Being a "Green" Pet Owner in Five Easy Ways
As it happens, being a "green" pet owner is good for your pet, good for the environment, but sometimes expensive for you.
Eco-friendly items can cost double what their conventional counterparts cost, and whether or not to purchase such goods often comes down to conscience, common sense and your wallet.
If you find a product you really like and you feel good about using it, it's usually worth the effort to compare prices on the Internet.
Just do a Google search with the name of the item you're looking for, insert the words "discounted" or "compare prices" before the item name and you'll often find better deals than what you'd pay in a store or even retail outlets on-line.
I looked into five items pet owners use anyway, and came up with a few ideas that help you go "green" as pet owners: 1) We all clean up after our pets anyway, so why not use biodegradable poop bags that won't sit in a landfill? There are plenty of them on the market, including bags made of corn, bags that are completely flushable, and bags that can be composted.
At home, You can make your own dog waste composter quite easily using a trash can.
Again, do a Google search under "home made dog composter" and pages will come fast and furious with how-to directions.
For folks too busy to build their own, Dooley Dog Waste systems are effective and easy to install.
Cat owners, avoid clumping clay litter.
Not only is clay strip-mined, but the clay sediment is also permeated with carcinogenic silica dust and sodium bentonite that can slowly poison your cat or damage their lungs.
Try litter made from recycled newspapers which absorbs just as well as conventional clumping litter (two great brands are "Yesterdays News" and "Good Mews"), corncob litter called "Fresh Results" (found at Walmart) or World's Best Cat Litter, and finally, litter made from reclaimed wood (two brands are Nature's Earth and Catfresh).
Many of these litter alternatives can be found at Petsmart and Petco.
And before using that litter, line the litter box with a biodegradable liner.
2) Play is serious business for cats and dogs, as well as for the industry that manufactures their toys.
Avoid squeak toys that contain DINP (diisononyl phthalate) because it causes pollution during production AND has been shown to cause liver and kidney damage to pets who ingested it while chewing on it.
Consider plush dog toys make from hemp, boiled wool, or recycled rubber toys - And for cats, use items made of renewable resources or by-products from culinary rabbits or shed feathers from birds.
Terrific hand-made toys for ferrets, cats and dogs can also be found at Etsy.
com.
This is a good place to mention the importance of knowing where your hard earned dollars are going when purchasing "green" products.
The sustainable pet product industry is expected to grow to nearly $1 billion in sales by 2009, and some well-intentioned companies are donating portions of their sales to HSUS and PETA, organizations which portray themselves as supportive of animal rights.
These groups are, in fact, seriously eroding the rights of responsible citizens by supporting legislation that seeks to limit a person's choice to own a pet, what kind of dog, how many, and where.
Reasonable people agree for the need to target the person who harbors vicious animals, owns exotic wildlife or collects 186 cats, but the language inside many bills impacts the average dog and cat owner who simply wants to own the breed of their choice responsibly.
No reasonable person would oppose laws that target the criminal, the cruel and the negligent, but there are other options to supporting this fight and PETA and HSUS are not two of them.
The NAIA Trust, and the American Humane Society are two national level organizations that are all about protecting animals while protecting the rights of people like you and me.
3) Like it or not, chemicals have done a great deal to insure the well-being of our pets, but some chemicals can be replaced by more natural and equally effective alternatives that aren't bad for the rest of us.
Linalool is a powerful chemical found in citrus peels that is toxic to fleas and dissolves their exoskeletons.
You can find recipes for effective home-made citrus-based flea sprays on-line If you prefer a powder, assemble the following herbs either in powder form, or grind in a blender or food processor until it becomes a powder: Eucalyptus, rosemary, lavender, fennel, yellow dock and pennyroyal.
Mix equal parts of each herb in a shaker-top jar.
Brush your pet's coat backwards with your hand or comb while sprinkling the powder onto the base of the hairs.
Apply sparingly and pay special attention to the neck, back and belly.
Put your pet outside for a little while as the fleas escape into the yard.
To buy a ready made product, try diatomaceous earth which kills insects by causing dehydration.
4) You already know the importance of treating your lawn without chemicals since its a place that's pretty darn close to your pets' face (and anything that kills bindweed can't be good for a cat or dog to inhale).
How about the rest of your landscaping? Bark mulch is good ground cover, but impractical when used in dog areas since it breaks down quickly.
And you know that cocoa mulch is really bad for your pets, right? Have you considered rubber mulch for high traffic areas? Shredded recycled tires are a good, long term solution for dog areas, plus they offer a bit of a cushioned surface.
Be aware that rubber mulch can smell like, well, rubber, and during summer months it may get warm to the touch.
Bagged rubber mulch has been found at Costco and Home Depot.
Some chemicals we can't do without.
Agents that kill Parvo or HIV on contact can't be substituted and I wouldn't want my vet to try.
But when it comes to other cleaning tasks, you can't do better than to use the stuff you've probably already got in your kitchen.
There are web site that have Eco-friendly cleaning recipes pre-tested by the author of the site.
5) You'd expect eco-friendly beds to be covered with natural cotton or hemp, but the stuffing is a surprise.
IntelliLoft is a surprisingly comfortable material given that it's made from 100% recycled plastic bottles.
Pets love it.
