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Probably you know about the pet food recall which happened recently. That massive pet food recall was carried out because of pet poisoning. Some known pet food brands were found to contain cheap components from China that were poisonous. Because of this, many companion animal owners have been on the lookout for alternatives to commercially manufactured pet foods. Many of these pet owners have resorted to making their own homemade pet food.

Maybe you have thought about learning to make your own homemade dog food but just do not know how to get started. I will attempt to give you some valuable tips on how to make homemade dry dog food.

Commercial pet foods can come in two varieties: wet and dry. As an alternative, it is easy to make your own wet or dry dog food with ingredients which you can easily locate in your own kitchen. To make homemade pet food can be just a matter of mixing ingredients together which are essential to a dog’s diet. Dogs require meat, some plant matter – vegetables and fruit, and a balanced amount of grains. Here are some ideas on how to make your own homemade pet food.

1. Mix brown rice, ground meat, water, and vegetables and cook them together. The amount of water will depend on whether you want the food to be wet or dry. If you want the pet food to be dry, then you may put only a small amount of water, and also add a little flour.

2. You can prepare a large quantity, sufficient for a number of days, and either keep it in the refrigerator or freeze it. However, never keep homemade dog food in the refrigerator longer than three days.

3. Do not include tea, chocolate, and coffee in the ingredients of your homemade dog food. These ingredients can cause seizures to the dog.

4. Carbohydrate can be used sparingly, and rice is the best source.

5. You can also include flour in your homemade pet food ingredients.

6. Garlic can also be included in the ingredients. Garlic helps dogs fight infection and keeping intestinal worms and fleas to a minimum. However, do not put too much of it as it can cause illness in your dog when ingested in large amounts.

7. You can experiment with adding small amounts of codliver oil or flaxseed oil to the ingredients of the homemade dog food. Codliver oil and flaxseed oil both contain omega 3 which is good for your dog’s skin and coat.

8. Keep some variety in your dog’s daily diet. You can do this by preparing different kinds of homemade food and using different ingredients every day or every other day.

9. You can give your dog raw meat or cooked meat, but never give partially cooked meat which can be a serious source of bacteria.

10. Never think of including raisins, grapes, onions, macadamia nuts, and nutmeg in the ingredients for your homemade dog food. These can cause problems to dogs.

See – making your own pet food is not that hard. You only need to learn the essential foods that can give your dog the nutrients it needs. Your vet may be able to provide you with some guidance on nutrition, but be aware that many vets recommend some type of commercial dog food, because they don’t learn nutrition in vet school and mostly obtain their information from the commercial pet food manufacturers.

Sun power is one of the best and most dependable renewable energy sources available. The problem most novice environmental warriors find is that the price of professionally installed solar power systems is way beyond their budget and it could take well over 10 years to see a return on their investment. Never fear, there are new things to consider. The most cost-effective way to take advantage of a solar system is building solar panels on your own. What you need is plans to build a solar panel!

Sound like too much? If you are concerned it would be difficult, it really is not true. It is simple to build solar panels with the proper instructions. Simple enough for children and adults. The parts aren’t complicated either. The supplies you would need to build solar panels are available at your local hardware store or you can purchase a solar panel kit, which will include all the necessary items to be generating your own electricity. Once you have the blueprints for a solar panel, you can construct several solar panels to power appliances or tools in your workshop. With the right instructions you could build solar panels to service a much larger electric load.

There are many resources and guides available with step by step plans for solar panels. An important first step is to locate quality step by step plans. Then it is off to to your local hardware store to find or order your supplies and next thing you know, you will be able to assemble and install the system yourself. Just beware, the neighbors may start asking you to build solar panels for them too.

Not only is it going to save you money to build solar panels yourself, but you can feel proud that you are doing your part for the environment as well. Being independent from fossil fuels and making an important impact on the world and in your neighborhood.

Commercial solar power systems can be very expensive to install and given our economy most of us don’t have spare money. Decide to go solar today and learn to build solar panels on your own. It will be savings you can be proud of.

