<span class="vcard">Mary Hartman</span>
Mary Hartman
Featured

6 Ways You Can Protect the Environment With Your Dog

Our earth is 4.5 billion years old, while we humans have been around for only 200,000 years. Yet, we are already close to destroying our only home planet.

Unfortunately, we failed to realize that protecting our environment and ensuring future generations have a place to call home should have been our number one priority. However, while some may say it is already too late for our planet, there is still a chance we can save it. For example, recycling the old container for your dog’s CBD oil be a great start.

Of course, there are other ways as well, including the ones listed below.

How to Protect the Environment With Your Dog

Conserve Electricity

For our electric companies to generate electricity, they will need to burn off fossil fuels. As many of us now know, burning fossil fuels is considered harmful to the environment.

While it is tough to live in a world without electricity, conserving a little bit can significantly impact the efforts to save the environment. After all, the less electricity we use, the less need there is for our electric companies to produce it.

Instead of leaving the air conditioner for your pet all day, you may want to consider getting a fan or two to circulate the air.

Conserve Water

Our water usually comes from natural water sources such as rivers or estuaries. So, the more we acquire water from these water sources, the worse it will be for our environment’s health.

Aside from this, the more wastewater we have, the more energy and cost our water treatment facilities will have to expend

It is important to clean your pet’s drinking bowl daily and refill it with fresh water. However, dogs love rainwater! Find a way to catch rainwater whenever you can and see if your dg likes it.

Walk or Bike Instead of Drive

If the place you are going to is nearby, it would be best to avoid using your car for such a trip and walk or take your bicycle there instead.

After all, the fewer times we use our automobiles, the better it is for our environment. In fact, carpooling can be an excellent solution as well if you need to go to a distant location and someone you know will also be going there.

Teach your dog to run beside you when your ride your bike. They will not only love running, it has also health benefits for you and your dog.

Use Fewer Chemicals

Chemicals are generally considered a bad thing because most of them or the items made from them are considered harmful for your health and the environment.

While the chemicals we use right now may not have any adverse effects, they might have in the future. So, if you want to protect the environment and your health, it might be better to avoid items with harsh chemicals.

There is no need to wash your dog weekly. In fact, it can dry their skin. Try to not wash your dog for a couple of months. You will see, that the fur starts smelling better as the skin will produce less oil.

Choose Reusable Items Instead of Single-Use Ones

With our world population close to 8 billion, you can only imagine just how many people are using single-use items, such as disposable cups, plastic containers, and others.

Moreover, you can just imagine how many tons of waste are produced because of single-use items. So, while it may be inconvenient to use reusable items, this can be a great start if you want to save the environment.

Upcycle

Upcycling refers to getting creative with items that we no longer use and making them into something of value or use. In fact, there are plenty of guides online on how you can do just that.

For example, you have some tires that are no longer good for the road; you can upcycle them and make them into a flower pot or maybe a chair. Alternatively, you can even turn some plastic bottles into bird feeders.

Conclusion

It may be tough at first to adopt more sustainable practices to help protect our environment. Still, even the tiniest steps can positively impact our efforts to save our planet, and every step towards sustainability counts. After all, we only have one planet, so we need to take good care of it.

Featured

How Vaping Impacts your Pets

The assumption that vaping is completely harmless because it emits only vapor is what makes vaping a threat not only to humans but to animals’ health as well. You can Read more here to understand that Vaping was commercialized to be a harmless alternative to smoking but the real truth is that vaping still produces harmful chemicals that can affect both humans and animals.

Vapes require a mixed chemical substance known as e-juice that contains a variety of chemicals that can be quite harmful. Some of the chemicals found in an e-juice include diacetyl which is a flavorant, heavy metals like lead, tin, and nickel, liquid nicotine and so much more. Some of these chemicals can cause cancer or lung-related diseases.

Risk of Vaping to Pets

Inhalation

Second-hand exposure to smoke is more dangerous than exposure to vape but that does not mean that it is still safe. When you exhale the vapor, certain amounts of ultrafine particles will be released and these particles can cause serious lung damage to anyone breathing them. Due to immature immune systems, children and pets are more likely to suffer serious health issues than adults.

Studies also revealed that the air quality of homes has become worse due to the chemicals like nicotine, aluminum, and hydrocarbons floating about. Some of these hazardous particles even stick to the fur of animals. Since dogs and cats use their mouth to groom themselves, they might likely ingest some of these harmful particles.

Ingestion

The vape emission isn’t the only thing that could harm your pets, the actual physical vape and e-juice cartridge itself can cause a serious impact on your pets. Ingestion of the device is pretty common with animals and with the increase of vape users, the reports coming in of animals ingesting the vape or e-juice has significantly increased as well.

Experts say that ingestion of the devices can cause irreparable damage or even death to animals. E-juice cartridges contain a significant amount of liquid nicotine, and once ingest could result in fatal poisoning. The chemicals aren’t the only thing you will have to worry about if your pets ingested the vape or e-juice cartridge, the device itself could block the airways of your pets.

How to reduce the risk of vaping to pets?

The simple solution to make sure your pets will be fine from the dangers of vaping is to stop using it. If you need to vape, then at least make sure that your devices are safely stored so the possibility of ingestion will be reduced. When you need to vape, go outside as well so that the air particles in your home will not be polluted by the vape emissions but don’t do this in public areas.

