Green Daily

Every week we pick a theme to explore in more depth, and this week that theme is eco-friendly pets. To read all our posts related to this theme, click here.

While most people connect animal waste problems to agriculture, even your own pet's waste can cause water pollution. When animal waste ends up in a lake or stream, it decomposes, releasing pollutants, causing excessive growth of weeds and algae, according to an article by Heather M. Crawford. Pet waste can also add pathogens to water, making water unsafe for human use. So what can you do? Pick up after your pet, of course! But how about after that? According to Crawford, you have three choices:

• Flush it down the toilet, so it will be treated in the same way as human waste.
• Put it in the trash. This is less effective, as it can still cause pollution from the landfill.
• Bury it in your yard. According to Crawford, make sure the hold is at least five inches deep and away from gardens or children's play areas, lakes, stream, wetlands, well, or ditch.

Other ideas:

• DON'T put it in your compost bin.
• Perhaps install an underground pet waste digester, like the Doggie Dooley.
• Don't leave it on your lawn to decay, as pathogens can be left there and picked up by humans.
• Don't freeze your dog's poop with POOP-FREEZE!

Cat waste can be scooped out and flushed down the toilet and the used litter can be bagged, sealed and disposed in the trash. Don't dump all the litter into your toilet! Also, reconsider using the most common kind of cat litter, clay litter, as it has serious environmental consequences due to strip mining.

See the gallery below for some products that can help you green up your pet's waste disposal!

Every week we pick a theme to explore in more depth, and this week that theme is eco-friendly pets. To read all our posts related to this theme, click here.

Pets carry a heavy body burden, in other words, the amount of harmful substances that shouldn't be in their bodies. For example, the Environmental Working Group took samples from dogs and cats and they found that the animals were polluted with many of the same chemicals that humans are, which makes sense, considering our pets live in the same environments we do.

With that in mind, it might be time to take some steps to make your dog healthier, and that goes for his personal care products too. Perhaps you've already switched over a bunch of your shampoos and soaps, getting rid of all the ones with questionable chemicals. Well, maybe it's time to do the same for your dog too!

See the gallery below for some organic dog shampoos! Your dog will feel like a very lucky dog indeed.

Flower sales have been slumping through the year, and the slump was expected to continue through Mother's Day, as Americans cut back on such luxuries, as food and gas prices continue to rise. Flower sales were expected to fall 13 percent this year, according to the National Retail Federation.

Higher gasoline prices are also hitting florists hard and some florists say even taking a drive to deliver flowers isn't worth it anymore, unless the arrangement is at worth at least $50

Even though Mother's Day is over now, if you do decide to buy flowers in the future, consider giving organic flowers. As far as buying locally-grown versus imported flowers, that can be a tossup in terms of carbon footprint, so don't use that as your only measure.

Most parents of young children will tell you, the toys can become totally overwhelming. Recently, I blogged about an article where the author, Pamela Paul, proposed raising the price of toys. The logic was that if the price of toys were higher, we would buy less of them, and therefore our children would appreciate them more. Of course, if we pay higher prices for toys, most of us would like to see the workers who make the toys receive more money for their work, not the multinationals who market them here.

Ten Thousand Villages works with over 100 artisan groups in more than 30 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America to bring you fair trade jewelry, home decor, toys, gifts and more. Ten Thousand Villages is one of the world's oldest and largest fair trade organizations. Fair trade enables the artisans to earn a fair wage, providing the opportunity for them to build better lives for themselves, their families and their communities. Here is a listing of their beautiful toys and gifts for children.

Please see the gallery below for a sample of the beautiful toys from Ten Thousand Villages

Every week we pick a theme to explore in more depth, and this week that theme is eco-friendly pets. To read all our posts related to this theme, click here.

If you or anyone you know is thinking about acquiring a pet, think Petfinder.com first!

Petfinder has over 11,000 adoption groups online with over 250,000 pets that are looking for forever homes. And it's not just cats and dogs, but barnyard animals, birds, horses, pigs, rabbits, reptiles and small and furry animals. If you already have a pet, but need some advice, also check out their extensive library of pet articles.

But before you adopt a dog or cat or any other animal, please make sure that you are ready to take on the immense responsibility that goes along with caring for an animal for it's entire lifespan. Here is a great article to help you make that decision.

So, you might be receiving a "government stimulus check" one of these days, from anywhere from $300 to $1200 bucks. What to do with all that cash?

• You could invest it in an environmentally-friendly investment.
• Just save in it your regular bank account for a rainy day.
• Pay off some debt.
• Use a little bit of it to stock up on some eco-friendly supplies like reusable bags, a reusable cup, and some green cleaning supplies.
• Stock your pantry with food and grocery supplies. With the price of groceries going up, stashing canned and dry food away could be a good investment indeed. I actually received an ad from a local supermarket, saying that if you cashed your check there, they would give you the full value of the check, in gift cards to their store, PLUS ten percent. Not a bad deal.

What do you plan to do with your check?

So when is it worth it to replace your refrigerator with a more-energy efficient model?

Lots of different opinions out there on this one, and here's another one. Alina Tugend sought the advice of Noah Horowitz, senior scientist at the National Resources Defense Council about when to chuck that older appliance. And here's what Horowitz had to say, "If it's avocado or brown-colored, it's time to retire it." In other words, if it came from the 70s, it's time for it to go, as those use three to four times as much energy as today's models.

According to the EPA, any appliance over 15 years old should be retired. And here's the clincher, when you do decide to retire it, according to Horowitz, do not resell it; recycle it (call your town or city for information). Also, don't move it to the basement as a second refrigerator.

And when the day finally comes that you and that avocado energy hog have to part ways, make sure you buy an Energy Star-certified model with a top-freezer design. And skip the ice maker and water dispenser.