Who knew? For more ideas on how to be a green pet owner, the web is loaded with ideas galore if you just do a simple search for "green pets.
"
Eco-friendly items can cost double what their conventional counterparts cost, and whether or not to purchase such goods often comes down to conscience, common sense and your wallet.
If you find a product you really like and you feel good about using it, it's usually worth the effort to compare prices on the Internet.
Just do a Google search with the name of the item you're looking for, insert the words "discounted" or "compare prices" before the item name and you'll often find better deals than what you'd pay in a store or even retail outlets on-line.
I looked into five items pet owners use anyway, and came up with a few ideas that help you go "green" as pet owners: 1) We all clean up after our pets anyway, so why not use biodegradable poop bags that won't sit in a landfill? There are plenty of them on the market, including bags made of corn, bags that are completely flushable, and bags that can be composted.
At home, You can make your own dog waste composter quite easily using a trash can.
Again, do a Google search under "home made dog composter" and pages will come fast and furious with how-to directions.
For folks too busy to build their own, Dooley Dog Waste systems are effective and easy to install.
Cat owners, avoid clumping clay litter.
Not only is clay strip-mined, but the clay sediment is also permeated with carcinogenic silica dust and sodium bentonite that can slowly poison your cat or damage their lungs.
Try litter made from recycled newspapers which absorbs just as well as conventional clumping litter (two great brands are "Yesterdays News" and "Good Mews"), corncob litter called "Fresh Results" (found at Walmart) or World's Best Cat Litter, and finally, litter made from reclaimed wood (two brands are Nature's Earth and Catfresh).
Many of these litter alternatives can be found at Petsmart and Petco.
And before using that litter, line the litter box with a biodegradable liner.
2) Play is serious business for cats and dogs, as well as for the industry that manufactures their toys.
Avoid squeak toys that contain DINP (diisononyl phthalate) because it causes pollution during production AND has been shown to cause liver and kidney damage to pets who ingested it while chewing on it.
Consider plush dog toys make from hemp, boiled wool, or recycled rubber toys - And for cats, use items made of renewable resources or by-products from culinary rabbits or shed feathers from birds.
Terrific hand-made toys for ferrets, cats and dogs can also be found at Etsy.
com.
This is a good place to mention the importance of knowing where your hard earned dollars are going when purchasing "green" products.
The sustainable pet product industry is expected to grow to nearly $1 billion in sales by 2009, and some well-intentioned companies are donating portions of their sales to HSUS and PETA, organizations which portray themselves as supportive of animal rights.
These groups are, in fact, seriously eroding the rights of responsible citizens by supporting legislation that seeks to limit a person's choice to own a pet, what kind of dog, how many, and where.
Reasonable people agree for the need to target the person who harbors vicious animals, owns exotic wildlife or collects 186 cats, but the language inside many bills impacts the average dog and cat owner who simply wants to own the breed of their choice responsibly.
No reasonable person would oppose laws that target the criminal, the cruel and the negligent, but there are other options to supporting this fight and PETA and HSUS are not two of them.
The NAIA Trust, and the American Humane Society are two national level organizations that are all about protecting animals while protecting the rights of people like you and me.
3) Like it or not, chemicals have done a great deal to insure the well-being of our pets, but some chemicals can be replaced by more natural and equally effective alternatives that aren't bad for the rest of us.
Linalool is a powerful chemical found in citrus peels that is toxic to fleas and dissolves their exoskeletons.
You can find recipes for effective home-made citrus-based flea sprays on-line If you prefer a powder, assemble the following herbs either in powder form, or grind in a blender or food processor until it becomes a powder: Eucalyptus, rosemary, lavender, fennel, yellow dock and pennyroyal.
Mix equal parts of each herb in a shaker-top jar.
Brush your pet's coat backwards with your hand or comb while sprinkling the powder onto the base of the hairs.
Apply sparingly and pay special attention to the neck, back and belly.
Put your pet outside for a little while as the fleas escape into the yard.
To buy a ready made product, try diatomaceous earth which kills insects by causing dehydration.
4) You already know the importance of treating your lawn without chemicals since its a place that's pretty darn close to your pets' face (and anything that kills bindweed can't be good for a cat or dog to inhale).
How about the rest of your landscaping? Bark mulch is good ground cover, but impractical when used in dog areas since it breaks down quickly.
And you know that cocoa mulch is really bad for your pets, right? Have you considered rubber mulch for high traffic areas? Shredded recycled tires are a good, long term solution for dog areas, plus they offer a bit of a cushioned surface.
Be aware that rubber mulch can smell like, well, rubber, and during summer months it may get warm to the touch.
Bagged rubber mulch has been found at Costco and Home Depot.
Some chemicals we can't do without.
Agents that kill Parvo or HIV on contact can't be substituted and I wouldn't want my vet to try.
But when it comes to other cleaning tasks, you can't do better than to use the stuff you've probably already got in your kitchen.
There are web site that have Eco-friendly cleaning recipes pre-tested by the author of the site.
5) You'd expect eco-friendly beds to be covered with natural cotton or hemp, but the stuffing is a surprise.
IntelliLoft is a surprisingly comfortable material given that it's made from 100% recycled plastic bottles.
Pets love it.
Who knew? For more ideas on how to be a green pet owner, the web is loaded with ideas galore if you just do a simple search for "green pets.
"
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