How to go green, for your pet's sake and your own.

After adventuring off in Barcelona, I realized how "ungreen" I was when I was traveling. I had brought some food to munch on from the USA to Barcelona, and as I was flying back to the USA, I pondered as I ate my apple, thinking "I have to eat this well-traveled apple... and can't possibly bring it back to the states!" While we may think that our impact to the earth is minimal, I'm afraid it probably isn't... especially with a few billion people and all those extra carbon footprints. If everyone just made one or two small, extra steps, we just might be able to make a difference after all.

1. Recycle. Thankfully, most of us do this already, but let's take it to the extra level. When I travel to veterinary conferences, I'm depressed about how much advertising crap that I receive. Find out if your hotel recycles, and ask them to if they don't. Write a letter to your business hotel and demand that they provide recycling in the rooms. Next, look around your house. When you're throwing away that extra plastic bag (like a bread bag or that bag in your cereal box), think of all the poop you can pick up with it instead! When I'm scooping the backyard, I use a regular plastic bag to scoop into an empty cereal bag... and then just dump it all in the trash. Remember, when your dog poops once or twice a day, that's a lot of plastic bags. Try to conserve what you can! When you go to the grocery store, try to minimize the plastic bags that you take to bag up your veggies... after all, you have a ton at home if you just look for them.

2. Go online. When it comes to paying bills, don't bother doing it via snail mail. After all, you are dramatically reducing your carbon footprint by not asking someone to walk to your house to pick up your mail (your under-appreciated postal worker), driving it to the post office, utilizing energy to sort it, and deliver it again... and you can save yourself a stamp in the process. Nowadays, pay for everything online to help reduce inefficiency. Reduce paper production by asking that you get you electronic bills - no need for paper copies nowadays! That goes for those of you receiving newspapers nowadays. While it's relaxing to read the newspaper over your coffee, it's a lot of energy for that daily paper. Splurge and save the earth and just get the weekend newspaper instead.

3. Scoop poop. How does one go green scooping poop? If you're a cat owner, save an empty kitty litter container (you should be using the scoopable kind anyway, not the environmentally unfriendly, cheaper clay stuff that comes in 50 lb. bags!), line it with a plastic bag or two, and put it right next to your kitty litter container. I scoop every other day, and just scoop out the urine clumps and feces directly into the empty, covered container. You absolutely do not have to dump all that expensive, landfill-filling kitty litter - just scoop instead. I describe this more in my cat book It's a Cat's World... You Just Live in It (release date December 30, 2o008), so check it out. Once your plastic container is full, voila... just empty the bag and dump it out weekly. Not only does it help make your cat healthier (having a clean litter box), but it reduces the amount of litter and plastic bags that you are wasting. I scoop the yard once a week, reducing it from 7-10 bags to just 2 bags while scooping. I use one as a glove, and just scoop into the empty bag and help minimize plastic that way.

4. Use those reusable grocery bags. Thankfully, grocery stores are jumping on the bandwagon of popularity (and they are probably trying to save some $ in the process). Most grocery stores now sell $1 reusable sturdy bags. Leave them in your car, and remember to use them. Help minimize the number of plastic or paper bags you are using. If you need more plastic bags for scooping, no worries - just grab them out of the container at the supermarket where people are recycling them!

5. Go organic. I'm a huge gardener, and believe that if everyone just converted a small plot in their backyard (or a few pots on your balcony for you city dwellers), we could help save the world. I never have to grocery shop from July-October, thanks to my productive garden supply of tomatoes, catnip, basil, thyme, leeks, beans, eggplant, peppers, cucumbers, garlic chives, etc. Seriously - you can do it too. Not only is it fun to harvest, but it reduces the amount of gas needed to ship your veggies to your local market. If you are a city dweller, plant something small - herbs, etc. Those green plants are still helpful in minimizing carbon dioxide!

