Do It Yourself |
Grab a pocket guide and help protect familes, pets, and the planet from toxic chemicals with some simple steps! Many flea and tick products sold on grocery store shelves contain poisons that are not safe for pets or people. Fortunately, there are some safer conventional options for occasional, short-term use and a list of other ways to win the war against flea and ticks the natural way! Learn more at GreenPaws.org
Keep Poisons off of Pets and People! As a well-intended pet owner, you might apply off-the-shelf products to your four-legged friend to help kill fleas and ticks. But did you know that these collars, sprays, and dusts-may actually harm your pet, or even your child? You can take simple steps to protect your families and pets from the most toxic chemicals. Check out this fact sheet and visit www.greenpaws.org for information about safer options and other ways to win the war against fleas and ticks safely!
Use Your Brain: Green Your Office Guide Bring Your Own: Disposable cups=waste. Waste=pollution. Also, Styrofoam cups, commonly used in offices, leach styrene-- a nasty contaminate of groundwater, local habitats, and potentially you. Print on Both Sides A typical office uses about 350 pounds of wastepaper per employee per year. Buying 40 cases of copy paper made of 100% post-consumer recycled stock saves: 24 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, 4,100-kilowatt hours of electricity, and 60 pounds of air pollution. Set printers to default double-sided printing, or make a “draft” tray and fill it with paper still blank on one side. Avoid bathroom products from Kimberly-Clark, as they’re the worst paper industry polluters and out there. Use The Tap NRDC's testing has found most bottles waters to be no purer than tap water. It takes 26 times more water to make the plastic for the bottle than the bottle contains. 50 billion plastic waters bottles are consumed in the U.S. yearly. Only 13% of them are recycled. Set up an obvious paper recycling station in your office, and make sure all your co-workers know to use it. If your print me, post me
Ah, the age old checkout line quandary: paper or plastic? Do you dread the decision as your food glides towards the clerk--which would be the responsible choice? Which, if either, will tell those around you that you're a conscientious consumer (or a callous jerk)? Actually, they're both pretty bad calls. Plastic bags often end up as litter sullying up the landscape and finding their way into the ocean, where they foul up aquatic ecosystems and kill hundreds of thousands of marine mammals like whales, dolphins, and sea turtles every year. Those that wind up in landfills may take a thousand years to break down--likely outlasting the landfill itself. Paper ain't all that much better. Especially since paper bags are born of trees. In fact, the 10 billion or so paper bags hauled home from markets yearly by Americans represent 14 million trees that've been chopped down. So what's an enlightened consumer to do? Easy--bring you own bag. Reusable shopping bags are fast becoming a "must have" accessory for the eco-chic set. Show you care, respect yourself and the planet, and offer the best possible answer when asked "paper or plastic": neither.