I always find that the new year is the perfect time for reflection and new beginnings. In fact, it was on New Year’s Day 2009 that I decided to make a gift to the planet by challenging myself to find one new way each day for 30 days to make my cat’s lifestyle just a little bit greener.

The kick-off of my 30-Day Green Cat Challenge really helped to launch GreenLittleCat.com and promote greener living for cats and cat lovers around the world.  This year, I wanted to share some of my favourite ways to help you de-clutter your home and welcome 2012 with fresh and open energy.

While this list for where to give away and recycle stuff is mainly geared for us humans, I hope you’ll find it useful for starting your new year off on a green foot.

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Your Stuff Here:

1. Cat Food

• If the food hasn’t expired and hasn’t been opened, do a web search for a “pet food bank” in your town or city.  They’ve been popping up all over the country in recent years as people ride out the economic shifts.
• If you have a large bag of opened dry food that your cat won’t eat, that’s a little trickier to give away. Many people would recommend not giving it away, but there are people out there who don’t have the money to feed their cats and would welcome the food. If you do decide to give the food away, there always seems to be someone on Craigslist who will gladly take just about anything you have to give away.

2. Old Towels and Blankets

• Contact your local animal shelter to donate your old towels and blankets.  They’ll use them as bedding or to wrap animals up to keep them warm and comfortable.

 3. Where to Donate Used Books

• Some libraries will accept used books.
• If you have paperbacks, try posting them on PaperBackSwap.com.  It’s like a giant online book swap meet.
• Gently used books for young children are welcomed by Project Night Night, which gives books, blankets and stuffed animals to homeless children.
• Women’s shelters that support families are also a good place to donate books for kids of all ages.

4. Old DVDs and CDs

• SwapaCD and SwapaDVD are sister sites for PaperBackSwap.com.
• Children’s DVDs can be donated to Kid Flicks.  They’ll take the DVDs that your kids have outgrown to creates movie libraries for children’s hospitals and pediatric wards across the U.S.

5. Stuffed Animals

• While we’re on the topic of kid’s stuff, gently used stuffed animals can be given to Stuffed Animals For Emergencies (SAFE).  SAFE gives your stuffed animals to children during emergency situations such as fires, illness, accidents, neglect, abuse, homelessness and even weather emergencies.  They’ll take your baby blankets too.
• A local women’s shelter may also be a good place to donate stuffed animals.  I was making a donation of household goods and had a bag of stuffed animals in my car to drop off at Goodwill.  When the women’s shelter worker saw the stuffed animals, she was so happy to scoop them up and told me that they give them to children and to rape victims to help comfort them.

 6. Where to Recycle Cell Phones and MP3 Players

• Target stores have recycling stations for used cell phones and MP3 players.  They’ll also take your inkjet cartridges, but I like taking mine to Staples (see below).

7. What to Do With Your Used Inkjet Cartridges

• Inkjet cartridges are worth money to you if you take them to your local Staples store.  When you join their rewards program, Staples will give you 2 Staples rewards dollars for each inkjet cartridge you bring in (up to a maximum of 10 cartridges a month).

8. Where to Recycle Used Brita Filters and Number 5 Plastics

• Look for a “Preserve” recycling bin at any Whole Foods to drop off your Brita filters and number 5 plastics.

9. Produce from Your Backyard

• When your friends and relatives start crying, “No, thank you” to that second bag of tomatoes, check out AmpleHarvest.org to get connected with a local food bank in search of fresh produce.
• In Northern California, if you’ve got fruit trees, Village Harvest will send out volunteers to pick your trees and will donate any excess fruit that you don’t want.

10. Office and School Supplies

• iLoveSchools.com has a donor board where you can post books, computers and home office equipment, electronics, and office supplies.  Teachers login to the site and check the board for stuff they can use in their classrooms.

11. Odds and Ends

• Freecycle.org is my go to place for giving away stuff I no longer need (e.g. IKEA lamps, extra tealight candles, tire chains, etc.).  They have local chapters so you know that people aren’t driving 50 miles to pick up your 5 issues of Bicycling magazine.
• Here are a couple Freecycle tips:  First, give your stuff to the person who writes a friendly and articulate email to you, not the first person to say, “I want it.”  The polite people are the ones who show up on time to pick up your stuff.  Second, leave the stuff outside of your door with a note on it so that people can pick it up at their convenience (and yours too).
• If no one on Freecycle wants your cat drinking fountain, there’s always Craigslist!

So, there you have my best recycling, give away and donation suggestions for 2012.  You’re ready to start your clean sweep for the new year!

Wishing you a happy, healthy and abundant 2012,

Holly and Furball

Furball and I have been busy this holiday season creating some pawsome videos on how to make your own green cat toys. And the first video is ready for your viewing pleasure!

