A Pet Treat Company Caring for Pets and the Environment

 My sister and I recently bought these great dog treats by a company called Zuke's. We've done a lot of research about pet food--learning about all of the horrible ingredients and by-products main-stream brands use in their products--so we're always on the lookout for natural products. 

What's great about Zuke's is that not only do they care about our pets, but about our environment as well. Just look at all the great things Zuke's is doing.

Zuke's is a company devoted to making healthy, affordable treats and chews using top-quality ingredients and formulas that reflect the latest scientific developments in animal wellness and nutrition. Zuke's dog and cat treats are made with care and are inspired by the unconditional love we receive from our pets as well as our crew's devotion to an active, outdoor lifestyle.

Made in the USA. All our dog and cat treats are made in the USA. All meats, grains, fruits and vegetables are sourced in the USA, with the exception of lamb and venison, which are supplied from New Zealand.

Healthy Pets, Healthy Planet. Our healthy, all natural dog treats, biscuits and chews and our cat treats are made with the care and attention our pets and our planet deserve.

Wind Power. Every box of Mini Bakes Biscuits and Superfood Biscuits are made in a manufacturing facility that is 100% wind powered.

Packaging. Our boxes are 100% recycled paperboard – we also made them smaller and filled them fuller to use 20% less material than our competitors. A smaller box means we ship more cases on every pallet – resulting in less green house gas emissions to get the product to you.

Sustainability. We pay our employees to leave the car at home and ride their bikes or scooters to work. We power our offices with 100% green electricity.

Give Back – The Dog and Cat Cancer Fund. Our pets love us so we give back! A portion of annual profits are donated to the DCCF. You can learn more and help the cause with a donation of your own.

Go to Zukes.com to learn more about all the great products they offer--for dogs and cats--and check out their store locator to find Zuke's treats near you.

Eggs Come From Chickens?

That's right. Eggs come from chickens, not form a styrofoam container at the grocery store. 

Currently my city is debating whether or not to allow residents to keep chickens. The initial meeting on November 18th allowed residents to voice their opinions--many are in favor of being allowed to raise 4-6 chickens--however, nothing will be decided until the December 16th meeting. 

Let me be clear to all chicken nay-sayers, there is not going to be a chicken apocalypse--it's only 4-6 hens and roosters are not allowed. No noise. No chicken apocalypse. Calm down. Do some research, heed the advice of those more knowledgeable about raising micro-flocks, and stop being ignorant.

It's always amusing to me that the citizens are vastly more knowledgeable on the subject of raising micro-flocks, while the officials--who haven't bothered to do any of their own research--ask absurd questions like "What is a chicken coop?" and then spend fifteen minutes trying to figure out what one is. Really!? My friends' 18 month-old daughter knows what a chicken coop is. Please note Exhibit A.

Exhibit A: Chicken Coop

Notice that a coop can be safe, functional, and attractive. This coop is great for a micro-flock of 4-6 hens. And, best of all, there are detailed building directions on backyardchickens.com for coops of all shapes, sizes and styles. The site also provides a well of chicken information like Raising Chickens 101.

My sister is really excited about the possibility of raising a micro-flock and she's becoming quite the eggspert--sorry, I couldn't help myself. Anyway, if you head over to her blog, S^5: Small Steps toward Self-Sufficient Sustainability, you can learn everything about the city meeting, coops, chickens, and more. Personally, I hoping for some colorful eggs like blue or green--as long as the breed of chicken is suitable to our environment. Arauncanas and Ameraucanas are two breeds that lay light-blue eggs and they are non-aggressive and cold-hardy--which will be very good for Michigan winters. Brahmas are also choice as they are gentle and both cold and heat-hardy. They lay brown eggs, but they sure are one eye-catching bird.

Left: Ameraucanas--Center: Brahma--Right: Arauncana with chicks

These two websites have proved very helpful in our chicken research: this site has a great comprehensive chart [link] and this site has great breed recommendations for backyard flocks [link]. 

The novel City Chicks: Keeping Micro-flocks of Chickens as Garden Helpers, Compost Makers, Bio-recyclers, and Local Food Producers is a great book to check out.

Do some research and learn how great raising a micro-flock of your own can be and stay tuned for an update on the great chicken debate in Portage--meeting December 16th.

