Happy Friday! Super Eco wishes you a relaxing weekend with these green links to peruse at your leisure.

• The many roles of a tree Take the white oak some home owner placed in the backyard to create a shady spot. But even this single tree, isolated in a lawn, is giving a rich performance, not simply acting as a leafy umbrella. Let’s watch this oak tree to see what it’s doing. (Chelsea Green)
• Greenwashing alert: "eco" dog treats We've got a bone to pick with conventional dog biscuits. Like commercial dog food, they are made with un-green or even potentially dangerous ingredients. Surely, they're unworthy of a companion who greets your return from the mailbox with nothing less than rapture. But are the spendy, natural and/or organic versions worth the price of reducing Rover's carbon pawprint? Will your dog eat them, or even prefer them to cheap, commercial Milk-Bones? (Grist)
• Daryl Hannah reveals her arrest history GOOD recently spoke with activist/actor Daryl Hannah about biofuels, overcoming shyness and her run-ins with the law. (GOOD)
• Who gets rich in a geoengineered world? If we move forward with any of the various technologies that are now being discussed (a very big if), there's gonna be a lot of cash flying around. An obvious question: who will be the financial winners in a geoengineered world? (Grist)
• 8 great perennial vegetables almost anyone can grow Although—unlike fruits—there aren't too many vegetables that are perennials, many of the ones that do exist grow in a wide range of climates and, once established, are low-maintenance enough even for a lazy gardener like me. They're also among the healthiest veggies for you, and they're generally inexpensive to purchase, if you don't come from a family with its own royal roots line. (The Daily Green)
• For the man/fan in your life These pieces from Uncommon Goods, all made from a reclaimed gym floor, will definitely make your sports fan sit up and take notice. (Green Your Decor)

(Photo credit:OeildeNuit, SXC)

If humans have spent millions of years living lives inextricably linked with animals, what happens when we try to live without them? For children who've grown up without pets, we may be cutting their empathetic heartstrings. In her book "Made for Each Other," author Meg Daley Olmert examines signs that we may have broken the bond with animals that helped shape us into civilized humans in the first place. Pointing the way: the work of psychiatrist Aaron Katcher, who "sees the fallout from this sudden interspecies divorce every day in children who are too wild to participate in polite society."

Katcher treats children suffering from severe attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD). The surprising star among his attempts to help them calm and focus their behavior have been programs that bring the kids into contact with animals. His zoo program, launched in the early 1990s, sends kids to the zoo to care for and handle small zoo animals. The program was the first controlled clinical trial of an animal therapy designed to treat a disorder previously addressed only with drugs—and it was a smashing success. Residential counselors and schoolteachers noted a significant decline in the boys' negative symptoms, as compared with the control group.

What's the positive connection? Katcher believes it's a number of factors:

• Novelty of the zoo animals as a safe, uncritical point of interest
• Increased oxytocin levels created by the act of caregiving
• Forming an emotional bond with the animals

As Olmert summarizes, "The sensory and behavioral delight experienced while caring for animals just happens to be one of the most potent mechanisms for unleashing the grain chemicals missing in children afflicted with ADHD. Pets may not be pills, but it turns out they are very strong medicine." Maybe Mom was right: more snuggling will make things all better.

(Photo credit:harrykeely, SXC)

Fleas and ticks are constant sources of consternation. Pet owners, in an effort to protect their animals and family from fleas and serious tick borne illnesses, often turn to topical spot-on flea and tick treatments.

It is no secret that pesticides pose a dangerous threat to humans, wildlife and the environment. These topical remedies are powerful pesticides.

A recent upsurge in complaints, since 2008, from consumers about serious ill-side-effects arising from the use of these remedies has caused the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider the safety of these products. According to an article in the New York Times these sequella include skin irritations, hair loss, tremors and even fatality.

The EPA will be reviewing label efficacy and cautions as well as developing more complete and stringent testing protocols for these products." Steve Owens, assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances states that “New restrictions will be placed on these products and pet owners need to carefully read and follow all labeling before exposing your pet to a pesticide.”

An official EPA report is expected by October of this year and will be published on their website.

(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.

Proper cat feces disposal protocols vary by state and municipality. Remember, 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!