If you haven't heard, Barbie's gone all eco on us, with a new line of accessories called Barbie BCause, a collection of accessories for girls which "repurposes excess fabric and trimmings from other Barbie doll fashions and products which would otherwise be discarded, creating a collection of "cool patchwork style accessories."

Apparently, this got quite a few environmentalists ticked off, according to Dan Mitchell of the NY Times. Aiming such greenwashing at adults is one thing, but when it's aimed at children? Jen Phillips on Mother Jones said that the whole line was pretty ironic considering that the dolls are made of plastic and packaged in plastic.

I covered the press release for the launch of Barbie BCause line here. All I know is, I honestly thought the original press release that I stumbled across was a joke and I made sure I found a copy on Mattel's site. Why? It just sounded kind of odd, and my skepticism was up that day, as it was April Fool's Day.

Golf Digest recaps the efforts of the golf industry to attempt to go green, amidst golf courses' many problems, including their maintenance, which requires massive amounts of water and chemicals.

John Barton spoke with experts about these attempts to green the green, and here's what he found out. According to these experts, golf will face a crisis over water in the future, as there simply won't be enough water for golf courses to keep using. According to one report cited, the average golf courses uses up to 300,000 gallons of water per day. Solutions include using wastewater for watering, raising mowing heights and using new strains of grass.

Pesticides, and finding eco-friendly replacements, are another problem. And finally, Barton concludes that another of golf's problems is the fact that environmentalism isn't going away and the "freakishly green wall-to-wall grass on a life support system of too much water and toxic chemicals," will go the way of the SUV, "less admired and even stigmatized."

Trying to make green changes in your life, but it all seems overwhelming? Taking small steps could be the way to go.

Janet Rae-Dupree explores the science behind how our brain makes new habits, in the New York Times this week. Brain researchers have discovered that when we consciously develop new habits, we create parallel synaptic paths in our brain and even new brain cells. Pretty cool. The more new things we try, and force ourselves to try, the more creative we become.

Here's the key though. Don't try to kill off the old habits; once they are in the brain, they are there to stay. Instead, you have to create new habits, and new parallel brain pathways.

M.J. Ryan, author of the book, "This Year I Will..." recommends a Japanese technique called kaizen, which promotes tiny, continuous improvements towards a goal. Such small steps don't set off the fear response, but keep us thinking and creative.

Well, we know the history of Mother's Day, and yes, it's become a highly commercialized holiday. But hey, it's apparently here to stay, and it's always nice to show Mom your appreciation with a little gift.

In that spirit, here are the Top 5 Worst Mother's Day Gifts:

1. Kitchen or house anything: Anything that is involved in cooking basic meals, or cleaning the house, not a great idea. Things like pots and pans and toasters and vacuums. Exceptions: Anything that mom specifically asked for in this category. Although I would still skip the vacuum cleaner.

2. Lingerie, nightgowns, that kind of thing: Whether you're an adult child buying it for your Mom, or a father buying it for the mother of your children, best to skip this one too.

3. Those generic hand lotion, bubble bath sets that have really strong scents: First of all, there is the whole fragrance issue. Second, women usually have their favorites of this stuff anyway, so just picking up some random products could mean they won't get used anyway (although they could be regifted I suppose!).

4. Random knick knacks for the house : Again, unless it's something Mom specifically asked for, skip it. Chances are she probably has enough of these already.

5. Pets: Giving pets as gifts, no matter for what holiday, is always a bad idea. Mother's Day is no exception. If your mom wanted a dog or a cat, she would go adopt one herself.

Note, these were gathered from a very rough, very small sample size, so your mileage may vary!

If you do feel inclined to buy mom a gift, keep it simple and check out Ellen's Top 10 Green Gift Ideas for Mom.

Time that shower, or cut it off!

Food prices are rising, rising, rising, all around the world, causing much hardship and even political unrest. The hardship extends to the U.S., and as always, it's the poor that are the first and most affected in hard times. And they probably weren't buying organics to begin with.

According to a recent Reuters article, nearly one in 10 Americans, around 28 million people, are expected to use food stamps this year, the highest number ever, excluding a spike after the hurricanes of 2005. Food stamps are hardly an answer these days though, as the average benefit per person is about $100 per month, which is $1 per person per meal.

Program officials say that food stamps were never intended to make up a family's entire food budget ,and are counseling people on how to make their stamps last as long as possible. Lawmakers also plan to add over $10 billion to the food stamp program over the next decade, as part of a massive agricultural bill.

This might just be the perfect little add-on to a baby shower gift or new baby gift: The Burt's Bees Baby Bee Getting Started Kit.

The Baby Bee Getting Started Kit comes with a sample of baby oil, lotion, bath wash, soap, diaper ointment, powder and shampoo bar. All products feature buttermilk as an ingredient and all of the products are paraben- and phthalate-free.

The cutest part might be the teeny baby comb that also comes with the package. It's always nice to get small sample sizes to try them out and they're not just good for babies, many new moms will enjoy them too.

Sells for around $13 on Burt's Bees or other retailers.

More for parents

Luigi Bormioli, world-renowned glass manufacturer, offers a great set of 100% recycled glassware, Luigi Bormioli Green.

The glassware in Luigi Bormioli Green is made from recycled materials. It has a slight green color and a small recycled logo can be found on the bottom of each piece. Luigi Bormioli Green offers barware, goblets, a pitcher, serving tray and a chip-n-dip. All the Green products come in 100% recycled packaging and the glassware is lead-free and dishwasher-safe.

The pricing is very reasonable too, with most items coming in around $20, either for a set of four glasses, or the other pieces. If you're looking for replacement glasses, or a new set of glassware if you're just starting out, these could be just the thing you're looking for. They are quite simple in style, yet I love the green tint, adding just a bit of interest.