Australia Solar Panel Government Rebates are available, through the Solar Homes and Communities Plan, for the installation of solar panel systems on individual houses and community use structures. Schools are no longer eligible for rebates under this plan.

The Solar Homes and Communities Plan ensures that funding get to the households that need them most through the application of specific requirements, with only families with an yearly gross income of less than $100,000 eligible for the rebates.

Listed here are the initial eligibility requirements for the Australia Solar Panel Government Rebates:

* Rebates and grants are available for the purchase and installation of major equipment items. Equipment cannot be second-hand.
* Residential rebates are for solar power systems that are connected to a main-grid or are very near to a main-grid.
* Any system eligible for a rebate under the Renewable Remote Power Generation Program is not eligible for the Solar Homes and Communities Plan; homeowners should discuss which monies to apply for with an accredited designer and installer.
* The person who completes the installation must be accredited for design and installation of solar power systems.
* Applicant’s household taxable income has to be lower than $100,000.

You can immediately see, the requirements are extremely precise and the monies provided are really minimal. Fortunately, knowing a little about the Australian people’s do it yourself mentality, there are very effective alternatives.

We recommend that you read the reviews that we have posted to our site. The reviews highlight the 3 absolute best diy manuals to do it yourself solar energy available today. The diy guides have all the instructions, you will need to be able, to precisely size your system, as well as for the different types of installations, that will depend upon your household situation. You will learn of a viable solution to the costly ‘contractor built’ systems.

In addition, the price of these instructional guides are very low and each are guaranteed for those that are not willing to proceed on their own.

You can join other concerned individuals who building a better tomorrow for themselves and the whole world!

Different people like different types of house, and according to that the designing of the house depends. There are many people who like to design their house in modern style, but in other hand many people still love the traditional style house blueprints. There are various types of Victorian and colonial styles of house planning available in the internet. You can research a bit before you go for your final call and choose from any of them.

Victorian style of house plan is one of the most popular traditional house plans. And today, there are many builders who are adding new touch to the old Victorian style so that your house can become beautiful and also the whole thing will look different. It will not just be the traditional designing, but also bit of modifications will make everything attractive, and you will get what you want.

Everyone wants to build their dream house. That is why, before investing into any house plans, you must check all the necessary details so that you can get benefited. Also, you need to check whether the house is perfect for your need and your family. Take your time to find the best house plans for you and go ahead to fulfill your dream.

See Beautiful Roof Top Gardens as part of a National Geographic Story here at

Up On The Roof

trixtownly asked:

Discovery Channel’s Planet Green show at SXSW with sustainable waves.

Caffeinated Content

Before buying clothes, jewelry, electronics or home furnishing, the sustainable shopper stops to consider these questions.
By Dan Shapley, The Daily Green

1. Do you really need it?

Facing economic stress unprecedented in our lifetimes, we might not need this reminder the way we did a couple years ago, but it’s always a question worth asking. Separating your “wants” from your “needs” is a good first step toward reducing the environmental impact of your purchases (not to mention the financial impact on your wallet). The environmental impact from buying comes primarily in the use of natural resources to manufacture the products in the first place. If you don’t buy it, you eliminate its impact.

Electronics

In the case of electronics, this can be a tricky question because outdated electronics are often just that — outdated. But as personal electronics proliferate, a big part of the appeal of the latest gadget is as much fashion as it is function. Discarded electronics, from the desktop computer to the lowly cell phone, contain toxic compounds, including, in many cases. plastics, flame retardants and heavy metals. These can leach from landfills or go into trash incinerators, and then up in smoke — and into the air we breathe. Not only that, but the electricity required to power all those electronic devices is derived, largely, from burning coal, which produces copious greenhouse gas emissions, as well as toxic mercury that contaminates fish, ecologically damaging acid rain and unhealthy smog. Bottom line: if you don’t need it, don’t buy it.