RARE: Portraits of America's Endangered Species by Joel Sartore

RARE: Portraits of America's Endangered Species by Joel Sartore

Featuring some of the countries most endangered creatures. 

RARE from Joel Sartore on Vimeo.

"Some of them are likely to go extinct without people ever knowing they existed, and the goal of this book is to give them a voice. Part of a multi-year project documenting Earth's vanishing biodiversity, Rare shows what we stand to lose if we don't act now."

Joel is committed to conservation, especially in the Great Plains where he has lived his whole life. In his time with National Geographic, he has focused on endangered species and land use issues. He is co-founder of the Grassland Foundation, and a founding member of the International League of Conservation Photographers. 

You can find out more about Joel Sartore and his works at his website: joelsartore.com

The good news is that there is still time, and this book highlights what each of us can do to save these unique creatures — and ultimately, ourselves.  Photos of these species and many others — some never before published — highlight what we still have time to save.

 

Every one of us counts. Want to know what you can do to help? Here are a few simple, concrete action steps that you can take to help save endangered species.

1. Be an informed citizen. Learn what the environmental issues are in your town, state, nation and even globally.

2. Reduce, reuse, and recycle whatever goods you buy. Try to leave the smallest ecological footprint that you can each day.

3. Drive a more fuel-efficient vehicle. Better yet, take public transportation or ride a bike once in awhile. If everyone did their part, there would be no need for us to drill in the last wild places left on Earth, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

4. Don’t use chemicals on your lawn. They end up polluting the soil and water. And think twice before turning your sprinklers on. It’s a waste of water, something that is becoming scarcer every year. You’ll save time, money, and prevent pollution because you won’t have to mow nearly as often. Around the U.S., many citizens have planted native vegetation instead of bluegrass, resulting in a minimal need for water and care.

5. Support groups that are trying to do the right thing such as The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International and the World Wildlife Fund. Locally, the Conservation Alliance of the Great Plains does good work, supporting education and advocacy here in the Heartland. Joel Sartore is a founding member of this group.

6. Vote. We citizens tend to get the government we deserve. We elect politicians to represent our interests. Only when the majority of voters respect and care about nature will we begin to see the political changes needed to start saving the earth.

Find out more about RARE

These are some of my favorite images from RARE. You can find more images, videos and information at the book's webpage and at Joel Sartore's website. For me the loss of species is the most tragic consequence of the actions of man. RARE emotionally captures the losses of these magnificent creatures--ones we know and ones we may have never heard of--while providing hope that we can save them though changing the way we act.

A red wolf (Canis rufus gregoryi) at the Great Plains Zoo. (Endangered)

Portrait of an ocelot (Leopardis pardalis). Endangered.

A Choctawhatchee beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus allophrys). Endangered.

Hibiscus clayi, a Hawaiian plant, at the U.S. Botanical Garden Production Facility in Washington, DC. (Endangered)

Eastern hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis) at San Francisco State University. (Candidate for listing)

An American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo. (Threatened)

Captive northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) in a clearcut near Merlin, Oregon. Habitat loss and climate change are the two primary factors leading to the extinction of species. (Threatened)

Hours-old least tern (Sterna antillarum) chicks sleep as they're photographed near North Bend, Nebraska. (Interior population is listed as Endangered)

A mated pair of flattened musk turtles (Sternotherus depressus) at the Tennessee Aquarium.(Threatened)

An Atlantic loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) at the Riverbanks Zoo. (Threatened)

A gray wolf (Canis lupus) at the New York State Zoo. (Endangered in most US states)

You can help to save gray wolves now, by signing this petition, to stop their removal from the ESA (Endangered Species Act).

Recent reports suggest that President Obama's Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar, is prepared to agree to, and is actively promoting, legislative language that would eliminate Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for all gray wolves in the Northern Rockies, including those in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and portions of Washington, Oregon and Utah.

Not only would wolves lose protections, they would also be put beyond the reach of the ESA forever unless the Secretary, at his sole discretion, chooses to restore them to the list of threatened or endangered species. Even worse, under the language, there would be no  ability for the American public to petition for these protections in the future... regardless of how egregious state wolf management plans become.

