Greening the dogs

So, I have a good excuse. Last Friday, blogger wasn't allowing me access. That's my story and I'm using it for all it's worth. Never mind the fact I've felt like roadkill or that I'm still living at Matt's. but I digress...

For those of you who don't know, I've hooked up with Nashville PAW, writing something for their bi-monthly issues. The current issue (you can download a .pdf here) has my article about how to deal with the death of a pet.

What brings it up here, thought, is my next assignment - writing about how to go green with your pet! I'm really excited about this one, since I've already been making efforts to green up Madeline and Georgia, and I thought that I'd devote a post to what I've been doing with them, as a way to get geared up for the article.

For her whole life, Georgia has been pad-trained. This is thanks to the efforts of mom and dad, who managed to train a mutt to pee only inside a little blue square. Over the years, many of my friends have been alternately fascinated and grossed out (high school friends seemed to take it in stride, but over this past year, my poor roommate, Maggie, just couldn't stand it). When Georgia came to live with me in Nashville, she continued on her pad plan, and with the occasional weird accident (we think it's more of a political statement than 'accident'), she's done pretty well, even though she's 15.

Madeline, on the other hand, is NOT pad trained. She is insane. Ceasar Milan and I are trying to work through this, slowly but surely. We have had several successes. We are going on walks in the evening, which seem to chill her out a little bit. She does, generally, let me know when she wants to go outside to pee. But since I am driving so far to work these days, she is now spending her days in the bathroom, with a puppy pad that - ::shock:: ::awe:: she uses! This was a major victory for us. Then, last night, I caught her using Georgia's pad! This is wonderful! Still, she has her accidents, but I got her some Pooch Pants for times when i just can't monitor her every move, and things are working out well.

So - what's so green about this, you ask? Using those blue pads is AWFUL! It's like using disposable diapers! YUCK!

Well, about 6 months ago, I started experimenting with washable alternatives to those things. What I've ended up with is a combination of using washable pads that are meant for baby mattresses and putting 1/2 towels on top of them. The pee soaks in, but the poo gets tossed in the toilet. The pads get reused for a few days, but the used towels go in a trash can that (IS STIIIIIIINKY!) gets washed at least once a week. I'm using more water, but less stuff is ending up in the landfill.

I also found a really cool link today that fascinated me - here's a clip:

The Fairbanks North Star Borough estimates there are over 20,000 dogs within the 7,000 square mile borough. In Alaska, dogs are used for transportation, recreation and competitive sports. All these dogs produce a large volume of dog manure. Prior to this study the recommended disposal method for dog waste was to tightly seal it in plastic bags and haul it to the landfill. One musher reported that he threw dog waste over the river bank. Another said he tied the dogs on the river in the winter so the waste would wash away during the spring. Pollution from dog waste poses a serious threat to water quality, wildlife and public health.

WOW! Anyway, it's about how you can compost dog poo. Now, if I were cool like my brother and lived in a house, I could have a compost bin and a garden. But since I'm a city girl, into the sewer it goes.

So, that's my big 'green' project as far as the dogs go. They also are using Mrs. Meyer's Oatmeal Pet Shampoo and this new freshener stuff I just got from Pure Ayre. I'm looking forward with Madeline, who (since she goes outside) will probably need some sort of flea repellent. I got this Sentry product that I am going to try - it's all essential oils.

Georgia seems to have adapted to the towels-instead-of-blue-pads just fine, and the shampoo is a delightful experience for me, so we're pretty happy.

Well, onward and upward. We're venturing into March Madness season, folks, so things can only get more insane! I'm off to the VU vs. UT game tonight - catch it on ESPN if you know what's good fer ya!

Green Remodel phase 3: cleaning up and health concerns

With the floors nearly completed and all the plumbing stuff ordered, last week we reconnoitered to clean up what had quickly become a dust bomb. The sheetrock dust, sawdust and good ole people dust had combined to make the 1,000 square feet of condo look like a war zone.

Thank goodness mom arrived with her organizational skills (and, of course, a healthy dose of guilt for us about how messy we've been). We got that place clean and empty in just one afternoon. That freed up space to finish off the floors, and now we'll move on to the painting while our tile guy flies through the bathrooms and we await the arrival of toilets, sinks and countertops.

But getting the rest of my stuff out of the place and trying to quell the dust cloud (which resulted in both Matt and Dad hacking and horking) got me interested in how to stay healthy when you're remodeling. Obviously, you can't help making dust & dirt or disturbing what's already there. Not only that, but sometimes you're forced to use supplies that aren't exactly carbon-based-life-form-friendly.