Home

In the case of home goods, furniture and cabinets can be made out of wood from virgin forests, or processed woods made with toxic glues. Deforestation not only wipes out the habitat for species—many of which, particularly in the case of tropical rain forests, have yet to be studied by scientists hunting for the next medical or nutritional breakthrough—but deforestation also is a leading contributor to greenhouse gas emissions (Indonesia and Brazil rank behind China and the U.S. in carbon emissions because of rapid deforestation, rather than heavy industry). Avoiding the purchase of wood-based home goods is one good decision you can make to help preserve the world’s forests—and its climate.

Jewelry

In the case of jewelry, the mining of precious metals and gems has one of the biggest environmental and human impacts. Gold mines represent the largest U.S. sources of mercury pollution, a potent toxic metal that attacks the brain. Diamond mining is notoriously tied with slave labor and the funding of systemic violence in Africa. Beyond that, mining anything involves not only tearing up a landscape, but also processing that typically uses toxic chemicals and metals. Avoiding unnecessary purchases avoids those impacts.

Fashion

Clothing, meanwhile, relies largely on cotton crops, which account for 10% of the world’s pesticide usage. In the United States cotton is commonly grown with more than 10 pounds of pesticide per acre annually (that’s more than three-times as much chemical as is used to grow conventional corn). Conventionally grown cotton also uses a whopping 142 pounds per acre of chemical fertilizer (much of it derived from natural gas, a fossil fuel).

2. Can you get it used?

Many products have a useful life that extends far beyond the needs of one owner. Many products can ably serve more than one master at a time. Ask your friends and neighbors if they can share. Before buying new, check local garage sales, thrift and antique stores, refurbished electronics stores, classifieds, auctions, clothing swaps—and their global on-line equivalents, freecycling, Craigslist and, of course, eBay—to look for items that can be given a second (or third, or fourth) life. Bottom line: buying used is the most environmentally sound way to buy, because it not only requires the use of no new natural resources in manufacturing, but also because it keeps a useful product out of a landfill or trash incinerator.

3. How was it made?

Particularly if you’re buying new, consider how a product was made: what materials were used, who made it and how were those workers treated? It’s often not the end-user or the end user’s community that suffers from the manufacture of products that aren’t made according to high environmental standards, but workers and local communities and ecosystems near the factories. Some suspect chemicals are also found in many common consumer products, so the question of progeny isn’t important just for the health of workers, but for consumers as well. eBay has made this step easier by bringing together ethical buyers and sellers via World of Good, which uses independent certifiers to ensure that only products that adhere to high environmental and human rights standards are offered for sale.

Electronics

In the case of electronics, a single cell phone might be made of 1,000 components, each manufactured from a set of natural resources and manmade chemicals—oils and solvents, plastics, heavy metals, flame retardants and more. These chemicals and metals may do no harm to you during the use of a gadget, but their manufacture and disposal can pollute the environment, or threaten the health of workers and others. Greenpeace assesses companies based on a variety of metrics, including the toxicity of the materials used to manufacture devices, and publishes its ratings in an annual Greener Gadgets guide.

Home

In the case of home goods, consider carefully the materials used to manufacture your decorations and furniture. The gold-standard for sustainable forestry is Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification. Look for the label whenever shopping for wood-based products. But you can do one better by choosing products made from recycled materials. Buying artwork and decorations? Consider the work of local artisans, or the independent artists selling through the likes of etsy.com or World of Good, so you can directly question the creator about his or her materials and processes.

Fashion

In the case of clothing, look for sustainable fibers like wool, bamboo and hemp, USDA organic-certified cottons fibers, and fabrics made from recycled materials, such as fleece made from recycled plastics. How clothing is made, and who makes it, is another concern. Green America has a useful list of companies that allow unions so you can avoid clothing made in sweatshops. Also check out these lists of companies that meet the standards of the Fair Labor Association, Social Accountability International.

Jewelry

For jewelry, 80% of newly mined gold ends up in retail jewelry, so the No Dirty Gold lists retailers that support better human rights and environmental protections at the world’s gold mines. Diamonds, as Leonardo DiCaprio brilliantly reminded us Blood Diamond, have often reached the consumer market only after a violent march across Africa, and the money spent on diamonds has ultimately fueled wider bloodshed. Unfortunately, the problem didn’t end with the movie, so Amnesty International and Global Witness have published a four questions consumers can ask jewelers to get some assurance that the diamonds being bought are “conflict-free.”

