Good Grief, What Next?

We all have them from time to time; you know, one of those days where you just WISH someone would cross you so you can go to town on them. Well, today is my day and it started yesterday evening…

Monday’s are usually “pet” day, when I do cleaning of the porch where my Maine Coon lives, litter boxes are scooped (they are scooped every other day too), food dishes are washed, and hairball removal (mopped from the porch) is tackled. I finished that big ordeal (including mopping) and look outside about 15 minutes later to find that Nala (the Maine Coon) has not only tracked a “little” litter from her box, but looked to have purposely scattered it from one end of the porch to the other… CRAP!! The porch is still wet from the mopping so either I can go back out and re-mop or wait til the next day after it’s all dried and try to sweep it away – I decide to wait.

Ok, this morning I go out to sweep up the scattered litter and decide when I’m finished that it would be a pleasant morning to take Kylie (the Australian Cattle Dog) for a walk. Well, Kylie being a VERY rambunctious puppy (she’s 8 months old), is just hell to walk. She has a harness because I like the fact that she can’t slip out of it and it doesn’t choke her. Last time I walked her several people told me I needed to get a choke type collar for her to wear on walks until she gets used to walking with me (not dragging me down the street). Fine. For whatever reason, we had one hanging in our work shed so I got that, put it on the wiggle-worm and came in for the leash…(yeah, I know, I should have had the leash with me to start with, but in case the collar wasn’t out there I didn’t want to get her hopes up for a walk). The leash is just right inside the door so I slipped in, grabbed it, walked back outside on the deck and butt-head has somehow slipped the collar off her neck and it has obviously slipped through the cracks on the deck. Good Grief!

Now I decide to just give up on the whole “taking the dog for a walk” idea, cause I’m just not into the idea of being dragged up the street. I need a cigarette by this point so I go out front to sit in the swing and have my smoke. I’m sitting there, looking around at the birds eating their seeds from the feeder and also counting the twelve or more new wriggling earthworms who have decided to take the suicide track in my driveway, then I notice something on the ground behind my truck. WTF?

I go have a look and realize that some sort of rodent (mouse, rat, or squirrel) has decided to eat my trailer hook-up wiring. Yeah, you know the stuff you have to plug into a boat trailer or whatever so it will have brake lights, turn signals, etc. About a one foot section of wires are now just lounging there on my driveway.

Well hell! Damn animals!! I’m going to bed!

Earthworms

Every morning I sit on my front porch with my coffee, if only for a few minutes, and I keep noticing the same disturbing thing: MANY earthworms crawling on my sidewalk. Now this may not be strange in itself and for a long time I figured they were just going from one section of the yard to another and using the sidewalk as a quick path. I've even scooted some of them along in their direction with a leaf, carefully setting them into the grass to avoid being stepped on by either my husband or myself. After putting them into the grass, they slide back onto the sidewalk again and end up drying out up there when the sun gets bright.

Why are they doing this? And even more on my mind is why will the birds not eat them before they dry up all over my sidewalk?

I keep ending up with several dozens of dried-up earthworms out there everyday and their bodies don't leave til we have a giant rain.

Can someone, anyone, give me an answer to this "earthworm suicide" that continues to happen on a daily basis?

Local Tiger Euthanized :-(

This past Tuesday, September 9, the Jackson Zoo euthanized my "friend," Phoenix, the Sumatran Tiger.

I can't stand going to zoos, but my husband and I went to the Jackson Zoo last fall and I was absolutely horrified at the living conditions of those animals. "Grazers" were living in small fenced in areas filled with nothing but dirt (no grass on which to graze) - the whole scene was heartbreaking.

I had a somewhat of a personal experience with Phoenix though. The zoo was fairly empty, and as my husband and I walked up to Phoenix's cage (we are HUGE cat-people) it's like he knew we were "friends." He rubbed the side of his cage, gave me a look like "I wish you could scratch my head," or maybe it was a look of "I'd like to take a bite out of you," either way, he was interested in us. About the time I started sweet talking him, he turned around... and my experience with male cats says, "if they point their rear toward you... run!!!" So I jumped backward about two feet and sure enough, had only just escaped a massive tiger spray! It is said that they will spray for two reasons, to mark territory / personal "belongings" or to mark their food. I don't know which reason it was, but I felt a connection with him. Although I am sad to know he lived his life in a cage and has now passed, I'm glad his spirit finally knows freedom.