The proposal is arbitrary and strikes a blow at the very foundation of the Endangered Species Act. Hundreds of wolves -- maybe more than a thousand -- could be killed. And you and I could lose America's most effective tool for protecting imperiled wildlife.

We don't have much time to stop Secretary Salazar's plan. Please urge your senators to reject Interior Secretary Salazar's backroom deal to remove protections for wolves and harm the ESA.

Going Green--Ellen DeGeneres

Read The Green Book

“We live in a world where we can get anything we want, anyplace, anytime. And the faster we get it, the better. Wanna make a phone call? Speed dial. Wanna send a thank-you card? E-mail. Wanna go to the corner store? Get in the car. Our world is becoming so convenient that we take it for granted.

I’ve seen people drinking water out of plastic bottles and then not recycling them. That’s infuriating. I know it’s faster to throw it in the garbage. But if you’re going to buy water individually bottled for your convenience, then all I say is, take the time and put it in the can marked ‘Recycle.’ It’s a small thing that makes a big difference.

People don’t realize how little it takes to change our world for the better. Here’s something I didn’t know: I thought that all the oil in our oceans was causes by tanker spills. It’s not. I learned that twenty-four million out of the twenty-nine million gallons of oil that go into North America’s oceans each year are caused by human activities. Twenty-four million gallons of oil! That’s crazy! I usually use it by the tablespoon. What happens is we pour cooking oil into our sinks, top off our gas tanks, and hose down grease from our cars into storm drains, then it goes into our oceans.

We can fix that. Put your cooking oil into a container and throw it in the garbage. Don’t top off your gas tank. Use drip pans when you work on your car, and take used oil and antifreeze to recycling centers. These are things we can do. And I’m also going to talk to Richard Simmons about his oil usage. Maybe we can get those numbers down.”

—Ellen DeGeneres 

Rogers, Elizabeth, Thomas Kostigen, and Thomas M. The green book: the everyday guide to saving the planet one simple step at a time. Three Rivers Press, 2007. 13. Print. 

Ways to Reuse Plastic Bags

While cloth and canvas reusable bags--which you can get anywhere--are the best way to go, inevitably we forget them at home or in our car. So, here are 5 easy ways to reuse plastic bags courtesy of Target. But a great incentive to remember your reusable bags is that most business give a discount for using them. Target for example gives you 5 cents off your total purchase for every Target reusable bag you use.

1. Tiny Trash Can Liner

2. Doggy Duty

3. Soggy Laundry

4. Tomorrows Lunch Bag

5. Care Package Padding 

Ignorance is Perilious

Nothing like a little news satire to put things in perspective. It's amazing how ignorant our representatives are. Nor can they separate church and state or understand the basic concepts of geology that an elementary student understands. I guess they didn't get to watch "Bill Nye the Science Guy" in school.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Chair Apparent
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election March to Keep Fear Alive

10 Easy Ways to Go Green: Go Easy on the Environment with These 10 Tips

Going green is easy. Check out these simple and easy steps to make environmentally conscious choices in your everyday life.

10 Easy Ways to Go Green: Go Easy on the Environment with These 10 Tips

Switch to CFLs (compact fluorescent light bulbs).

CFLs use 75% less energy and last up to 10 times longer--10,000 hours vs. 1,500 hours--than a traditional light bulb.

 Did you know that anything with an LED (light emitting diode) continues to draw power even after they're turned off? To save money and energy, plug appliances and electronics like cell phone chargers, TVs, and printers into power strips instead of wall sockets. When you're done using them, flip of the power to cut the flow of electricity.

A leaky faucet can waste up to 74 gallons of water a day, and a leaky toilet can waste up to 200 gallons a day. Fix the drip and save $30 a year and stop wasting up to 73,000 gallons of water a year.

Wolves Recycle, Why Can't Humans?

How random when you come across a comic that embodies the subject your talking about. If humans just did our part to take care of the only planet we have, we'd be a lot better off.

Did you know?

Every 10 aluminum or steel cans recycled saves 4 pounds of carbon.

Every 10 glass bottles recycles saves 3 pounds of carbon.

If you recycle newspapers, you could save 50 pounds of carbon a year.

If offices recycled, they could reduce the waste they send to landfills by 50%--a savings of 33 million tons--which is enough to save 561 million trees.

