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Going Green: Green Your Pet

minnis
Adventurer B

I’ve written before about my rescue dogs, Polly and Samuel Adams—great dogs that really brighten up my day and my life!  I’m always looking for ideas and tips to help make sure they stay healthy and happy well into senior-hood.  

I stumbled across these great ideas to help your pet go Green from http://www.treehugger.com/, and thought you might enjoy them too.   

  1. Adopt from a shelter.  Why buy when you can adopt one of the 70,000 puppies and kittens born every day in the United States?  Love knows no pedigree.  Check out Petfinder.com to find your perfect match.
  2. Spay or neuter your pet.  As we mentioned above, 70,000 puppies and kittens are born every day in the United States.  In addition to controlling the population, spaying and neutering helps dogs and cats live longer, healthier lives.
  3. Think organic.  Since nutrition is one of the key determinants of health and resistance to disease in your pet, you’ll want your pet's chow to be comparable in quality with what you would eat.  Natural and organic pet foods use meats that are raised in sustainable, humane ways without added drugs or hormones, minimally processed, and preserved with natural substances, such as vitamins C and E. Certified-organic pet foods must meet strict USDA standards that spell out how ingredients are produced and processed, which means no pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, artificial preservatives, artificial ingredients, or genetically engineered ingredients.
  4. Pooper Scooper  Scoop up your dog waste in biodegradable poop bags so it isn’t in a landfill somewhere for hundreds of years.  Eco-friendly cat litters avoid the clay sediment found in clumping cat litter that can contain carcinogenic silica dust and sodium bentonite that can hurt your pets’ lungs and organs.
  5. Go sustainable.  Look for toys, collars, and leashes made from recycled materials or sustainable fibers (sans herbicides or pesticides) such as hemp.   You can even get pet beds made with organic cotton or even recycled PET bottles.
  6. Natural Clean  Lather up your pets with natural pet-care products for clean goodness that’s also good for the planet.  Also, look for cleaning products that are earth-friendly or that you know are gentle on the Planet and your pet’s delicate senses. 

Have fun with your pets and let us know what you do to Green your pet by commenting below!  Do you have a tip for Green Tuesday?  Let us know at Green@wnco.com. 

DING!  You are now free to be Green!