I will say one thing in closing; I've lived in several states in the Southeast and by far, the most impressive and animal friendly zoo I've ever visited is the giant one in North Carolina. True, sometimes you may not even see certain animals because they are off in the edge of the woods, but that zoo has created a wonderful habitat for all of their wildlife and I'd rather know I may not see some animals because they are off doing their own thing, then to know they are going to be feet from me, in cramped up cages with no natural habitat what-so-ever.

Here is the article about Phoenix, and why they had to put him down, from the Clarion Ledger (Jackson's Newspaper):
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080909/FEAT05/80909013

In case you missed the above link to the North Carolina Zoo I have it listed below. If any zoo is worth visiting and supporting, this one is the one to see!
http://www.nczoo.org/

Going Green - Part Two

While I understand that changing the chemicals I use to clean my home was an important step in allowing myself to be green, I also know that other steps need to be taken to ensure I'm doing everything possible to help our earth fight the good fight.

Several months ago I began replacing our light bulbs with the new kind of spiral bulbs. Yes I know they have mercury in them and are supposed to be cleaned up in a special way if they are dropped and broken and YES, I did break my first one in my kitchen floor. Now, NO, I did not clean it up in any special way. I looked around for any little mercury beads, didn't see any, so I swept up the glass then mopped the floor. It was springtime so I had most of the windows open anyway (that is one of the recommended things - air out the room where the incident happened). Since that first breakage (is that a word?) I have been very careful with my bulbs. The only problem I have with them is that they will not work if the bulb is pointing upward. They do fine sideways (like in the fan over the stove) and they are their brightest when put in with the bulb pointing down, but unfortunately I have several fixtures where these bulbs just do not work - aw!

My other "green" activity has been purchasing the canvas grocery bags. I love these bags!! They hold an incredible amount of groceries and there is not any worry that my bag will burst before I get into the house. Of course when I buy meats and produce, that is still placed into plastic bags first (the meat because I don't want "yick" all over my nice bags - and produce because, well - I don't want my produce lounging around in a grocery cart full of germs). I thought it would be a problem remembering to take the bags with me to the store, but as soon as I get the groceries put away, I just gather all my bags and take them back to the truck right then. Now they are always with me and I've used them in places other than the big supermarket. I take a few of them with me when I go into places like Big Lots and my local farmer's market.

These two steps, along with changing my cleaning chemicals may seem like it's not very much but I know it will help in the long run. If every one of us could just make one change in the way we go about our daily routines I think the collective difference would be enormous.

Feel free to post more "green" ideas in the comment section.

Going Green - Household Cleaners

Over the past few years I have wanted to do my part in being environmentally friendly. After using circumstances, finances and general laziness for excuses I have finally decided the time has come let my green self emerge.

I started by looking online for alternatives to regular household cleaners. Not only are common cleaners bad for the environment, but they are bad for us humans and our pets too. Lord knows at the times I've made the bathrooms sparkly clean only to have my husband come home and "fuss" at me for the horrible chemical smell. He wasn't fussing because he had to smell it, he was worried about my health; after all, I have been with those fumes while cleaning and even afterward as they linger in the house for hours (even with the windows open). The search was on for something safe...

The main list of great, SAFE (for us and the environment) cleaners is relatively short and much cheaper than those ready-mixed, unsafe cleaners (did I mention this is cheap?)

• white vinegar
• baking soda
• borax (20 mule team)
• hydrogen peroxide

WHITE VINEGAR

• removes carpet stains
• cuts lime deposits
• removes mildew
• cleans linoleum and wood floors
• cleans toilets (and all bathroom surfaces)
• drain cleaner (when mixed with baking soda)
• glass cleaner
• absorbs odors
• cuts grease

the thing about vinegar is that yes, your home will smell like you are dying eggs while the vinegar is still wet, but once it is dried your home will be very fresh smelling.

I have mixed borax and vinegar (2 tsp borax for every 1/2 cup of vinegar) into a spray bottle and this has taken the place of my old all-purpose cleaners (409, Mean Green, Greased lightning, etc).