Case in point is the experience of laying the bamboo floors in the back two rooms. We had to take up the carpet & pad that was there and then lay the floor directly on the concrete. In addition to the nasty dust created while trying rip up the carpet and then scraping bits of padding off of the slab (the padding was originally glued to the concrete with god-knows-what-kind-of glue), we then had to saw the flooring to fit where needed and then glue it down (whereas in the rest of the house we could nail it to the existing wood floors). Not only do you have a lung issue (ack - concrete dust and wood dust?!), but you have the problem of how to remove glue from your skin (Dad, that health nut, uses turpentine).

So - what can you do to stay healthy while remodeling? How can you keep your lungs safe? What can you use to clean so you don't burn off your skin? Here's some stuff I've found that can see you through any remodeling project.

Dust is oft-encountered and rather benign-seeming at first - from sheetrock, wood, etc. One of the first projects we did was opening up the wall to create a bar area between the kitchen and living room. This resulted in sheetrock removal, repair... and DUST.

Different kinds of dust cause different reactions, but in general, inhalation can lead to allergic reactions, asthma, diminished lung capacity, and cancer. Check out the CDC NIOSH report and the section about wood dust on this site.

There are lots of facemask options at out there, ranging from super-cheap to luxurious. And, if you're going to be kicking up dust in a localized, interior area, check out this super-cool toy called a ZipWall! I really wish we'd had that!

As for the glue, dad looked and looked, but could not find one that was non-toxic.
We bought this. When you're using this glue, it's best to wear a mask against the fumes and chemical-resistant gloves. When you need to clean glue off the wood itself (or your skin... if you didn't wear the aforementioned gloves... DAD), you CAN get something less corrosive than turpentine (which ) - try these wipes made by a glue company.

However, as I was looking for safety information, I came across this glue that is 100% green! MAN, I wish we'd known about this! It's DriTrac EcoUrethane. ::sigh:: I just have to remember that this *is* a learning process.

In my search for safety-related information, I also stumbled upon a very in-depth document provided by the CDC NIOSH about ergonomics for construction workers! Although my focus in terms of health was about avoiding poisonous stuff, I was intrigued that this document exists! It focuses on tools that help avoid physical stress as well as educates the reader a little bit about ergonomics.

Anyway, all of this continues to be a learning process! I will certainly be happy when the messy part is over, and we can finally get this puppy on the market. For now, though, I'll just have to content myself with digging into all this new information!

My worry over being clean while being green, part 1

First, a little update for you all - since I turned off my a/c, my NES bill went down by 30%! This is very good for my pockets!

Now, on to this week's topic: being clean.

First of all, I've always been a little manic about being clean. When I was in elementary school, there were these two boys who smelled simply awful, and I was not very nice to them about it - I vividly remember telling them, in front of everyone, to stand behind me in line because they had to be downwind. I was not (nor am I, actually), a very discreet person. I don't like other people being dirty and I don't like being dirty myself. My dad is a pretty smelly person, and my dogs are pretty smelly, too. Trying to eliminate the smells and dirt around me is a losing battle that I continue to fight, and part of that fight for me has always been showering at least once a day, wearing deodorant like a madwoman and spending Sundays cleaning. I talked before about being sweaty; maybe this is where my being clean paranoia comes from? I'm extra-paranoid because I've always found myself to not be very clean? I'm not sure.

Anyhow, several things have conspired lately to have me thinking about being clean in a bigger sense than just me.

A while back, there was news of Cate Blanchett taking two-minute showers and foregoing hair-washing in an effort to conserve water and therefore be earth-friendly. I thought about it, and although i generally take short showers, I have started experimenting with only showering every other day... and it is actually okay. I wash my face in the morning and put my hair back or in a braid, and I don't find that I smell or that I look gross. Maybe this is because I do nothing but sit in an office chair all day - not moving equals not sweating. Maybe it's because i've finally made it out of greasy-gross adolescence. Maybe it's because, like with the a/c, winter makes it easier. Whatever it is, I'm doing okay with alternating days.

Another factor may be the new dog in my life, Madeline. Now, Georgia, who we've had since I was 10, has never really smelled. Sure, she'll lay in the sun every so often and come away stinking, but in general she's never had that signature dog-smell. Madeline, however, definitely smells. It's sort of a dog smell, but it's also sort of unique to her. I love cuddling with her, so maybe i've gotten used to it, but maybe overall i'm just getting less manic about being so hyper-clean all the time.

In October, Slate ran a story on why being really clean can cause problems. I've always agreed with this in theory (of course, not with any actual science or self-research to back it up) - I've heard that kids who grow up on farms are less likely to develop allergies, etc. I think that being so manic about it is akin to a lot of other manias - if we'd just let go and be sensible about things, we would be better off in the end. I mean, living in the city has sort of encouraged me to let go. I track in black sooty stuff every day and so trying to keep my floors clean all the time would just be insane. And with two dogs in the house, it's just not possible to keep the place free of hair - mine or theirs!

So with that, I bid you a hearty adieu this Friday - I'll be back tomorrow with a follow-up to this, to tell you about my obsession with green cleaning products and how much happier I am with them!