6. Save water. I admit, I use water to water my garden... but if you live in a location where grass wasn't intended to live, please don't water your lawn. Instead, think about converting your lawn to a rock garden or perennial garden (with local, native plants that have reduced water requirements) instead. Seriously. Also, consider using a water barrel. I rigged up a water bucket to catch all that extra, free water from my gutters, and use this to water my flowers. It's amazing how many gallons of water you get free this way with just one storm! Remember that this water is "dirty", and may contain chemicals from your rooftop and gutters, so only use it appropriately (not on your garden veggies). I use it to water my compost (it needs watering, you know!) and my flowers. Another more neurotic way of saving water: when I'm washing and refilling the water in my pets' huge water bowl, I dump the dirty water into a plant container... saving and reusing every last drop.

7. Compost and minimize your crap. When I lived in Ithaca, the eco-crunchy, hippy, granola, crunchy college town of Cornell, we had to pay for garbage by the pound. That wouldn't work in the rest of America because people would just litter instead, but it was motivation to recycle and compost. It's amazing how much you can reduce your waste by composting. Go online and learn how to make a secure one for your yard (chicken wire, and voila, you're done!). I bought one off craigslist and love it (black plastic). Any kitchen waste (aside from dairy or meat) can go in there, and it's a great way to fertilize my garden each spring. Stop by your local coffee shop - they are usually giving away their coffee grounds, which acts as extra brown material for your compost. Composting is really easy - once you research it. It's alternating brown and green materials. Leaves, then grass clippings, then leaves. Or veggies, then coffee grounds, then veggies. Better yet, just stir, add some water, and you're on your way to being eco-crunchy.

8. Boycott plastic bottles. I'm all for staying hydrated, and don't drink much soda, Gatorade, etc. Instead of buying those small plastic bottles (no matter how many times you refill them), splurge on a BPA-free 1 liter container to bring to work. It's easy to wash and helps minimize all those plastic bottles. Get them as holiday gifts, so your plastic wielding friend can go green to. Spread the word.

9. Travel light. OK, I admit, I wear the same clothes over and over again when I'm traveling, and I don't care. At the airport last week, I was shocked when a woman had exceeded the baggage weight on her both her huge bags during her cruise. Each weighed 54 lbs. I mean, how does one petite lady lug 108 lbs of crap? Go light. Pack, and then reduce it by 50%. Ask yourself if you really need to lug all that crap. Bring 2 t-shirts instead of 4, and just be dirty for a few extra days. I actually support the airline industries in charging people for their bags - after all, with the price of gas going up, it's expensive and environmentally unfriendly to lug lug it. Reduce your carbon footprint.

10. Be efficient. Ah, as if that wasn't the answer for all of life's problems. When running errands, be efficient. Write a shopping list of things that you can save up and wait on so you're just making one trip instead of 4-5 smaller trips. Go with your neighbor to minimize the cars out there. Fill up on gas, stop by the bank, get your groceries all at once, so you're minimizing the amount of gas. Don't idle your car. Don't drive around in circles looking for a parking spot - just grab one, shut off the car, and walk to where you can. While it sounds small, if we all did this, we'd really reduce the amount of fossil fuels that American seems to be obsessed with using. Turn down your thermostat at night when you're under those covers. I turn my thermostat off when I leave the house, and that's in the middle of winter in Minnesota! Carpool. Join your local co-operative to refill large bottles of laundry detergent or supplies, so you don't have to use another plastic bottle. Buy in bulk - better to buy a huge container versus 10 smaller containers, right? Reuse those Ziploc bags. Stop splurging and help reduce America's obsession with consumerism. After all, do you really need it?

11. Spay and neuter! Please promote spaying and neutering - think about the 8 million pets who are euthanized each year because of pet overpopulation. Think of all that extra crap that someone has to poop scoop each year, and all those extra plastic bags needed in the process. Each extra animal contributes a small amount towards a cute, little carbon footprint also...

I'll get off my soapbox now, but remember, all these things that we attempt to do are making a difference... for the air that you breath, and more importantly, for the air that our pets' breath. Let's cowboy up and save the world!

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