BAKING SODA

• add a tsp or so in your hand with your shampoo - gives your hair more body
• sprinkle in carpets to remove odors
• toilet cleaner (by itself or mixed with vinegar for that "bubbly" action)
• add to washing machine along with your regular detergent to help clean and freshen "funky" clothing

BORAX

• add to laundry (same as the baking soda instructions)
• wash your fridge (inside and out) with mixture of 1 tbs per quart of water - will kill odors
• borax is a natural disinfectant
• clean garbage cans
• bathroom cleaning - it does not scratch fiberglass

HYDROGEN PEROXIDE

• removes blood stains (ew)
• removes mildew/mold
• use as a mouthwash - it kills germs and brightens teeth

So far that is my list of cleaning products which will hopefully enable me to leave a smaller carbon footprint on this earth.

Grocery Store Eggs: Bad for Humans, Detrimental to Hens

Cruelty towards laying hens in large "factories" is not a new thing, but the knowledge of just how horrible life is for a hen is somewhat new to me.

About two weeks ago I was making out my grocery list and decided to check the on-line coupons for "odd" items, such as eggs, milk, other dairy and such products you usually don't associate with coupons. My coupon search was short lived since I repeatedly came across informational sites written about the welfare of laying hens.

The first thing that really got my attention is the debeaking that takes place. I had no idea that our hens are left with only a minimal amount of beak with which to eat. This is supposedly done to protect the hens from pecking each other - aka - establishing a pecking order, as they do when in a natural environment.

Secondly was when I learned about the battery cages. This is a practice which is supposedly being phased out, but is in fact, still a widely used practice and the majority of our "store eggs" are currently being produced under these horrendous conditions. Hens are stuffed, four to seven, per cage (which is about the size of a file drawer). Often times some of the hens will die, and their bodies are usually left in the cage with their living "cell mates."

Hens are most productive at egg-laying between the ages of six to eighteen months. Between the ages of eighteen months to two years old, they are cruelly discarded by their "employers." The hens are snatched violently from their cages and THROWN into a large cart where they are taken to either a wood-chipper type device (alive) or carted into a large gas chamber. Unfortunately, by the time these birds are old enough to be discarded, they no longer resemble anything close to a chicken. Most have broken bones (usually wings or feet), almost no feathers what-so-ever, and are covered with open wounds and feces.

Other than the above-stated reasons to no longer support those giants in the egg industry, there is one last reason to buy from a local farmer who has TRUE - free-range hens. The eggs produced by real "farm-hens" are much healthier for human consumption. In most cases you are free to pick the eggs you want to buy and are usually welcomed to look around the farm in order to check out the living conditions of the hens. Oh, by the way, these hens will actually look and act like REAL chickens; with beautiful feathers, full beaks, meaty bodies, and will probably be strutting around as if they own the farmyard.

DON'T BE FOOLED BY LABELING!!

Terms used in egg labeling are misleading, bordering on downright lies! "Free-Range" does not necessarily mean that hens are hanging out in the barnyard, pecking the ground for feed and small insects. In fact, most of these free-range birds are housed by the thousands in cramped living areas (they are also debeaked), and are allowed access to the outdoors very rarely, if at all. Access to fresh air is limited to a small caged in area and not all of the hens are able to go outside at the same time (there just isn't enough room in the "outside" cage).

For more information on "deceitful" labeling practices, please read the following articles:

Compassion Over Killing: How Free is Free-Range?

United Poultry Concerns:
Free-Range Poultry and Eggs: Not All They're Cracked Up To Be

From Mother Earth News:

Most of the eggs currently sold in supermarkets are nutritionally inferior to eggs produced by hens raised on pasture. That’s the conclusion we have reached following completion of the 2007 Mother Earth News egg testing project. Our testing has found that, compared to official U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient data for commercial eggs, eggs from hens raised on pasture may contain:

• 1/3 less cholesterol
• 1/4 less saturated fat
• 2/3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene

Read the entire article here.

To find a natural and/or organic food store in your area, go to Local Harvest. Once there, you can click your area on the map located on their homepage, then scroll down to see the list of farms, co-ops, and other retailers in your city or state.

Mercy For Animals went undercover, to a NuCal Foods, Inc plant in May of this year and filmed the following practices of ongoing abuse. NuCal is one of (if not the largest) egg supplier to the western US.

NuCal Abuse Video **Warning - contains violence and cruelty**

Last link here is for the US Humane Society's article on battery cage use. This is a must-read for anyone who doubts the cruel treatment endured by the nation's laying hens.

US Humane Society - Prestigious Pew Commission Supports California Anti-Cruelty Measure

Here is a photo of my recent purchase of TRUE free-range eggs. They were bought from a local farmer and yes, his hens live at a REAL farm.