Welcome to Change The World Wednesday (#CTWW)! If this is your first visit, please click HERE for information and a complete list of all the challenges we've taken on so far.
There's a lot of great information in this post and I encourage you to read through it ... however, if you don't have the time right now, you might find the following quick-click links helpful:
Last week our challenge, suggested by Jennifer, asked us to "green" up our pets. It was a wonderful activity because we often forget about the environmental impact of pets ... their food, waste disposal, toys and even how they affect wildlife. We also continued the discussion about Eco-friendly light bulbs. We heard opinions about the various options available, learned how people actually using the bulbs like them, and read references on such topics as safety, disposal and cost. It was another week filled with information to help us make the best choices possible.
The Honor Society are those people who help us spread the "green" word by writing a post about our challenges and/or leaving pertinent comments. Let's see what they had to say this week:
EcoGrrl stopped feeding her dog commercial treats because of the packaging (which isn't earth friendly) and because they aren't healthy for animals. So what does her dog get as a treat ... veggies. Yep, EcoGrrl says that her dog goes nuts over carrots and zucchini. She also shared additional information on CFLs which you can read HERE. Be sure to check it out ... she includes a link about CFL myths and shares the best way to clean up if a bulb should break.
Argentum Vulgaris gives us more "food for CFL thought" in this POST. He raises an interesting point about the actual heat generated by various bulbs and their link to our heating expense. In this POST he talks a little more about CFLs and includes an experiment comparing the waves (Ultra-violet and infra-red) generated by CFL versus incandescent bulbs. AV also offers us some Eco-friendly pet ideas ... including a natural way to rid them of fleas.
Alicia has a great tip for Eco-friendly bedding and toys for pets. She finds wool sweaters at Goodwill and uses them for her cat's bedding ... I can just imagine them curled up in their cozy little beds when the weather is cool. She also uses wool to make toys for them ... they are a smaller version of the wool dryer balls which she makes. Maybe we can convince her to share instructions with us ... what do you think, Alicia? By the way ... I've mentioned before that Alicia makes and sells Eco-friendly soaps, lip balms, lotions, etc. Well, she has recently unveiled a new online store and, to celebrate, she's hosting a giveaway of her products. So ... if you've wanted to try them as much as I have, head on over and enter to win. Just click HERE. Of course, one doesn't have to depend on "chance" to try her products ... just click HERE to make a purchase (she's offering free shipping).
Michele (aka The Vegetarian Who Hates Tofu) has only had her dog for 2 weeks. To begin, she's using Greenbone Doobags ... both the dispenser and the bags are biodegradable. Once her dog is a little more settled, she plans to switch her food to an organic variety ... better for her health and better for the environment. Nice!
@pinkladyapril shared some wonderful tips via twitter. Here's what she had to say: "I have 2 much loved cats who are kept in at night to prevent them attacking wildlife & I don't encourage birds in the garden as I don't want the cats to go for them & I don't think it's fair to encourage birds when you have cats. They eat dry food which is healthier & more environmentally friendly than canned meat as it comes in larger packs & is easier to portion control. They have a water fountain which stops their water getting stale & use a litter tray. I only have a small garden & no lawn so don't get much wildlife & won't encourage anything the cats would chase/hunt. Having said that my cats are so lazy the only "present" they occasionally bring me is the odd worm!! Lol!"
Jennifer realizes that owning a cat is, by virtue of it's carnivorous diet, a higher impact choice. She also notes that it's hard to buy truly local natural food for her cat. Even though handling and cooking raw meat isn't something Jennifer wants to do, she is going to talk to the meat sellers at her farmer's market to see if she can make her cat's diet more local. I hope you'll report back, Jennifer, and let us know how that goes. She uses pine/corn litter which is renewable and biodegradable and she folds litter bags out of old newspapers. Her cat is spayed and kept indoors so she's not contributing to native bird population losses or cat overpopulation. Thanks, again, Jennifer for suggesting this challenge ... it's been a good one!!
Nicole B. had several comments on CFLs including a wonderful suggestion for those who use Christmas lights. Read all of her comments HERE. She says that she needs help on the pet challenge and is anxious to read everyone thoughts. That said, she thinks that she can "green" her pet by changing it's food. Let us know how it goes, Nicole!
@gwened02 doesn't have a pet but she weighed in via twitter on how she protects wildlife: "I don't have any pets. We're still collecting elastic bands off the street to protect the birds & the hedgehogs."
