Eco friendly pet

Everywhere you go, whatever you do, you leave behind a footprint that ultimately determines the future of our planet.  We do terrible things to the planet, though we may be afraid to admit it.  And whatever we do to Mother Earth, we do to ourselves – and to those around us, including our pets.  Therefore, as an animal lover and pet guardian/parent, you want to have a green pet so he/she can live as long and healthy as possible.

Saving Greens

One of the many perks of eco friendly pet guardianship is saving money.  It’s true that many green products cost more than regular commercial ones; however, there’s more than just finances when purchasing a product.  It’s important to consider environmental, health, fair trade, animal abuse and other factors.

Instead of buying dog food or kibble or even raw dog food (if you’re pet is into this diet), you can be your own pet’s chef.  On top of saving extra money, you get to keep a keen eye on what enters your pet’s mouth and delicate digestive system.  Besides, most commercial pet foods are made from meat by-products – in other words, those parts you yourself wouldn’t dare eat, like intestines, liver, tumors or other parts unfit for human consumption.  Could you bear the thought of your beloved pet eating those?

Think how much money you’d save if you hadn’t bought those expensive cat scratchers or balls or that little stuffed toy mouse for your restless kitty.  You can create your own pet toys using materials lying around in your own home – old cotton shirts, cardboard boxes and newspapers.  Old tennis balls can be recycled and made into jingle balls your dog will go gaga over them.

Safer Home For You and Your Family

The typical home has now become the ultimate chemical hodgepodge.  Yes, it’s true.  According to the U.S. Environment Protection Agency or EPA, indoor air is 50 times more polluted than indoor air.  Yes, 50 times!  No wonder most dogs have the carbon footprint of a sports utility vehicle.

Think of what’s inside your home.  Your favourite perfume may smell like fresh-cut flowers, but that doesn’t mean it’s chemical-free.  If you went around your house and made a list of all the chemicals and ingredients you see on the labels of all the products you have, I’m sure a couple of the following would turn up:

• Sodium hypochlorite (found in bleach products), which causes respiratory problems and trigger asthmatic problems.
• Formaldehyde (used to preserve most products), which is an irritant and potential carcinogen.
• Nitrobenzene (found in floor and furniture polish), which can cause skin problems, breathing difficulties, vomiting and even death.  Also known to cause cancer and birth defects.
• Phenol and cresol (found in disinfectants), which can cause diarrhea, nausea, and kidney and liver damage.

Imagine what those do to your pet?  Imagine if your pet accidentally ingested those products?  The horror of it all!

Sure you can take your time ensuring your pet doesn’t get access to these urban dangers, but nothing beats utter prevention.  Take these chemicals out of the house and go all-natural.  Baking soda and vinegar are your best friends.  Use them as your mother would have.

Whatever your reason for going green is, there’s one ultimate goal: saving Mother Earth.  Everything else just falls in place.  As a perk, you get an eco-friendly pet!

Marisa

Technorati Tags: eco friendly pet, eco-friendly, green pet

There are over 93 million pet cats in the United States.  We spend over 200 million dollars for commercial cat litter.  Staggering statistics.  But have you thought about how this affects our dear planet?

Clumping Cat Litter

Clumping cat litter is made from sodium bentonate, more commonly known as natural clay.  Found near the surface of the earth’s soil, natural clay is strip mined using heavy machinery.  This has caused so much environmental damage that it has already endangered certain species of plants and animals, thereby destroying the balance of many ecosystems.  There have been reports of native land owners being driven from their very homes just so big mining companies can strip their land bare and obtain this type of clay.

This is all done to supply the demand for cheap clay litter.  However, the costs are high!

What Mother Nature Wants

What Mother Earth wants is for us to stop this atrocious act against the balance of nature.  You may not be able to close down those clumping clay litter factories in one night, but you can, nevertheless, make a difference, one household at a time, starting with your own.