(Photo credit:mslume on flickr)

It's events like the recent death of a Sea World trainer who was drowned by a killer whale that make me doubt whether animals and humans really belong together. Even the casual observer can see that it's neither humane nor safe to keep oceangoing animals unnaturally confined for our entertainment. But how does this idea trickle down to, say, pets? When should humans leave well enough alone? Are pets and people a mix?

According to a new book from documentary writer Meg Daley Olmert, animals and people are in fact Made for Each Other. "The face that wolves stopped stalking us and we took them into our caves proved to be a miraculous leap of faith that changed our world forever," she writes. Her theories are far from sentimental. Drawing on behavioral psychology, neuroscience, anthropology and more, Olmert delves into how this bond developed in the first place and questions what happens when these ties are cut.

"Contrary to the romantic myth, these stunning emotional and therapeutic effects are not the product of our pet's 'unconditional love' for us," she writes. "The research described in this book pulls back that sentimental curtain to reveal the very real and even more wondrous science behind it—the physiological reality of why animals can love us, why we can love them, and why that love is so good for everyone it touches."

(Photo credit:white lion, SXC)

The frog was not talking about his garden when he sang "it's not easy being green" he was talking about his soul. Cultivating a green soul is not always easy but it is more worth the doing than just about anything I know.

When it becomes our goal to nurture nature we begin to cultivate a relationship that supports our entire ecosystem.

Remember, if it is poisoning the frogs, birds and insects, then it is probably poisoning us and our kids. So this year take a vow to ditch the pesticides and herbicides and grow a lawn and garden that the frog would be happy to sing his heart out in. Here are some helpful tips:

1. Let's begin by considering our home, garden and environs as part of our immediate family and treat them with the love and respect that they deserve.
2. Keep it simple, let some of the marginal areas of our small or large acre go native or wild. This makes less work for us and helps restore depleted habitats for pollinators and small wildlife. There is no shame in, as Jane Austen puts it, "a prettyish kind of little wilderness on one side of your lawn." You gotta love the style of those nature loving Victorians.
3. Growing grasses, flowers and vegetables that are suitable for our zone helps to maximize gratification from our landscape. Having our soil tested then amending it properly and organically is key.
4. Always choosing to go green with our dollar by sticking to organic and green gardening sites, seeds and supplies for our landscape, is easier now than ever.
5. Making Green Hour activities part of our family's daily routine helps us to build a healthy relationship with our environment. Remembering to dream green by visualizing our lives, our gardens and our planet greenly helps to reinforce their health via "ye olde power of positive thinking."

Happy green planning and I'll see you over the fence this spring with lots of green gardening tips!

(Photo credit:ms.lume on flickr)

Is this deformed cyclops frog real? Thankfully, it's not. I triple-checked, because you never know these days. Real and really freaky froggy mutations eerily similar to this Photoshop tweak aren't too far off in the future, give or take a leg or three.

The evidence, according to an Associated Press report released today: An alarming 1,895 species of frogs, toads and other amphibian cousins are dropping like their favorite food at an alarming rate. Why? Because of toxic fungus- and algae-brewing industrial and residential runoff water pollution and pharmaceutical-loaded pee from you and me. But you knew that. Don't forget climate change, habitat annihilation and ozone thinning.

Poor Kermit. Miss Piggy's codependency isn't enough. He has to have major existential issues, too. Literally.

And when frogs have problems, so do we, the fertilizer-sprinkling two-leggeds who endanger them. See, certain amphibians, like frogs, are indicator species. Basically, they are the first animals to show up warped when something's rotten in Denmark, and in the rest of the world and our environment. When frogs grow freaky, biodiversity scientists cry Red Alert. For example, they're warning that "up to 30 percent of all species on Earth could vanish by 2050 due to unsustainable human activities."

If you think mosquitoes are a pain now, just wait.

Actually, please don't.

Don't wait until Kermit ends up like the countless webbed wonders that died off before scientists could discover them. How can you help? Start by reading this and picking one or two easy action items to help slow the fast-forward plight of the frog. When you do, you also help the birds and other wildlife that rely on frog eggs and tadpoles for survival, and you help yourself and everyone else in this great and greatly diminishing web of life.

