While reading up on simple ways to go green in the ever-popular blogosphere, I read a short blurb from a Best Green Home Tips article stating:
"Got pets?: Let them go organic too. Many people forget their pets but currently there are many organic varieties of pet foods, green pet homes, and toys out there."
It made me think...and furrow my brow...and do some counting (fingers were involved). Given our little guy's daily life, around 90% of it is completely eco-friendly. Here's the run-down:
- His very important food choices (which took us weeks to get down pat) are either
all-natural, organic, or both. We use Science Diet Nature's Best Adult Cat Food, Chicken & Brown Rice Dinner for his everyday crunchies (we were ecstatic when we found it while looking at the Science Diet lineup, where our vet had steered us -- even moreso when we discovered he LOVES it). We throw the occasional wet food down for him, too -- the only brand we try to use is By Nature's Organics line (turkey & chicken flavors ONLY). We had an issue with anything containing fish meal, regardless of its organic status. So, this stuff is not only organic and fish meal-free, but he loves it. Bonus!
- His potty time is even eco-friendly. You've all seen the commercial -- we've got "World's Best Cat Litter". W
hile it isn't completely smell-free (do you emit zero smell when YOU poop?), it is pretty darn convenient and less smelly than the usual stuff. We keep an old Cool Whip container near the pan so that, whenever he goes, we can scoop it and bring it to the human commode to flush. I usually wait until he's gone a couple of times so that we're flushing less (our water usage has decreased A LOT since we went "mellow"). It's strange to be so happy flushing cat feces, knowing that clay mines aren't being stripped just for my cat's poop. Pretty cool shhhh....stuff.
- And Boo's #1 favorite toy is a green one that I bought for under $4 at a recent vet visit. It's only a long dowel with a jute rope and a cute mouse (remnant fabric) at the end. He tends to love anything that "hangs" for playtime -- including Mommy's hair.
But, Beardslee hasn't been a 100% green kitty, I'm afraid. From day one, we had gone into panic mode since he was so sick, just wanted to give him an opportunity to go potty and eat -- so, poor Dave went into Hannaford (and *gulp* later, Walmart) to stock up on goods. None of it was eco-friendly, much of it was cheap. So, the cat pan is plastic. Many of the toys we have (several as gifts) are plastic. The cat tower isn't the DIY project that I'd envisioned using old carpet for. But, we'd rather USE 'em than fill a landfill with them and be unappreciative. :-)
The "important stuff" that we have to buy regularly, though, is very green. Beardslee's on his way to being greener than we are -- and we're so proud!
"Got pets?: Let them go organic too. Many people forget their pets but currently there are many organic varieties of pet foods, green pet homes, and toys out there."
It made me think...and furrow my brow...and do some counting (fingers were involved). Given our little guy's daily life, around 90% of it is completely eco-friendly. Here's the run-down:
- His very important food choices (which took us weeks to get down pat) are either
all-natural, organic, or both. We use Science Diet Nature's Best Adult Cat Food, Chicken & Brown Rice Dinner for his everyday crunchies (we were ecstatic when we found it while looking at the Science Diet lineup, where our vet had steered us -- even moreso when we discovered he LOVES it). We throw the occasional wet food down for him, too -- the only brand we try to use is By Nature's Organics line (turkey & chicken flavors ONLY). We had an issue with anything containing fish meal, regardless of its organic status. So, this stuff is not only organic and fish meal-free, but he loves it. Bonus!- His potty time is even eco-friendly. You've all seen the commercial -- we've got "World's Best Cat Litter". W
hile it isn't completely smell-free (do you emit zero smell when YOU poop?), it is pretty darn convenient and less smelly than the usual stuff. We keep an old Cool Whip container near the pan so that, whenever he goes, we can scoop it and bring it to the human commode to flush. I usually wait until he's gone a couple of times so that we're flushing less (our water usage has decreased A LOT since we went "mellow"). It's strange to be so happy flushing cat feces, knowing that clay mines aren't being stripped just for my cat's poop. Pretty cool shhhh....stuff.- And Boo's #1 favorite toy is a green one that I bought for under $4 at a recent vet visit. It's only a long dowel with a jute rope and a cute mouse (remnant fabric) at the end. He tends to love anything that "hangs" for playtime -- including Mommy's hair.
But, Beardslee hasn't been a 100% green kitty, I'm afraid. From day one, we had gone into panic mode since he was so sick, just wanted to give him an opportunity to go potty and eat -- so, poor Dave went into Hannaford (and *gulp* later, Walmart) to stock up on goods. None of it was eco-friendly, much of it was cheap. So, the cat pan is plastic. Many of the toys we have (several as gifts) are plastic. The cat tower isn't the DIY project that I'd envisioned using old carpet for. But, we'd rather USE 'em than fill a landfill with them and be unappreciative. :-)
The "important stuff" that we have to buy regularly, though, is very green. Beardslee's on his way to being greener than we are -- and we're so proud!
If it makes you feel better, his plastic cat pan will probably last a long, long time - which makes it a decent use of plastic. And, besides, I'm not sure a wood cat pan would really fly that well for cleaning and just general odor. So, I give him the green 'pass' on that one :-)
ReplyDelete