In it, I’ll show you how to make the Flippity Flappity Flag. If your cat loves to run, chase and catch things in the air, this is a fabulous toy to try out. It takes just seconds to make and costs next to nothing.

This is the toy that started it all: my self-published book on making eco-friendly cat toys and my Green Little Cat blog with readers in over 140 countires.

>>WATCH THE VIDEO HERE<<

Every so often, something fun lands in my inbox that I can’t resist sharing. A few weeks ago, I received this cute Cat Anatomy illustration full of interesting cat facts and fun trivia on cat health.

I couldn’t fit the full size graphic on my blog, but I did cut out a this fun drawing to share with you. The Cat Anatomy graphics were created by Matt Beswick for Pet365 and he’s given his blessings to share them with Green Little Cat readers.

You’ll learn some really cool cat facts such as how many mice make up one cat meal. And this cheery infographic also gives some interesting comparisons between cats and humans. We all know how much better a cat’s hearing is than a human’s, but exactly how much better can a cat hear? Did you know there’s one sense where humans reign supreme? It might just surprise you to learn which it is since cats are so finicky about their food.  That’s a hint!

More fun cat facts include, just how many cat years equal one human year? When you find out, you’ll gain insight into your cat’s life expectancy. And where on earth do the most cats live? There are also some fun tidbits on cat health like what’s good to feed your cat and what’s not. To read these and more fascinating cat facts, visit the Pet365 blog.

I recently was given the scoop on a nutty all-natural cat litter that claims to have twice the odor control of major brands.  Purr & Simple cat litter is made from locally grown tree-nut shells, which happen to be a sustainable agricultural by-product.

The eco-specs on this litter read really well.  Purr & Simple provides twice the odor control, half the dust and it’s also 100% biodegradable.

And, it comes in two different versions to suit your kitty’s fancy. There’s a pellet version as well as the Kwik-Klump formula.

They sure do like lab tests at Purr & Simple!  They do extensive testing within their facility, shelters, and certified laboratories.  I found a little chart on their website that illustrated how Purr & Simple Kwik-Klump turned into a solid clump in just 15 minutes.

Furball uses a pellet litter so I don’t know if this is an astounding number, but based on the chart comparing Kwik-Klump to pine, corn and wheat litters, it looks like Purr & Simple has a slight edge on pine and corn, with wheat litter being a distant fourth.

Here’s another one of their graphs comparing Purr & Simple’s odor control to three popular types of eco-friendly litters in addition to clay.

Looks like no contest here, but the real truth lies in home use. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any useful reviews for the product on Amazon.  Most of the five star reviews looked a little suspect.  Hmm, only one review written by the user and it’s for Purr & Simple and it gives them five stars.

The two low ratings I found were given due to sneezing issues and the color of the litter.  If you have any experience with this litter and aren’t affiliated with Purr & Simple in any way, I’d love to hear from you.

To learn more about this natural kitty litter, visit Purr & Simple’s website at http://www.purrandsimple.com.

Imperial Cat, makers of earth-friendly cat scratchers, recently announced their new line of “Neat ‘n Tidy” sifting litter liners. According to a recent press release, the Neat ‘n Tidy includes 28 perforated liners – about a month’s supply for daily changes – that neatly stack inside the litter pan.

You’re directed to pour your favourite clumping litter on top of the liners and instead of scooping, you lift up the top liner and the clean litter passes through the slots. So, what happens to the used litter? Well, you’re supposed to toss it out with the liner.

I love Imperial Cat’s cat scratchers. And I love their program for shelter cats, but I have to say the jury’s out on the litter liners. They claim that using the liners can extend the life of your litter by 50%.

If that’s true, then you might be able to consider the litter liners are eco-friendly, especially when you factor in how many hundreds of pounds of clumping litter many cats use over the course of a year. And if it’s regular clumping clay cat litter, then reducing usage by 50% is a boon for the environment. And here’s why you should switch from clay litter to eco-friendly cat litter.

Maybe these liners have their place in multi-cat households or animal shelters, where scoop, dump and wash just isn’t practical. I’d love to hear from you. We’re on Facebook and Twitter @greenlittlecat.

I still advocate that self-scooping, a teeny weeny bit of elbow grease and eco-friendly litter are the best way to go.

I apologize for taking a hiatus from posting. My Macbook RAM and hard drive died and I have finally resuscitated the little guy. I’ve also been super busy organizing a free online telesummit designed to empower and uplift women around the world.

So, this is a very special blog entry. It’s not for everyone—it’s for those of you who want to learn how you can exponentially magnify everything you do for the environment.