Vaping up until now is still being studied, and the long-term effects of vaping on your pets haven’t all been documented but it is still safe to say that vaping won’t do any good to you and your pets. If you really can’t handle not being able to vape, then at least take extra precautions in storing and using the product.

Featured

Mammal Recovery Project

Canada boasts a diverse range of ecosystems that serve as a haven to almost 200 mammal species. You might even get to encounter sneaky wolverines that roam in frigid forests and blue whales that rule the Arctic seas.

Despite the diversity, some mammals in the country have steadily declined in population because of the impact human intervention has brought upon them. The bison, which used to exist around 1800, were annihilated due to excessive hunting. Add to that a couple of other contributors such as agricultural operations, urbanization, and climate change.

With this dire situation in mind, we have established a program that promotes the rescue of such at-risk creatures via breeding and release, reintroduction, and translocation. Thanks to our partnership with several associations, research groups, and volunteers, we have managed to recover a handful of endangered creatures, including Vancouver Island marmots, Ord’s kangaroo rats, and northern long-eared bats.

If we commit to saving and conserving critically endangered mammal species, we can still make a small but significant difference one at a time. Even just by leaving their habitat undisturbed, you are still making a positive impact on ensuring their long-term survival.

Featured

Bird Recovery Project

The bird population in Canada is in grave danger. Approximately 50 of Canada’s bird species are either Threatened or Endangered, based on the country’s Species at Risk Public Registry. Aerial insectivores, grassland birds, and shorebirds are among the identified species that have undergone a major decline in numbers.

Birds are forced to either leave their nesting places due to the emerging pressure from beach tourism or move to a different site to avoid natural predators. Another key contributing factor to the unstoppable decline of the bird populace in the country is climate change. Food becomes rare to find because of the sudden alterations in the environment, leading them to starvation and, ultimately, demise.

Thankfully, a handful of wildlife conservation specialists have partnered with us to combat this alarming bird population decline. Our bird recovery project has been made possible through this collaboration, whether it’s the creation of preservation breeding initiatives, development of cutting-edge reintroduction procedures, or advancement of tools to ascertain bird migration routes, we will do whatever we can to save the remaining at-risk bird species across the country.

Featured

Amphibian-Reptile Conservation

The amphibian and reptilian class of wildlife in Canada are among those frequently cited creatures that face the danger of becoming extinct.

Raccoons and some of their predators feed on their eggs, negatively impacting the biome. On top of that, unethical human activities such as poaching have greatly reduced their populace. Even climate change now poses a concerning threat to them. Additionally, commercial and industrial development has fragmented these species’ territory, leaving them prone to inbreeding.

To date, about 40 species of amphibian and reptile are classified as “Threatened” based on the latest report of COSEWIC or the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Therefore, an estimated portion of them requires the urgent practical need to survive.

To mitigate their risk of being extirpated, we have formed a campaign that concentrates on preserving and reestablishing the lives of amphibians and reptiles. The key components of this project are preservation breeding, conservation head-starting, on-site intervention, reintroduction, and translocation.

Moreover, we have created partnerships with several research groups to formulate the best approaches to conserving such species. We welcome volunteers to report any sightings of such species in specific locations. Lastly, we conduct educational workshops focusing on road safety, especially in places where roadkill and similar accidents involving these species are often reported.

Domestic Pollination Program

Our domestic pollination project focuses solely on the reproduction of flowering plants. Once the plants have propagated successfully, they, in turn, will be capable of supporting even thousands of additional species.
Roughly 90 percent of all flowers cannot reproduce unless such habitat is populated with domestic pollinators. These hardworking propagators are mainly comprised of various bees and butterflies.
In Canada alone, a lot of bee and butterfly species and a few flowers are currently at risk of extirpation, …

Mammals

Northern Myotis
The “Myotis septentrionalis” or more popularly the northern long-eared bat has been observed as an endangered species throughout the country. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has categorized this bat species as Near Threatened.
As examined with other such mammals in the Myotis genus, northern long-eared bats are characterized by their long ears. They are usually spotted east of British Columbia in Southern Canada.

Insects

Rusty Patched Bumble Bee
The “Bombus affinis,” more typically known as the rusty patched bumble bee, is an earnest pollinator native to North America. The rustic patch that is visible on the males’ abdomens is the story behind its name.
The rusty patched bumble bee typically builds its nest underground, seen mostly in former rodent burrows. However, this species is now on the verge of extinction and tagged as critically endangered on a global scale.

Birds

Burrowing Owl
A long-legged and short-tailed bird common in North America, the burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) is one of the tiniest owls of its kind. This creature achieved such a name from its nesting routine, which is mostly done in burrows that badgers and squirrels dug.
Recently, there are only lesser than 1,000 pairs of burrowing owls reported to exist in Canada, making them one of the most critically endangered creatures.
Piping Plover

Amphibians & Reptiles

Oregon Spotted Frog
Oregon spotted frog (scientifically named “Rana pretiosa”) is a medium-sized aquatic animal that rarely strays away from water. This amphibious creature is known for being a great swimmer, an attribute related to the cleverly designed webbing on its feet extending to the tip of its toes.
The term “Preciosa” as its scientific name implies means “precious.” With only a few of them remaining, Oregon spotted frogs are among the most endangered species in Canada….