Happy Earth Day, everyone!
On Earth Day 1990, my school handed out tiny saplings, no more than a few inches high, in paper Dixie cups. My dad let me plant it in the far corner of our backyard. I’m sure he expected it to die, but here we are 23 years later and that sapling is the evergreen you see framing the left side of this pic:
Little things matter. Over time, the littlest things can become big things, like this tree. So in honor of Earth Day, here are a few simple things you can do to green your pet-care routine:
- After a grooming session, collect all that fur. Instead of stuffing it in the trash, place the fur in a basket outside. Birds will flock to gather up that prime nest-building material.
- Imagine, thousands of years from now, anthropologists of the future will dig through our landfills to find evidence of our culture. What will they discover? Millions of (non-degraded) tied-tight plastic bags. Of course! they think. Our ancestors saved their most prized possessions in these bags to last for eternity! What’s inside? What can it be? They carefully unwrap the bags to discover… perfectly preserved dog poop. Switch to biodegradable poop bags so that the bag and the poop can degrade.
- If your local pet supply store has a “treat bar,” purchase a range of treats in bulk instead of lots of packages of several kinds of treats. You’ll be cutting down on the enormous amount of packaging you receive (especially if you bring your own bag).
- When it comes to eco-friendly pet care, an often-overlooked area is home maintenance. You have to clean your house, right? I am constantly cleaning noseprints off of windows, sweeping dog fur off of every flat surface, and wiping up huge quantities of dust/dander/mud. Instead of purchasing chemical-laden cleaning products that aren’t good for your pet or the planet, use non-toxic cleaners like baking soda and vinegar. Bonus: Baking soda makes a great dry shampoo for your pup, too! Just massage it into his fur, then brush out thoroughly.
Those are a few of my ideas to green my pet-care routine. Any other thoughts or suggestions? What little steps do you (or your dog!) take to be a little more eco-friendly?
Want to learn more about enjoying an eco-friendly life with your pets? It’s easy and oh-so-rewarding to lessen your pet’s carbon pawprint. Check out The Zero-Waste Pet to learn more, sign up for challenges, download freebies and so much more!
We switched to biodegradable earth-friendly poop bags and we recycle our bottled water bottles.
I am going to switch my cleaning products and try the baking soda on my dog since she hates a bath. I never thought of keeping dog fur for the birds but like that idea too! Thanks for sharing the green recipes! I’m certainly going to try them.
Great ideas! I’m happy to say I already do 3 out of your 4 suggestions! I don’t actually make my own cleaners, but I do buy all-natural, cruelty free cleaners. Never tried the baking soda thing though, that’s a great idea!
Environmentally friendly (also eco-friendly, nature friendly, and green) are ambiguous terms used to refer to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies claimed to inflict reduced, minimal, or no harm at all, upon ecosystems or the environment.,’
With kind thoughts
We also switched to biodegradable earth-friendly poop bags – so much better! Thanks for sharing this.
These are some very useful tips on how to manage our pets while still preserving the environment. This is a very good blog post that is asking us to change the way we behave and do things. I am sure lot of people will gain new ideas reading this blog.