Friendly Dishware

Wikipedia defines bone china as “a type of porcelain body first developed in Britain in which calcined cattle bone (bone ash) is a major constituent.” Do you want to serve animal bone on your table? I do NOT.
There's a company called Fire and Light, based in Arcata Cali, that makes glassware from 91% crushed recycled glass. Thus, it's both animal and environmentally friendly. It is beautiful glaswore in rich colours, with a thick, heavy and simple yet extremely artistic. You can buy everything from candy dishes to zen bowls to a vase to a set of dinnerware. This product is sold all over USA and have a website for more information.

The world is in danger, we need to be its superheroes.
Love,
TreeHugger

Greening the Office

Here are some simple ways (From Umbra of Grist)

If you're looking to green your office, start with the EPA carbon footprint calculator. It's an Excel spreadsheet, based on well-respected work from the World Resources Institute. Next, look up some tips on how to cut down all over the Internet (or look at my previous blogs: one, two, three). Umbra recommends the Portland's Green Office Guide. Their improvement categories are office equipment, paper products, heating and cooling, water, and car-related items. Office equipment includes computers, refrigerators, and everything in between. Together with the self-explanatory paper products, office equipment should be responsibly sourced and responsibly discarded. Heating and cooling improvements could take place at the thermostat, in crawlspaces, and at the store, among other places. The water system includes hot water, sink, and toilet -- as well as landscape use. Car and transport impacts include commuting as well as business-related mileage, and don't forget the heat island parking lot. There's also the Clean Air Cool Planet and the Sierra Club.

The world is in danger, we need to be its superheroes.
Love,
TreeHugger

Make Your Cat Love You

Here are 8 tips to make your cat LURVE you.
(Based on the book 250 Things To Make Your Cat Adore You)
1. Scrunch up bits of tinfoil and roll them into balls. Try tossing and flicking them around the house. Your cat may pounce on and retreive it. Since they're shiny and ball-like, your cat will have hours of amusement.
2. Get your cat some catnip. You can buy them from the Humane Society and all money goes to support the animals.
3. “Create a ‘bag of tricks’ by placing an empty paper grocery bag on the floor. When kitty enters the bag, which is inevitable, sneak up and move your fingers lightly along the side. Using several bags will provide rapid-fire hiding places during finger attacks.”
4. Use the pull-tab from juice containers as a cat toy.
5. Use a laser pointer or a pencil flashlight, and run it over the walls and over the floor. I can make my cat go in circles for hours. Make sure you let them win once in a while.
6. Turn un-mated socks into cat toys. Put some catnip in the toe and put some safe stuffing around it, then tie. Easy peasy.
7. Put a toy on the end of a string at the end of a long stick and "cast" like a fishing rod.
8. When outdoors, pick up featheres, seaweed and other harmless things that your cat can play with. Your cat will find them smelly and fascinating, especially if he/she is an indoor cat.

The world is in danger, we need to be its superheroes.
Love,
TreeHugger

PS: My cat prefers the laser and fall leaves.

Humane Rodent Control

Mice are cute, but pests none the less. They are just looking for a home, someplace to raise a family - like humans. Technically, we stole their home, when we invaded and built cities and towns. The only problem is, a lot of people do not like them. However, we must be fair to them and be humane when getting rid of them! Mice and rats are complex, unique individuals with the capacity to experience a wide range of emotions. As highly intelligent as our canine friends, they're natural students who excel at learning and understanding concepts. We owe it to these gentle, social animals to do all that we can to peacefully coexist with them.

Here are some easy and humane ways to deal with mice.

Peppermint - Mice are not fond of peppermint, so a peppermint candle or scent will keep away and repel the mice and give your home a nice-smelling scent. :) HelpingAnimals.com suggests using a mixture of salad oil, garlic, horseradish and cayenne pepper. They instruct to let it sit for four days, then straining it and spraying it on the desired area. Moth balls and peppermint oil-soaked cotton balls also work well.