As with home goods, etsy.com and World of Good can be excellent sources for independent and ethical clothing and jewelry.

4. How is it packaged and shipped?

The making of a product is only part of what contributes to its environmental footprint. The materials used to package it, and the fuel used to transport it, are two other biggies. Studies have generally endorsed the proposition that online purchasing has a smaller environmental footprint than buying from a brick-and-mortar store, in large part because of the reduced energy costs associated with lighting and heating. Look for goods packaged minimally, and packaged with post-consumer recycled materials. If packing something of your own for sale on eBay or elsewhere, get creative: Crumple the paper that you’d otherwise have recycled to protect fragile items. Set aside a few boxes as you come across them, so you can re-use them when you need them. A minimum of thought can save significant resources over the long term. If you are buying from a brick-and-mortar store, ask questions of the store manage, or consult the company’s Web site for information about how they manage the efficiency and wastefulness of their supply chain.

5. How much energy or resources will it require to maintain?

The environmental impact of newly purchased items doesn’t necessarily end when you get them home. Clothing needs to be washed, and jewelry shined. Buying a new dress that you can run through the washer has less impact than one that must be dry cleaned, for instance, since many dry cleaners clean with toxic sovlents. Furniture may need to be washed, oiled waxed or reupholstered. Electronics—most obviously —need to be plugged in or charged. Look for Energy Star labels on home stereo and entertainment equipment, cordless phones as well as a range of other home electronics and most home appliances. The label will help you choose the most energy-efficient model, which decreases its ongoing cost, its electricity demand—and environmental impact.

6. Is it reusable, repairable, or at least recyclable?

What happens to that product once you’re done with it? Is it durable enough to be of use to your grandchildren? Can it have a second (or third or fourth) life once you’re done with it? If it breaks, do you have the means to repair it?

Not only does it save resources to buy durable, long-lasting goods, but it can also provide a good return on investment. When you’ve tired of a new product, you can sell it to recoup some of your costs—or even turn a profit. But often that’s only possible if you’ve purchased a good quality item with lasting value.

In the case of electronics, not all products are equally recyclable. Increasingly, pressure from non-profit groups and consumers has prompted electronics manufacturers to accept all used electronics for recycling. But for many products, it’s still the exception, rather than the rule. The Electronics Take Back Coalition is leading the effort to encourage companies to run free, comprehensive and easy-to-use programs that allow consumers to recycle used electronics and be confident that the used electronics will actually be recycled and not dumped, incinerated or exported to developing countries, where scavengers have been exposed to debilitating levels of pollution.

7. Does it help me go green in other ways?

The crown jewel of ethical buying comes if the purchase you make helps you maintain a green lifestyle. That may mean supporting local artisans with a purchase of a painting or piece of jewelry. It may mean buying a piece of clothing that lets you wear your passions on your sleeve—and educate friends and passers-by in the process. Or it may be as simple as buying a good raincoat…so you can walk instead of taking the cab on rainy days. It may mean that your next gadget isn’t a new video-mp3 player, but a home energy monitor, so you can track down and eliminate unnecessary electricity use.

Finally, maybe the purchase itself contributes to a cause, because the seller donates a portion of proceeds. Check with the organizations you support to see which companies they work with, and get in the habit of reading the environmental and sustainability sections of companies’ Web sites. One great way to connect with sellers that share your passions—and who will back up that passion with a donation based on your purchase—is via eBay Giving Works.

By Dave McIntyre -

Climate change has the global wine industry terrified. The rise in average temperatures threatens to make it difficult, if not impossible, to produce balanced wines in regions that have defined quality for centuries. That delights British winemakers, who dream of supplanting Bordeaux or champagne. But it does not bode well for hotter climes, such as Napa Valley.