Stay away from a cat litter product if the label contains any of the following fancy words: “bentonite”, “sodium bentonite”, “natural clay”, “crystalline silica”, “aluminum phyllosilicate”.  All the more if the label does not contain any information at all about its chemical make-up.

Does It Harm My Cat?

When sodium comes into contact with water or any liquid, it can swell up to 15 times its original volume.  There have been increasing claims that if this is ingested by pets, it swells up and solidifies inside them thereby causing digestive problems.  Cats potentially fall victim to this since they like to groom themselves by licking their paws and fur.

Getting into the intestines, the clay can draw fluid from the body due to its highly absorbent nature.  This can cause dehydration and potential urinary tract problems.   This same clay can also get into the large intestines where it will attract fecal matter, thereby increasing toxicity, promoting the growth of bacteria and sometimes interfering with excretion.  This will stress out the cat’s immune system making him susceptible to infection and diseases.

Silica dust from clay litter can cause similar problems when inhaled not just to cats but to you and your kids as well.

There are many types of litter we can use in place of this.  Eco-friendly cat litter comes in many forms:

• Recycled newspaper.  This is made using paper pulps which are unsuitable for reuse in paper recycling.
• Cat litter made from corn makes use of corn parts which are not edible for humans.  Corncobs, peelings and hair are ground and reused as cat litter.
• Red wheat straw gas.
• Pine sawdust.  This is a by-product of the lumber industry.
• Kenaf plant pellets.  This is a fast growing herb/hibiscus.

What A Kitty Wants

When picking out eco friendly cat litter, base the decision on what your cat prefers.  Cats seem to prefer litter with sand-like consistencies rather than those that contain pellets, shreds or chunks.  The finer the granules the better your cat likes them.

If you can, avoid using scented cat litter, even if it’s an eco-friendly one.  Take note that your cat has a finely attuned sense of smell and because of this, some artificial scents can irritate their noses.  When this happens, they tend to avoid using their cat litter.

To counter the stench of urine and cat poop without using scented cat litter, try using either diluted vinegar or baking soda.  After you clean out your cat’s litter box, pour vinegar into the container then tilt it around until the base is covered.  Leave it for about 15 minutes before washing it out with water.  Baking soda helps in getting rid of residual smell.  After scooping fresh cat litter into your box, sprinkle it with a small amount of baking soda then stir the litter around.  Your cat won’t even know what’s in the litter.

Also, it’s very important to clean the cat litter box daily, at least twice.  You wouldn’t want to use a dirty bathroom, neither does your cat.

It may take some time for you to figure out what your cat’s preference is when it comes to cat litter.  Just remember, when you switch out cat litters you need to do so gradually.  Mix in new cat litter with the old one then gradually increase its amount while reducing the old cat litters amount as you go.

Whatever type of cat litter you choose, just remember two things.  Find one that wasn’t made by slowly killing Mother Nature then pick one that poses no risks to your cat’s health and your cat will like and will enjoy digging in.  One household at a time, starting from your home, starting with your eco-friendly cat!

Marisa

Technorati Tags: clay litter, clumping clay litter, eco friendly cat, eco-friendly, Green Pets, pet care, pets going green

“Host Kahi Lee takes the Koo family living room to a whole new level and gives it a complete Green makeover according to their needs and goals.

Green Done Right presented by Scott Naturals is a web series focusing on making sustainable-living, budget-conscious design choices.”

Duration : 0:4:36

Technorati Tags: bamboo, boyle, done, eco-friendly, environment, family, Green, green done right, home, house, kahi, lee, lifestyle, living, makeover, naturals, recycle, right, room, scott, susan, sustainability

Duration : 0:4:57

Technorati Tags: al gore, an inconvienient truth, bill clinton, climate change, consumer, eco, eco-friendly, ed begley jr, environmentaly friendly, Green, green living show, green movement, living, shop, stephen lewis

Duration : 0:8:24

Technorati Tags: eco-friendly, environment, Green, living