Holes - Make sure you seal the holes in your house so that they can simply not enter. Steel wool is good, but anything that makes your home entry-free will work too. This includes cracks in walls and floors, and spaces around doors, windows and plumming.

Food - Eliminate their food source. Keep counter surfaces, floors, and cabinets free of crumbs. Never feed your pets outside, and use a seed-catching tray for bird feeders.

Nesting - Rats and mice nest in bushes, plants and piles of wood, so keep them at least 2 feet away from the house.

Live traps - Use live traps instead of points, glue or snap traps. You can easily use a live trap for mice, then release them outside.

Make your own trap:

MICE:
Place dry oatmeal and peanut butter in a small plastic wastebasket in an area that is frequented by rodents. Provide the mice with a stack of bricks or books to climb up on, and they will jump in but won't be able to climb back out. Check the trap often. The mice will be hungry, thirsty, and frightened, and may die if left in the trap too long.

RATS:
Spread a dab of peanut butter on a 0.5-inch-by-1-inch wooden block, and place a dab of the Loganberry Paste on top of the peanut butter. Then place the baited block in the back of the trap and set the traps against walls in areas frequented by the rats, i.e., places where you've seen droppings in the past. The traps must be checked frequently—at least three times a day!

After trapping:
Once the mouse is trapped, put on heavy gloves, take the garbage can outside, and release mice at least 100 feet from the building, in a park, wooded area, or meadow. Clean the garbage can and/or live trap and the areas that rodents have been frequenting with a mild bleach solution.

When a rat is captured, a towel should be placed over the trap to keep the animal calm. Then the captured rat should be transported and released at a designated release site or in a wooded area close by. (In urban areas, rats can also be euthanized by barbiturate injection by a veterinarian or a qualified animal-shelter technician.) After you've released the animals, reset the traps and continue to keep them baited. If the baited traps are set for two weeks without being touched and there are no more signs of rats (i.e., droppings), that's a pretty good indication that the rats have been removed successfully.

NEVER be inhumane. Take a moment and send an email to Lowe's to ask them to stop selling glue traps, which are completely inhumane for mice. Click here to read my previous blog on this issue. (Go down after the Armani campaign)

The world is in danger, we need to be its superheroes.
Love,
TreeHugger

PS: Some cool facts about mice and why we should NOT kill them:
About Mice and RatsMuch like us, mice and rats are highly social creatures. They become attached to each other, love their families, and enjoy playing, wrestling, and sleeping curled up together. Despite the stereotypes of being "dirty" or "diseased," mice and rats are fastidiously clean animals who groom themselves several times a day and are less likely than dogs or cats to catch and transmit parasites and viruses. These nocturnal animals are found throughout North America and are extraordinarily successful in adapting to human environments. Rats can slip into buildings through quarter-size holes, and mice can squeeze into dime-size holes.Did You Know?Rats are very playful, love to be tickled, and make chirping noises that sound like laughter. Mice and rats are so smart that they can recognize their names and respond when called. Female mice with litters will vigorously defend their nests and young. Rats naturally have a pleasant perfume-like scent. Rats have excellent memories, and once rats learn a navigation route, they never forget it.

Food Waste

[Based on Ask Umbra; Grist.org]

12% of garbage in landfills is food waste, when it can easily be recycled or composted! If you have food waste, anything from coffee beans to banana peels to fish guts, it can be composted. It's as simple as a container with a bit of soil to start off, and some worms. Once the food is allow to decompose, you can return it to the ground for an extra fertile garden. There are also certain cities that offer recycling programs, such as the green bin in Toronto or central drop sites. Ask Umbra also gives the link Compostable Organics Out of Landfills by 2012.



The world is in danger, we need to be its superheroes.
Love,
TreeHugger

PS: My new years resolution: To stay up to date. Starting TODAY! HAPPY NEW YEAR!