Amy has two cats and both are neutered. In this way she lessens their impact by not having litters of babies that will need homes or may suffer. That would break my heart, too, Amy!
Tiffany doesn't have a pet but offers a resource for dog owners to buy biodegradable waste bags ... Annie's Blue Ribbon Store. If you're in Brooklyn, check them out ... if you're not in the area, they ship.
Josefin used twitter to share this great idea: "To protect wildlife you can avoid buying overfished species or buy MSC certified MSC.org."
EnviroFusion suggests Yesterday's News cat litter. She shares that it's a better choice for your feline family member. Since it's made from recycled paper, it's earth-friendly too!
Cinella says that some pet owners are "immortalizing their dog's poo". She also shares that adopting a pet is a good, earth-friendly choice. You can read her post HERE.
Katie doesn't have pets but some of her co-workers have cats so she plans to talk to them about how they make their pets "green". In this POST she shares some great tips for those who have fish. Yep, even fish can be "greened". Thanks, Katie!
Gaby has read about pet waste solutions where the waste is put in a container into the ground ... basically a septic system. She suggests, however, that it may pose a problem by contaminating groundwater. As I understand it, Gaby ... it very well may contaminate the ground and nearby water systems. With human waste septic systems, enzymes are added to the tank to kill bacteria. Dog waste, however, carries bacteria which the enzymes can't kill and which contaminate the surrounding area, including aquifers. This is also the reason why it's not a good idea to leave animal waste sitting on the lawn or in the garden.
In this POST Kris talks about her pet's worst environmental impact. Here's a hint ... it involves her food but isn't her food. Think you have the answer? Click on over to find out.
Using twitter Joanne shared the following: "All our pet care products are natural & eco friendly. We use a trusted source in Regina: Metro Pet Market > they care about your pets. Metro Pet Market's website is a gr8 resource 4 info on natural organic & eco friendly food & care products 4 pets bit.ly/erVMea. Help your pets cope with environmental toxins, which can cause cancer. Natural pet friendly antioxidants & cold water fish oils R GR8."
Amy wrote this POST and shares quite a few good tips and ideas. One of her suggestions is to buy products that last.
Brenna hopes to have chickens in her backyard and will use the many resources in her area to make them Eco-friendly. I hope you'll report back, Brenna, with that adventure. Awhile back she wrote this ARTICLE about our responsibility to animals. It's a brilliant, thought-provoking piece. Check it out and let us know what your thoughts are on whether or not we have a responsibility to animals and if so, what they are. Thanks, Brenna!
Mrs. Green has a pet named "Sunrise". It's not a dog ... it's not a cat ... it's a ... ahhh, you'll just have to click HERE to find out. Be sure to watch the video where you'll see Sunrise dance ... and read the commentary to find out how Mrs. Green obtains food for her pet (might surprise you). Regarding CFLs, Mrs. G was set, quite strongly, against them. After reading all the comments last week, she had this to say: "My take is that it's the cumulative sum of mercury that is a problem. Ok, so a bulb contains less mercury than an amalgam filling, but how many bulbs do we have in our homes? Not just one unless we live very low impact. Then, in 10 years time when the bulbs expire most of them might be dumped in landfill (because let's face it, not all folk recycle well) where, well, who knows what happens after that? Just as we celebrate making small positive changes because they add up to make significant differences, 'small' and seemingly insignificant 'negative' choices can add up to devastating impact too..."
Can a post entitled "Keep Your Tomatoes Regular with Oatmeal!" meet this week's challenge? Well it can if it's written by Rewinn. Check it out HERE and learn what he's going to try to make his cat more environmentally responsible.
Melanie used twitter to share this: "Thought of something for the challenge-when washing your dog, find way to save the water. Not much, but what came to mind."
Most of us search out dogs and cats as pets. But not Ellie. She has pet frogs ... two of them. So how is she going to green their routine? She says, "... they eat live crickets. I've been thinking a lot lately about how wasteful it is buying a tiny plastic container of crickets every week for them. I'm working on my blog post now (thanks for the inspiration) for what I am doing to try and make the frogs a little greener. I am making a "cricket house" from an old fish tank. That way I can buy one large bag of crickets and keep them alive for several weeks. This means I won't have to use multiple containers and I won't have to drive to the pet store every week." Wow! Can't wait to hear all about it, Ellie!!