So wineries are trying to save the planet. A group called the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance announced last week that 359 energy-saving projects at the state’s wineries had eliminated more than 30,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the past four years, the equivalent of removing more than 4,200 cars from rush-hour traffic. We can all applaud that. But “sustainable winegrowing” means more than saving electricity; it means protecting the land, and here’s where an “Earth-friendly” winery can influence us as consumers: by making better wine.

Are wines better if they are produced in an Earth-friendly manner? I think so, but I cannot prove it. I believe wines taste more vibrant when they are grown without pesticides and herbicides; they express a sense of place, an individuality that cannot be conveyed by a simple label of “cabernet” or “merlot.”

I’ll admit I want to believe that, but it makes sense. Earth-friendly farming should produce a better crop, whether it’s local lettuce or Carneros chardonnay.

There are three shades of green winegrowing: sustainable, organic and biodynamic, or what I like to call S/O/B wines. Unfortunately, there is no clear definition for any category, so there’s a “buyer beware” aspect to this discussion.

Sustainable, simply put, means the grapes were grown with few or no chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides, so the soil is nurtured and not depleted of nutrients. Sustainable viticulture differs from organic mainly in its lack of a formal definition or certification and oversight by an outside body. Sustainable growers maintain the freedom to use non-organic chemicals in dire situations when their crop is in jeopardy.

Organic is the most problematic category because of confusing legal definitions. When the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued regulations a few years ago defining “organic” agriculture, it characterized organic wine as that grown in organically certified vineyards and made without added sulfites. Sulfites keep wine from spoiling, and the wine industry typically refuses to sell you a product that is likely to go bad before you have a chance to enjoy it. So you are more likely to see a U.S. wine labeled “made from organically grown grapes” than one labeled simply “organic.” Or there will be no mention of the “O” word at all on the label.

Biodynamic winemaking goes way beyond organics: It views the vineyard as a holistic ecosystem and prescribes vineyard practices according to phases of the moon.

It might feel good to buy an Earth-friendly selection, but what ultimately matters is how the wine tastes. Try one with an open mind, and be prepared to have your conceptions of how the wine should taste challenged: That’s terroir, a sense of place, the flavor of a healthy vineyard.

Nurse’s notes –
By BETH SCHENK
“Human health is a subsystem of the Earth’s health. You cannot have well humans on a sick planet.”

- Thomas Berry

Why is caring for the earth so important, and why would Earth Day be the subject of a Nurse’s Notes column? Because the health of the environment is crucial to everyone’s health.

Of growing concern to our health are the effects of climate change. The U.S. Climate Change Science Program (www.climatescience.gov) looks at elements of climate change, putting together governmental and nongovernmental research to assess how human activities affect the climate and how we can prepare for or lessen these changes.

The program also outlines known and anticipated health effects of climate change. How will we treat these health problems? How will we plan for growing problems? How do we slow down the changes?

For instance, in the Rocky Mountain states, we expect more heat waves and extreme high temperatures, leading to earlier snowmelt and drought. These climate changes are associated with heat stress and heatstroke, and an increased impact on mortality for those who are more vulnerable.

With the heat waves and drought comes dreaded wildfires. Depending on the severity and longevity of the fire, we will suffer from degraded air quality, contributing to asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Many of the expected health effects are likely to fall disproportionately on the poor, elderly, disabled and uninsured. (www.climatescience.gov). Our already taxed system faces more pressure, our poor and vulnerable even greater challenges, our children increased risk. What do we do?

Consider the “Precautionary Principle” adopted by the American Nurses Association in 2003. It says, “When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically.”

In other words, since we have knowledge that climate changes are happening and these changes have health effects, it’s wise to take precautionary measures now, even as more evidence is being analyzed. This might lead us to increased screenings of vulnerable populations, increased risk education, and measures to prevent or lessen the damage to our climate.

This approach is right in line with how nurses are educated and how we approach decision-making in patient care. We use caution, we use evidence, we try to prevent health problems and illness, knowing that prevention is often easier and less expensive than treating the disease. For these reasons, working toward preventing further climate change and dealing with the problems that are already under way is a nursing concern. Dealing with these impacts will likely affect our careers and those of future nurses.

