Super Eco

Photo credit: mslume on flickr

The cat litter issue is a messy quagmire with some greener alternatives but no real completely green solution. A case of low impact, instead of no impact. There are three major issues related to the question of what litter to use. The health of your cat, the health of your family, and the health of the environment. Clumping scoop-able clay and non-clumping clay litters seem to be the biggest offenders on all three counts.

There is also danger associated with flushing cat feces down the toilet. Cat feces can contaminate the water table, ocean and the food we consume with Toxoplasma gondii. Researchers in a case-control study involving more than 500 participants report that "T. gondii is a widely prevalent parasite that is potentially responsible for significant morbidity and mortality in the congenitally infected child and those with immunosuppression and for high morbidity in all persons in the form of ocular disease.”

After weighing all of these concerns, happily, there are some very good solutions for us and our feline family.

Repurposed newspaper litter is one solution. My family always had cats. I remember as a kid tearing long strips of newspaper--not the funnies!--about 1/2 inch wide and filling the cleaned cat pan about 3/4 full. Our cats always used the cat pan without complaint. Reusing newspapers seemed cost effective and expeditious. The one downside to using fresh newspaper is that the inks in newspaper can cause irritation and a kind of contact dermatitis in some cats and people.

Recycled newspaper litters like Yesterday's News and Good Mews are a better solution, though not as cost effective as the Sunday paper. Newspaper is recycled by using a process of re-pulping, ink removal and screening. During the re-pulping process, long fibers are processed back into paper. The short fibers are considered waste but when they are compressed to remove water, formed into pellets, and dried they make a very good conventional cat litter alternative.

Reclaimed sawdust cat litters like Feline Pine and Beauticat are good choices because they are made from a waste item. Sawdust litters are relatively lightweight and fairly dust free, they also have a great smell. These are also quite scoop-able. Eco friendly poop bags work for cats too!

Grain cat litters like World's Best Cat litter and Swheat Scoop, which are made from corn and wheat by-products, are very popular as well.

If our cats are strictly indoor kitties--as the Humane Society recommends-- we can try reducing their carbon footprint by using the CatGenie, self flushing litter box, featured on Treehugger. "Toxoplasmosis is almost a non-issue with strictly indoor cats" according to the product's inventors.

The key is to find a litter that we, our kitties, and our planet can live with.

Try one, try 'em all, please feel free to share your favorites with us!

greening our dog's toys / brings eco friendly playing joys / to us and our pups... http://bit.ly/m0JFP

Photo credit: parabola-pop in SuperEco group on flickr

Thanks to Xeros Ltd, a forward thinking company in the UK, the future of green washing machines is about to take one giant leap towards a more sustainable future.

According to Eco geek this new washer will hit the market by the end of next year. By cleaning clothes with tiny plastic beads, this new machine allows for a 90 percent reduction in water usage and could reduce utility bills up to 30 percent.

The 3mm-long recyclable nylon beads, along with a small amount of water and detergent, flood the machine during the wash cycle, then drain away with the water when the wash is done. The beads can be reused hundreds of times. The machine will also have the added environmental benefit of eliminating the need for dry cleaning delicate clothing.

The company claims that these machines will have a hugely beneficial environmental impact, stating that: " If all US homes converted to the Xeros cleaning system, the reduction in carbon footprint is equivalent to taking 5 million cars off American roads."

hedgerow habitats / make the world a greener place / birds, bees, flowers, trees... http://bit.ly/d52qT5

Photo credit: somegeekintn on flickr

The evolution of dish and clothing washers into lean, mean, less-soap-guzzling machines, makes it more important than ever that we begin to use less and less soap.

The New York Times recently stated that most people are in denial about how much soap they use or should I say, overuse.

Our heavy handed soap usage is apparently making our clothing dingy looking, wearing it out sooner and not getting our dishes as clean. Also, at the same time, possibly damaging our machines. This goes for dish as well as clothing washers.

