lose part of what makes this mall so unique but the added expense of adding machines would be very costly in purchasing said equipment and the power to run them.

Pesticides are a bad idea all the way around for the Mall of America for all the obvious reasons.  Who wants anyone to spray a bunch of chemicals in an enclosed building?

So that leaves the third choice; Mother Nature!

The ladybug is a natural enemy to the damaging aphid so why not let nature takes it course.  If this were outdoors, the ladybugs would be there anyway.  So open the doors and let them in.  Those not in favor are worried that the ladybugs will land on their food but truth is the ladybug lives most of it's life on the plants the inhabit.  And furthermore, I'd rather have a ladybug on my table than a coating of pesticide.