--The Green Book

Every 3 months, Americans put enough aluminum cans in landfills to rebuild America's entire commercial air fleet.

In the average person's lifetime, they have the opportunity to recycle more than 25,000 cans.

You can power a TV for 3 hours by recycling 1 aluminum can.

Each year, Americans throw away enough office paper to build a 12 foot high wall of paper from New York to Seattle.

Making paper from recycled paper reduces contributions to air pollution by 95%.

Recycling a 3 foot tall stack of newspapers saves a tree.

Glass can be recycled an indefinite number of times.

Making glass from recycled materials cuts related water pollution by 50%.

By recycling 1 glass jar you can save enough electricity to light a conventional 60-watt bulb for 4 hours, or an 11-watt CFL (compact fluorescent light-bulb)for 20 hours.

 --National Recycling Coalition

Top 10 Reason to Recycle brought to you by the National Recycling Coalition

America Recycles Day

1. Good For Our Economy
American companies rely on recycling programs to provide the raw materials they need to make new products.

2. Creates Jobs
Recycling in the U.S. is a $236 billion a year industry. More than 56,000 recycling and reuse enterprises employ 1.1 million workers nationwide.

3. Reduces Waste
The average American discards seven and a half pounds of garbage every day. Most of this garbage goes into to landfills, where it's compacted and buried.

4. Good For The Environment
Recycling requires far less energy, uses fewer natural resources, and keeps waste from piling up in landfills.

5. Saves Energy
Recycling offers significant energy savings over manufacturing with virgin materials. (Manufacturing with recycled aluminum cans uses 95% less energy.)

6. Preserves Landfill Space
No one wants to live next door to a landfill. Recycling preserves existing landfill space.

7. Prevents Global Warming
In 2000, recycling of solid waste prevented the release of 32.9 million metric tons of carbon equivalent (MMTCE, the unit of measure for greenhouse gases) into the air.

8. Reduces Water Pollution
Making goods from recycled materials generates far less water pollution than manufacturing from virgin materials.

9. Protects Wildlife
Using recycled materials reduces the need to damage forests, wetlands, rivers and other places essential to wildlife.

10. Creates New Demand
Recycling and buying recycled products creates demand for more recycled products, decreasing waste and helping our economy.      

--National Recycling Coalition

                                                               

So, what's it all about?

Random Acts of Environmental Awareness is my course project about becoming more aware of the environment. But what's that really mean? Well for me it means several things. 

It's about understanding the scientific data about environmental issues like Global Climate Change. Be warned that the IPPC reports are a beast to get through, but they hold a wealth of information. 

It's about becoming aware of the real affects that global climate change and other environmental issues are having on the planet. The current course reading, Eaarth by Bill McKibben, is putting into harsh reality the scientific data presented in the IPPC reports. Reading the entire novel seems like it's going to be an arduous task, as the first chapter "A New World" has left me utterly deflated and depressed. I think I'm going to need a chocolate bar the size of my head, a stock of funny YouTube videos and a David Sedaris novel to get me through Eaarth.

Starting Small.

Discovering local issues is one important step. For example my town is debating whether or not to change city ordinances to allow chickens. Try not to fall over with laughter when I tell you the old ordinance required 10 acres for 1 chicken. I'm not joking. You can have a horse on 5 acres, but if you want a chicken you need 10 acres!? That's one free-range chicken.

Start out with simple and easy changes like unplugging your unused appliances, switching out your light bulbs, turning of the water while you brush your teeth, and recycling. Small changes add up and they can have a big impact.

Perhaps one of the most important thing you can do is get outside! How are you going to care about the environment or global environmental issues if you stay inside all day? Take time to do any outdoor activity--whatever it is you like to do--go for a walk with your dog, go to a local park or trail, go bike riding, go hiking, go outside and start a garden. While I try to garden, it's only a three month activity in MI and I've found a limited number of plants I cannot kill, lilies and hostas. But, I do love going for walks with my sister and our dog. Going out to different parks, taking my camera and discovering new things with each place we go to.

In summary, this blog is about awareness. Becoming more aware of the environment and environmental issues is the first step toward change. Hopefully, you'll learn something, try out some simple and easy changes, and get outdoors. 

-- in media res