Rachel quickly identified the main area where her pet's impact could be reduced ... it's food. She was buying cat food in pouches ... one meal per pouch and they can't be recycled (did you hear that collective "ooooooh"). She decided to switch to aluminum cans which contain 3-4 meals each ... containers which can be recycled. She braced herself for fly-infested, half-eaten cat food but was pleasantly surprised when her cats had no objections to the new diet (listen to the collective Yaaaaayyyyy and the audience cheering). You might remember that for our light bulb challenge, Rachel had a "blow out" prompting her husband to order LEDs as replacements. I was curious how she would like the new bulbs. Here's her review: "The LED lights have arrived now and they're horrible. Because the light's so directional the room feels a lot darker, even when the lit areas (work surfaces) are plenty light enough. They were advertised as 'warm' light but they're not at all. The information about light bulbs here and on AV's blog has been really interesting (AV - my attempts at a conversation on your blog failed because my longer comments just disappeared into the ether), and has prompted me to do a lot of research. I'll get round to writing a blog post on it when I'm less busy, but the conclusion is, I'm happy sticking with my CFLs." Rachel did free up some time and wrote this ARTICLE. It's really an interesting piece. In it she identifies the only good reason NOT to use CFLs. Does that mean she's giving them up? You'll find out at "her place".
Ann has fleas (no they aren't her pets ... LOL). She's looking for natural flea prevention/elimination and investigates one idea HERE. It wasn't effective so she's asking for advice on herbs and/or plants which will rid her home of these nasty little bugs ... she'd prefer not to use commercial bombs or sprays. Any advice for her? I hope you find something that works, Ann!
Stephanie wrote this POST which includes 10 tips for reducing the carbon pawprints of our pets. One of her suggestions seemed so obvious when I read it but ... I'm guessing that it's something most of us don't do. Curious? Check out tip number 2 of her article.
Wow ... weren't those comments, posts and discussions great?
The #CTWW Gang are those folks who share our challenges on twitter using the hashtag #CTWW. If you're a Twitter member, I highly recommend following them ... they have a lot of great things to say. Let's meet them:
My final thoughts: Pets are big business ... one can purchase pet insurance, clothing, toys and even find pet hotels, spas and bakeries. Our love for a pet is often exploited by companies trying to convince us that we must buy their product to be good, responsible owners. Often those products are made of plastic, come in wasteful containers and aren't healthy for animals. And even more often those products are harmful to the environment. With a little effort and thought, our pets can be just an "green" as we are ... and that makes us true responsible pet owners.
Great job, everyone! If you wrote an article, I have Stumbled, Tweeted and Facebooked it. You can help spread the "green" word by using the share feature at the bottom of this post.
This Week's Challenge:
This week's challenge comes from Mrs. Green who says "I think maybe with Christmas/Yule coming up we might start thinking about how we can buy gifts that comply with the other person's values, yet don't have too much of an impact; this is something I struggle with for friends who are NOT on my green wavelength." I decided to do Mrs. Green's challenge now because, as we've learned from several of our challenges, planning is often a key component to successful "green" living. Here you go:
This week, please share ideas on Eco-friendly gift giving. We're looking for anything which helps us choose "green" gifts that will please the receiver. Feel free to offer links, do-it-yourself projects, etc. ... the more creative the better.
So what do you think ... are you up for this challenge?
Until next time ...
WE'RE CHANGING THE WORLD ... ONE CHALLENGE AT A TIME!
Posts
25 comments:
1) I *love* Rachel's post. Great scientific research.
2) A link to the 53 choices in LED bulbs at Home Depot: http://bit.ly/rPaJUT
3) Holiday gifts - oy. I don't celebrate Christmas anymore, haven't much reason to since I have never believed in the whole God/Jesus thing. People say you can still celebrate it but if I decided to suddenly start celebrating Hanukkah, that would be out of place because I'm not Jewish. Anyhoo. I would much rather, when I do give, give spontaneously, give my time, give an experience. When my friends have birthdays I rarely think "what doodad can I buy them?" - instead it's 'how can I make them feel good?' - is it a massage? a night out? babysit? go to the park? people still get me stuff occasionally, but i remember their time more. i remember our dinners, our conversations. all that stuff just creates expectation, and i've seen too many families get hung up on it, see the holidays be about shopping and material things, and it's so unnerving. no one should ever say 'my child won't have a christmas because they don't have any/enough gifts'. fuck that. if that's how you base love, there's something much deeper at the root, and our society is broke because everyone's overextended themselves because of the 'stuff'. let's help each other see that there's more besides 'stuff', more besides tradition for tradition's sake, and give when it's in your heart, not because a calendar tells you, and give of your time. my dad always bought me lots of xmas gifts when i was growing up, but we never spent it together. he's dead, and i'd trade everything i own for another conversation with him.