I watched a TV show several years ago that followed a couple who went from their normal lifestyle to living off the grid in a vegan community that pretty much lived like pioneers in order to minimize their environmental impact. What surprised me was that even though they had scaled everything down to the bare minimum, they still had a relatively large carbon footprint.

This got me thinking, that as an individual, it’s absolutely awesome what you and your cat(s) do to reduce, reuse and recycle. However, your biggest impact lies in being able to multiply that effect exponentially. And just how do you do that?

You reach out to others!

I chose to create this blog and write a green cat toy book. From a simple idea less than 3 years ago, Green Little Cat has grown to receive almost 50,000 visits per year. That’s a lot of cats and cat lovers who are making small changes that add up HUGE for the environment. It also led to a writing gig for Catster’s green section and Catster reaches MILLIONS of cat owners.

So, what environmental message do you have to share? Are you ready to step into your brilliance and start inspiring others? There are no excuses for not starting right NOW.

It’s free to start a blog and you will be able to find the time and energy to do what you’re passionate about. Heck, for two years of this blog, I was pregnant and looking after an infant full-time. If I can find time to write, you can too.

If you’d like more inspiration to discover how you can magnify your reach to create a greener planet, I invite you to attend the free teleconference that I’m organizing. The Lotus Blossoming Telesummit features an international panel of speakers who will spark your imagination and ignite your creativity.

It begins on August 8th and runs for 3 weeks and you can listen in online at your convenience.

One of the speakers, Stacie Tamaki, is an award-winning blogger who will be sharing how to make a difference in the world by embracing your differences. Gen Y Tech Evangelist, Sacha Chua will be speaking about how to use social media to connect with others. And of course, I will be sharing how to take your passion and make it happen easily and effortlessly .

I invite you to register for free and learn more at:
The Lotus Blossoming Telesummit

Furball’s pals, Brooke and Tim, were kind enough to send Furball a Great Green Cat Toy to play with.  When it arrived, Furball was ever the curious cat and immediately came over to investigate.

Who wouldn’t be interested?  The Great Green Cat Toy is not your typical cat toy stuffed full of catnip.  Instead, it’s an imaginative structure that challenges your cat’s natural instincts to explore, stalk and pounce.

In a nutshell, this cat toy consists of a large tube with a paw-sized window to reach three wooden balls inside.  What makes it different from other “peek and paw” toys is that the entire toy moves when your cat plays with it.

So, instead of sitting still on the floor, when your cat interacts with the Great Green Cat Toy, it rolls and rotates, causing the wooden balls to come in and out of view.  Purrfect for a cat’s hunting instincts.

The Great Green Cat Toy is also eco-friendly. It’s made from recycled and reusable materials, is completely recyclable and is 90% biodegradable. As well, the labels are printed on 100% recycled paper with soy based inks. And, to top it off, it’s made in the USA, crafted with love from Brooke and Tim.

As with all cat toys, you never know what your cat is going to like and unfortunately, Furball was not a gracious receiver of Brooke and Tim’s gift. He gave the Great Green Cat Toy an inspection and then creeped away from it.

Furball tends to be a little intimidated by cat toys that are bigger than a small rodent, so maybe this cat toy was just too big for him. Given some time, I’m pretty sure he would have had warmed up to it, especially when he gets into his crazy play mode. However, what makes the Great Green Cat Toy look like fun for a cat also makes it fun for a toddler, so I had to put the toy away.

If your cat’s not a fraidy cat and you don’t have a curious toddler, it’s worth checking out this toy because I’ve seen other cats really enjoy playing and wrestling with it. Here’s a video of a cat having fun with the Great Green Cat Toy.

Ever have your cat chew through the cords on your window blinds?  Ever have them chew through the strings that hold the blind slats in place?  What about through the cord for the expensive Hunter Douglas blinds at the place where you’re renting?

If your cat has been up to mischief gnawing its way through your home’s window coverings, you don’t have to resign yourself to drab cat-hair covered drapes.  Blinds are still an option and not only that, they can also be eco-friendly blinds too.

When we moved into a new home a couple of years ago, we loved the big windows in all of the rooms.  What we hadn’t factored in was that every window needed curtains or blinds.  We realized we had a dilemma if we wanted blinds because Furball is a serial cord chewer.

I wanted to move past the perpetually raised blinds with the cords wrapped up and placed far out of feline reach.  And, while curtains would work in a few rooms, I didn’t want to cover up my entire home with drapes.  I wanted the simplicity of blinds without the risk of my cat eating the cords and strings.