Here are some hints about how to use less:

1. The first step--and this is a hard one for me--is to actually read those handy dandy appliance manuals to find out what is recommended.
2. Using green versions of the high efficiency, low sudsing detergents for our dishes and clothing is best.
3. Marking the outside of cap with a black magic marker is helpful, many of the lines provided on detergent caps are sometimes really hard to see.
4. Find out if we have hard or soft water and adjust our soap consumption to suit our water.
5. With newer, more efficient machines less-is-more because they may tend to bog and work poorly with too much soap.
6. Always look for the Energy Star rating when buying a new appliance.
7. Remembering to recycle our detergent bottles and boxes is so important.
8. Try upcycling a plastic laundry bottle into a watering can!

Photo credit: blmurch on flickr

March 8th is International Women's Day  a day on which hundreds of events that celebrate women occur all around the world.

For so many women green is the color of choice, the color of hope. Green initiatives offer a way out of poverty and oppression for women and cast a new light upon their role within the nuclear and Global family.

2010 being declared the International Year of Biodiversity, makes this year's celebration of women more poignant since biodiversity is key to the survival and livelihood of so many women worldwide.

The green movement has so many incredible women achievers to celebrate. Here are just a few interesting sites that celebrate women and the environment:

1. Going Green: Women and the Environment at Women Make Movies films by and about women.
2. The Green Women listing at Best Green Blogs
3. The Green Belt Movement whose mission it is: "to mobilize community consciousness for self-determination, equity, improved livelihoods and security, and environmental conservation."
4. The Eco Mom Alliance "a global organization of mothers working collectively to reduce global warming and propel an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable future.
5. Audubon Women In Conservation Program "was created for girls and women to discover the world of conservation and connect with the best and brightest women leaders in the environmental movement."

Happy International Women's Day 2010!

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Saving energy / 26 ingenious ways / around the kitchen... http://bit.ly/10Aw7I

Photo credit: ms.lume on flickr

In 1894 John Muir wrote: "When California was wild, it was one sweet bee-garden throughout its entire length, north and south, and all the way across from the snowy Sierra to the ocean."

He continues by describing the immense biodiversity before him: "The great yellow days circled by uncounted, while I drifted toward the north, observing the countless forms of life thronging about me, lying down almost anywhere on the approach of night. And what glorious botanical beds I had! Often-times on awaking I would find several new species leaning over me and looking me full in the face, so that my studies would begin before rising."

This sounds like a beautiful dream, a beautiful impossible dream. But biodiversity because of its very nature is still within our reach. Favoring  biodiversity over monoculture, that is the crucial task at hand.

Here are some simple ways we can all foster green biodiversity:

1. Become informed about the historical biodiversity of where we live. Find out about local organizations that aid in the preservation of local endangered species, habitats and watershed. Learn what efforts are being attempted to restore these habitats and how we can help. Get the whole family involved.
2. Support worldwide conservation efforts whenever we can.
3. Research threatened and endangered plants species and provide some space in our landscape for them whenever possible.
4. Remove invasive species that may be choking out biodiversity on our small or large acre. Buy our seeds and plants from ethical organic sources. Plant heirloom varieties. Kick the pesticide/herbicide habit!
5. Support our local birds, they are great sowers of seed and plant a  butterfly/bee garden. Compost everything that you can.
6. Dedicate a "wilderness" area on our property where beneficial insects, birds and small wildlife may shelter and thrive. Plant a hedgerow habitat.
7. Buying our meats and produce from local ethical and organic farmers and markets whenever possible is so important.
8. Dialing back our fast food consumption sends an important message to companies that thrive on the devastating practices of monoculture.
9. Buy less stuff: use it up, wear it out, donate it, gift it. Reduce, reuse, recycle, upcycle, repeat!
10. If you are going to buy things, buy handmade things that support local economies, cottage industries and craftsmanship.
11. Whether we live in an urban or rural setting learning what we love about where we live is so important. Taking a walk in nearby nature, noticing that life is happening all around us, becoming connected, breathing...

Have a beautiful green day!

Being green and thrifty / is oh so very nifty / and always in style... http://bit.ly/X64UH