Very nice ideas,We havent another wörld,We must guard environment and wörld,regards
Thanks EcoGrrl :-)
I'm not religious, but I still celebrate Christmas, for two reasons for: 1. Most people have time off work, so it's a good opportunity to go and visit people, 2. Christians just adopted an earlier festival marking the solstice anyway. We even have some of the old traditions - bringing evergreen branches into the house is very Pagan. At this latitude, the point at which daylight starts to increase again is something I feel is well worth celebrating!
As for presents, much as I hate thinking about Christmas too much in advance, I find that some "green" gifts take a lot of advance planning. For example, this year I'll be giving my mother in law a cutting from a lavender bush that I took over a year ago. OK I didn't really plan that far ahead - I took more cuttings than I needed in case some didn't take, then ended up with spare plants, which are now established and flowering.
In general, I think that giving consumable presents are a good way of avoiding the accumulation of stuff. I give homemade sweets, jam, wine, soap and moisturizer. I also like the idea of flavoured oils and vinegar, but the people I give to probably wouldn't appreciate those.
CTWW is up and running on:
http://ecocrap.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/change-the-world-wednesday-26th-oct/
Along with EcoGrrl I don't celebrate Xmas for Xmas' sake. I treat it as the time of the year for family. All year is family, but Xmas is the time when you remember all those little things that you forgot during the year. And her sentiments about gifts, well said. You don't need a Play Station to have a good Xmas, the values we teach our kids are all screwed up.
AV
just passing by to say hi!
how have you been? hope you're doing well.
just wanted you to know how much i appreciate you.
have a great day!
betty
I would like to share this link with your readers. I was given some of these wool dryer balls and I love them! This place is right here in North Carolina and they make quite a few different things including cat toys! Check it out! I think you will like it very much.
http://www.stoneymountainfarm.com/
Since Christmas is the Celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we have always taught our children that gifts from the heart are the best ones. We all love to bake so each year we will bake lots of different things and then use recycled materials for the gift wrap. This past year our son went into the woods behind our house and collected grape vines and we made some really cute baskets to put the goodies in. I also have used Christmas table cloths and napkins to make super cute gift bags. I know that technically giving baked items is not considered a green gift but most people like food so it doesn't go to waste and there is no wrapping paper to throw away and the bag or basket can be reused. I am doing a post on this next month because it is amazing the amount of wrapping paper that goes into the landfills during the holidays!
Oh I just wanted to thank you for the nice things you said about our new website and to let you know that on the sidebar on my blog is the tutorial for making the wool dryer balls. They are so easy and quick to make!
Thank you so much for all the eco pet tips. I don't have a dog yet, but I will sometime within the next year so this will be extremely useful.
As for this week's challenge, I've found that I get the biggest smiles from handcrafted or handmade gifts, and I took it one step further one year and I made green personal care and home product: Laundry detergent, body soap, hand soap, home sprays, etc. I put them in sanitized glass food jars that would have gone to recycling and decorated them. They were a hit and most of the recipes were easy, inexpensive and can be found all over the net. If you don't have time to make them yourself, their are literally thousands handmade/crafted independent merchants that would be so thrilled for your business this holiday season. You can find them on Etsy, Artfire, Storenvy.com & bigcartel.com . They are very good about posting detailed ingredients too. I better get working on this so that I'll have my batch ready for the Holidays! :)
I really like the idea of giving service-based gifts, like gift certificates to a local massage therapist, tickets to an event, or registration for a special class or workshop. After a certain point in our lives (gosh, I sound old), we have just about everything we need and want, so it's silly to keep spending money on things. When I do give physical presents now, they tend to be handmade (usually by me!) or antique, so I'm not supporting big corporations with dubious ethics. This time of year, I'm busy making dainty ceramic mugs at the pottery studio and am thinking of trying to make homemade caramels or truffles to fill them with.