In the United States, approximately 6.6 tons (almost 15,000 pounds carbon equivalent) of greenhouse gases are emitted per person every year. Most of these emissions, about 82 percent, are from burning fossil fuels to generate electricity and power our cars. The remaining emissions are from methane from wastes in our landfills, raising livestock, natural gas pipelines and coal, as well as from industrial chemicals and other sources, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The United States emits more greenhouse gasses per person than any other country. Emissions also vary by state as they are based on many factors, such as the types of fuel used to generate electricity, the total population of a state, and the distance traveled by commuters. There are three areas where we can make the most impact in reducing carbon emissions – the electricity we use in our homes, the waste we produce, and the transportation we choose to use. Here are just a few ideas from Earth911:

• Change a light. Replacing a regular light bulb with a compact fluorescent one saves 150 pounds of carbon dioxide each year.

• Recycle more and buy recycled. Save up to 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide each year just by recycling half of your household waste.

• Check your tires. Having properly inflated tires means good gas mileage. For each gallon of gas saved, 20 pounds of carbon dioxide are also never produced.

• Use less hot water. Make the most of your hot water by insulating your tank and keeping the temperature at or below 120.

• Avoid products with a lot of packaging. Reducing your garbage by 10 percent reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 1,200 pounds.

• Adjust your thermostat. No matter where you set your dial, two degrees cooler in the winter or warmer in the summer can mean a reduction of 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.

• Plant a tree. A single tree can absorb 1 ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime.

• Turn off electronic devices when not in use. Unplugging your TV, DVD, computer and other electronic devices can save each household thousand of pounds of carbon dioxide each year.

Getting educated, speaking out and working toward supporting human health, intricately linked with that of the planet, are all good ways for us to celebrate Earth Day, which as we are reminded by the saying, is really every day.

Beth Schenk is a registered nurse and women’s health coordinator at St. Patrick Hospital and Health Sciences Center.

Now that it is so popular you may have found that there are tons of examples of how going green can save you money. Despite Kermit the Frog’s claims – it IS very easy being green. Not only is it easy but it can save you money at the same time. Our planet is facing a period of warming and our actions are believed to be a primary cause. That being the case, it just makes sense to seek out examples of how going green saves you money and act on them.

That cell phone charger that stays plugged in, the DVD player that waits for the occasional playing, and the TV that sits on standby all night, these are prime examples of how going green saves you money – if you unplug them, that is. For even if the items are not working, they are consuming energy!

You can also easily go green just by switching from bottled water to filtered tap water. On average a typical family spends some $1,400 a year on bottled water. That is not even the worst part. By not recycling over 95% of the plastic bottles end up in the garbage and land fills world wide! It is worthwhile investing less than $100 and you could get a high quality staged water filter to make your tap water perfect. Then just go and purchase stainless steel water bottles, as they over come the need for plastic and last a long time.

More examples of how going green can save you money are everywhere. Do you drive as fast as the law allows? You shouldn’t. You may have heard that your engines perform most efficiently at around 55 miles an hour. By simply using a light touch on your gas pedel, and combining that with properly inflated tires, you will find it easy to save money and help the planet too.

Have you considered using a bicycle to travel around town? To get some fresh air simply walk for those short trips. By reducing your carbon footprint you won’t be pouring hydrocarbons into the atmosphere which is what is warming the planet. You will also be saving money. A side benefit is that you will get some good exercise at the same time. Walking and cycling when you can are excellent examples of how going green saves you money.

Out of the approximately 65 million newspapers that are printed every day just in the US. Unfortunately 70% will not be recycled. Can you imagine this waste of trees? How can you can do your bit to help? In this day of Internet access you can now read whatever news you want to read simply by going online. Even local papers have an online presence these days, so save some money and read from the web pages. Just don’t spill your coffee on the keyboard.

Do you want more example of how going green saves you money? They are all around you. Just look and you certainly will find them.
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