Fortunately, I found a stylish solution that also happened to be eco-friendly.  Comfortex makes a high-quality environmentally friendly blind that also looks  modern and stylish with clean lines and none of that fussy rustic-blind look with strings and cords dangling everywhere.  And, after two years of having the blinds in our home, I would give them two paws up for being cat-proof too.

Comfortex uses an EcoGreen™ Fabric collection for their Envision™ Roller Shades. It’s PVC-Free, 100% recyclable and LEED certification friendly. Their EcoGreen fabrics are diverted from landfills and reclaimed and contain no volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Their roller shade comes in different levels of opacity and a variety of colours.  I personally love the sheer look for blocking out bright sunlight, and you still get natural light and privacy.  As well, instead of using string, the blinds are drawn using a very light silver chain.  Both the blind and the chain tuck away nicely in a window frame.

I was a little skeptical originally about getting roller blinds.  I couldn’t help but remember the nasty white vinyl ones we had in my childhood home.  The Envision shades roll up nicely by pulling the chain.  No need to pull and yank and hope the blind rolls up when you let go.

Besides being functional, practical, cat-proof and eco-friendly, the bottom line is that these blinds look damned good!  Hope this helps you beautify your home in eco-friendly and cat-friendly style.

P.S.  That’s not my home in the photo.  Wish I was that colour-coordinated!

The Earth Day Sale is now officially over, but you can still get your copy of the ebook for the low price of only $5. You could easily pay that much for just one cat toy.
Happy Earth Day!  It’s amazing to reflect that I’ve been writing this blog for almost three years now and it’s grown from just a handful of my cat-loving friends reading it to thousands of readers all over the world.  Thank you so much for greening your cat’s lifestyle.

As a special thank you for Green Little Cat readers, the ebook version of “Make Your Own Cat Toys” is on sale at 50% off for Earth Day.  Actually, it’s on sale for the next 10 days until May 2nd.

You’ll save 50% off the regular price of $5.  For less than the cost of one un-green cat toy, you can learn how to make 52 eco-friendly toys and games for your cat by upcyling stuff you have around the house.

If you have ever purchased a fancy cat toy only to find Kitty preferred the bag it came in, this book is for you. Make Your Own Cat Toys shows you how to create new toys from old stuff in minutes. Have fun, save the planet and save money at the same time. Reducing your cat’s carbon paw print has never been this easy!

• Save money and save the environment! For less than the price of a couple of fancy cat toys, your cat can have a new toy each week for a year.
• Over 50 toy ideas to suit the different ways that cats love to play, such as catching, wrestling, chasing, swatting and more
• Fast and simple for your busy lifestyle – 25 toys that can be made in 60 seconds with no special skills required
• Ideal for new kittens with boundless energy and also for “lazy cats” with a relaxed approach to playtime
• Plus, plenty of green tips and eco-friendly ideas for you and your pet

Order the Ebook >>

I wanted to give a big thank you to Wendy, a Green Little Cat reader, who sent me this great tip for cheap cheap natural clumping cat litter. Perhaps the more appropriate phrase here would be “cheep cheep” natural litter. If you’re looking for a low cost alternative to the World’s Best Cat Litter, then you might be surprised to learn that chickens have the answer to your search.

Wendy’s two cats have been using non-medicated chicken feed, or more specifically “chick starter” in their litter box. Chick starter, also known as game bird finishing crumbles, is mostly made up of corn, along with soybean meal, whole wheat and alfalfa and vitamins. Chick starter is readily available at all feed stores and usually costs about 20 to 30 cents per pound as compared to $1 or more per pound for the World’s Best Cat Litter.

Wendy was kind enough to go into detail about why chick starter makes a great natural clumping cat litter.  She listed the pros and cons:

The Pros:

• Cats like using it
• Inexpensive cat litter alternative, also not taxed in some states
• Clumps instantly and easily sifts through the litter scoop
• Natural, edible
• A little goes a long way
• Helps control odors

The Cons:

• There is a bit of tracking, but it’s not all over the house.
• Puppies have been known to eat it.
• Purchasing it can be awkward if a new store clerk doesn’t know what you need and asks what you are feeding.  Wendy tells them, “Cornish game hens,” to keep it simple.

Wendy’s 2 cats are mostly indoor cats.  She estimates that a 50 lb bag lasts at least 5-6 months. She sums it up really nicely, “There is no excuse for using clay when this is just as cheap.”

I also did an online search for other cat lovers using chick starter as an alternative natural cat litter.  I found two posts from two different people who have used both layer crumbles and the World’s Best Cat Litter.  Both found the two products to be very similar with the main difference being the price.

• ”World’s Best” Chicken Feed – An Alternative Cat Litter
• Near-Perfect Litter
• Why Switch from Clay Litter to Eco-friendly Litter?