I admit that while we still buy stuff, we do have some eco-friendly gift-giving ways too.
http://outwardlypleasant.blogspot.com/2011/10/change-world-wednesday-eco-friendly.html
Love reading all these comments from amazing people who are ready to change the world!
Here's one post http://www.greengiftsguide.com/wrap-your-gifts-green/
And many more to come :)
Actually, here is the link to the article for #CTWW, but the other one is great too :) http://www.greengiftsguide.com/thought-to-your-holiday-gift-list/
Blimey. Did I really set this challenge? I'm tying myself up in knots over it all! Anyway, all is written, ready to post on Friday morning...
I make a lot of home made stuff for my gifts. In fact, that's all I give usually and take a lot of time to make gifts that suit my friends' styles and interiors. I find the hardest ones to be 'eco friendly' for are children and notably my own. With the 'outside influence' even though they are homeschooled, it's not easy.
They are quite happy however getting something that's not 'new' so I spend a bit of time in advance hunting through flea markets and 'brocantes' here in France for things that are pre-loved but still in great condition that they might like, if only for stocking fillers. We also have a tendency to buy group or useful presents for Christmas like a trampoline for all one year for example.
We encourage the kids to make gifts for their friends and our family with all the stuff I have a tendency to hoard for a 'rainy creative day.'
Don't forget to donate toys and games your kids don't use any more to Good will. Our kids love sorting through their things so they can give something in great condition to children less fortunate than themselves.
It also encourages healthy 'decluttering' at a younger age :)
I almost forgot. Offering a unique service to friends is also an interesting idea. Or a week's ironing or housework, or babysitting for a tired mother for example - presented as a pretty home made voucher.
I love making gifts, especially when it comes to the kids. SO have your kids make something like a mug, t-shirt, picture frame or some other cool decorative item to give as a gift. My sons, tristin and tyler love drawing so they make pictures and then make frames out of recycled materials and decorate the frames! Also, my fave place for tips on green gifting is GREEN GIFTS GUIDE! Check my pal Amity out! www.greengiftsguide.com
Give the gift of doing. Get a gift card to a local, environmentally responsible restaurant. Going out for a good meal is an active, fun, gift.
Make the gift greener by biking there :)
So sorry I'm late this week, been hectic.
LOVE this Christmas challenge though. I made my own lavendar and vanilla bath salts and packaged them up nicely too. I also crochet gifts for friends and family. I figure this way there's less drives to the store and I know what I'm getting and sending out and what the ingredients are.
Other ideas are giving home baking...again, homemade always has better ingredients.
Alicia, love what you said about gifts from the heart! I love to give baked goods as well. I do all my baking vegan & use organic ingredients, so I feel like that is more eco-friendly then buying some other gifts. My brother always likes to get music and books, but he has a Kindle and an Ipod now so I can buy the downloadable versions. I also like the idea of giving an experience, like a gift card to a spa or tickets to the theater.
Loved the challenge this week! We have enough time start thinking and planning. I created some challenge for myself, so I hope to keep posting about different things I am doing.
http://allnaturalkatie.blogspot.com/2011/10/greener-holiday-season-ctww.html
Wow all of the comments are great, I make green eco-chic jewelry, but im now focused on how to give them with no waste.
Join my blog stringbeansinc.blogspot.com I will be posting, and creating a new way, a better way to give during the holidays.
Thanks Footprints your the best:)
Wow--quite a challenge. Guess I am going to start making my dog treats... Thanks for following me. I am glad you did so I could find you! Going to check you out on twitter, too.
Great round up. Very interesting stuff. For Jennifer who is wondering about the catfood, if it is of any comfort to her, I have read that pets do a lot better on this kind of diet- raw meat. Apparently it works well for dogs too. They are much healthier as a result of it so making an effort to feed them this way as local as she can is well worth it.
Loved all the tips! We just got a dog a few months ago and I'll be keeping these all in mind.
Recently my daughter decided to use our dog in her science experiment. Testing the foods that we feed him. So far it looks like he eats better and uses more for food for his energy (poops less)when the quality of food is higher (ie. higher in meats and less grain and nasty gook they put in dog food). anyway, not sure what the impact is on the environment, but I defintely think its and intersting thought. I'll let you know what her conclusions are.
As for Eco friendly and conscious gift giving, we are going to give gifts of homemade favorites to my neighbors. Some will get homemade canned fruit, others homemade granola, all things I know they love, will keep them healthy, and feed and nourish their tummies and spirits.
Happy Early Holidays!
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