(Photo credit:flickr, azrainman)

"You become responsible forever for what you have tamed."
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I am not alone in being unable to enumerate the ways in which my life has been enriched by the pets that I have had the privilege of fostering.

Animals, of the pet persuasion, provide an awesome opportunity to build loving kindness and compassion in humanity. They become devoted to us on such a fundamental level and it is important to return that devotion with a healthy, clean environment and lots of loving care.

Here are some great ways to green up after and love your pet:

1. Whenever possible, support one of the many humane animal shelters across the country, by adopting a pet who really needs a home.  The Humane Society has a lot of useful information on pet adoption. Petfinder can also be a great online resource.
2. For the sake of your local environs it is so important to contain your cat or dog for their own safety. This also ensures that they do not have a negative impact on the well being of your neighbors, neighborhood and local wildlife. Protect birds and other wildlife from unattended roaming animals in your neighborhood.
3. Feed your pet a natural, healthy diet. This is so important in prolonging the life of any pet. As the saying goes "you are what you eat" and we have seen very recently the heartbreaking effects of bad food on pet longevity.
4. Buy Fluffy or Rover fewer and more high quality, environmentally friendly pet toys.
5. Think before hanging a poison collar on your pet, they can have devastating negative effects. Try an alternative pet pest control product.
6. Clean up after your dog and cat with biodegradable poop bags. This is especially important in protecting healthy water table viability.
7. We all like clean sheets and a healthy, clean living environment. Pets deserve and need the same thing, they are often sensitive and have allergies to airborne and contact pathogens. Keep your pet's living areas, bedding and toys clean, clean, clean!

Remember that pets provide wonderful support, emotionally and physically, and they even have their own social networking sites like dogster and catster. Love your pets, love yourself and have an ever so beautiful day!

(Photo credit:purplbutrfly on flickr)

YouTube is more scientific than we thought. Good for more than just showing us the joys of Chocolate Rain or useful for Rickrolling (<--- click that link! you know you want to!) the unwary, it also has helped us understand why birds dance.

Truly, a scientific breakthrough. Or is that breakdance?

Snowball the dancing (and singing) sulphur-crested cockatoo has been viewed more than 2 million times dancing to his favorite Back Street Boys song, "Everybody". Snowball also was noticed by a Harvard University group that studied more than 1000 YouTube videos of dancing animals and found 14 parrot species (and an elephant) that they deemed capable of genuinely keeping a beat. Scientists had previously thought that only humans could keep time with music, because animals hadn't been observed doing so in the wild. I think it has more to do with a lack of a good band than it does with ability.

But ... Back Street Boys? Would not be my first choice (sorry, Snowball).

Good thing Snowball also likes "Another One Bites the Dust."

(Photo credit:janikset, flickr)

Could we offer up the idea that things that are poisonous are ... well, poisonous? Today's case in point: flea collars, which deposit chemicals that are known to cause neurological damage and cancer all over your pet, your family and your home. The problem is so pervasive that the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has filed a lawsuit in California against major pet product retailers and manufacturers for illegally selling pet products containing a known cancer-causing chemical called propoxur without proper warning labels.

We're pleased as punch that someone is helping protect consumers from truly hazardous products. But there's more to learn and do here than simply moving flea collars into the no-buy zone. "Just because a product is sold in stores does not mean it is safe,” said Dr. Gina Solomon, NRDC senior scientist and physician, said of the toxic flea collars. “Under California law, consumers have a right to know if a flea control product exposes them to health risks before they buy it.”

The broader message that so often gets missed is this: Modern technology can be viciously effective, and products designed to poison succeed more often than not. In the end, then, flea collars are toxic to fleas, pets and humans alike. No matter how polished manufacturers become with their methods of delivery, toxic chemicals worn on a collar around your beloved pet's neck are going to end up on his fur, your hands, your carpets and furniture, your children ...

But for now, back to your pets. Most pets don't need annual chemical flea and tick control treatments, including heavy-handed, toxic foggers and pesticides. Begin a baseline flea care routine that includes frequent vacuuming, regular flea combing and removing ticks with tweezers. If you still have problems, your vet can recommend more rigorous yet still holistic treatments.

(Photo credit:allyaubry, flickr)