Sweeten With Honey

Before the global sugar industry, local honey was the universal sweetener. Because raw honey has antibacterial properties and  tends to crystallize, it can store indefinitely.

Stock up on raw, local honey in the summer when it’s been freshly collected. The freshest and purest honey will crystallize rapidly—and this is a good thing. It’s what preserves the quality of the honey. The actual rate of granulation will depend on the floral source: Blackberry honey may granulate in two weeks, while fall wildflower honey takes about a month. Honey granulates quickest at 57°F, so aim for that.

When you need some honey, scoop crystals into an open jar. Set the jar into a pot of hot water for a minute or so, and it will return to its clear and liquid state. Then you’re ready to use it.

For baking, substitute 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup of honey per cup of white sugar. Reduce the amount of other liquids by 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup for every cup of honey used. Lower the oven temperature about 25°F because honey browns faster than sugar. Add 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda for each cup of honey in your recipe, because honey is naturally acidic and baking soda will temper it. 

Darn a Sock

Put an old lightbulb or glass jar into the sock so that it shows through the hole. That keeps the material supported and gives a smooth surface for your needle work.

Thread a large needle with thread similar in weight to the thing you’re mending: Embroidery floss works for cotton or synthetic socks.

Use a small running stitch to circle the hole, far enough outside the damage that the fabric won’t unravel later. Don’t use any knots; leave the ends unsecured.

Use long stitches to stitch horizontally across the length of the hole. You will eventually weave a framework of stitches to fill in the damaged area. Sometimes it’s easier if you turn the sock upside down on every other stitch.

Once your horizontal stitches are done, turn your sock sideways and start weaving your thread vertically, in and out of the horizontal stitches. Secure the vertical weave at the end of the row with a couple of small running stitches. Turn your sock the opposite way and weave again. Keep going until your hole is filled in.

Capture Wild Yeast

You don’t need a package of yeast from the store to make a loaf of bread.

Mix 1/2 cup filtered or spring water (no chlorine!) with 1/2 cup of rye flour and 1/2 cup of white bread flour (using malted barley flour can also be helpful) in a glass bowl. Cover the bowl with a wet towel to let air in but keep bugs out. A warm day is optimal. Let the culture sit for 36 hours. After that, feed your culture every 12 hours by removing half of the old culture and replacing with a mixture of white and rye flour and an equal amount of 85°F water. Mark the level of the culture so you’ll know how much rising has happened.

The culture should get more vigorous with each feeding. When the culture is bubbly and doubles itself in 12 hours, around Day 4, you can start feeding with only white flour and water.

After about five to seven days, a successful culture can double itself in eight hours or less, smells pleasantly sour, and is full of bubbles. That’s when a “culture” becomes a “starter,” and it’s ready to bake with. Store as you would any commercial sourdough starter.

If your culture is slow to get going, some people suggest adding 1/4 teaspoon of unfiltered apple cider vinegar to raise the acidity, which encourages the yeast.

Save Kale Seeds

Kale is a winter green and offers more nutrients per serving than any other vegetable. In mild climates it can be a four-season crop. Once temperatures rise, older kale plants will start going to seed. Kale plants create hundreds of tiny flowers on stalks that emerge where the leaves attach to the stem. In a couple of weeks, the flower petals fall off and seed pods form on the stalks. Let the pods ripen and dry on the plant—they’ll get brown and brittle—then harvest the largest pods. Remove the seeds from their pods—there will be hundreds—save them in a paper bag, and plant them in early spring. 

Refrigerate Without Electricity

The pot-in-pot cooler uses the evaporative power of water to draw heat energy away from the contents. In Nigeria, where 90 percent of villages have no electricity, these pots preserve tomatoes for 21 days instead of two or three days.

In a well ventilated dry area, place a small clay pot inside a larger clay pot. Fill the space in between them with wet sand and keep it moist. Cover the top with a cloth. Store produce in the inner pot.

As the water evaporates, it pulls heat out with it, making the inside pot cold.

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Bank Transfer Day is gaining some serious steam. Although it's not technically affiliated with Occupy, it's being embraced by the movement and is the first specific call to action since the Occupy protests began.

The description and goal of Bank Transfer Day is straightforward: If you currently have checking and savings accounts (deposit accounts) with a big bank, the organizers encourage you to remove all of your funds, close your accounts, and place your money in a new deposit account with a not-for-profit credit union. The organizers ask that you do this by November 5. And since November 5 is a Saturday, you should definitely do it before November 5 since many big banks aren't open on weekends.

Move Your Money and Save
Big banks don't just
undermine local economies—
they're bad for your wallet, too.

Bank Transfer Day can significantly impact the way banks are able to make a profit. In simplest terms, banks rely on our deposit account balances to make loans that net substantial profits. Without our deposits, banks can't make loans. And if banks can't make loans, they're going to take notice. And they're surely going to freak out.

So if you currently have a deposit account with a big bank and you want to participate in Bank Transfer Day, read the following steps. It's a field guide that will help you accomplish this meaningful task of shifting your money from corporations that serve the 1% and put it with an organization that cares about the remaining 99%.

What You Need To Do Before Walking Into Your Big Bank Branch

1. Go through previous big bank statements to see exactly which accounts you have. Be sure to check the names on each account. If you are closing a joint account with two holders, it makes a difference whether the word joining your names is "and" or "or." If the account in your name is in your name and someone else's, you will both need to go in and close the account. If the account is in your name or someone else's, either of you can close the account. Some big banks may vary on this policy, so it's best to call your big bank to find out exactly what you need to do prior to walking into your local branch.
2. If you have any loans with a big bank, look closely at your statements and paperwork you signed at the time of closing. There very well might be penalties that will trigger a higher interest rate if you close your checking account. Big banks excel at offering customers lower interest rates on mortgage and auto loans if you open a checking account and maintain a minimum balance. A primary checking account is a bank's ultimate goal to securing your, ahem, loyalty. A primary checking account also leads to, on average, the opening of three additional accounts with that financial institution. Decide whether or not you can or have the willingness to pay off the outstanding loan balance. If you do not pay off the loan balance, call your bank to ask about escalating fees or rate increases by closing your checking account before walking into your local branch to close the checking account.
3. Stop using your deposit accounts ASAP. You need to allow everything to clear the accounts completely before you close them. This clearing process takes about two weeks to complete. Keep close tabs online to see which transactions are still outstanding.
4. Research non-profit credit unions. You will need a place to deposit your money, so perform this research before closing your big bank accounts. A good resource for finding credit unions is Find A Credit Union. Make your decision on which non-profit credit union you will join before walking in to the big bank branch to close your deposit accounts.

What To Do When You Walk Into Your Big Bank Branch

1. Approach a branch teller and tell him/her that you would like to close your accounts. The teller might hand you off to a customer service representative due to the bank's account opening and closing protocol. Or the teller might hand you off because they don't want to tie up customers' wait time in the teller line.
2. If the bank employee asks why you are closing your account, decide in advance the reason you're going to provide. You can tell them you're unhappy with big banks. You can tell them you're a part of the 99%. Or you can decline to give them a reason. The most important thing is to remain focused and not do anything imprudent that will keep you from accomplishing your goal of closing your deposit accounts and walking out of the big bank branch with your money.
3. Once the account closing process begins, ask the bank employee if you have any cash reserve accounts tied to your deposit accounts. It doesn't make sense to keep a line of credit open that was tied to your soon-to-be closed account.  
4. The bank employee will ask if you would like to receive your money in the form of a check or cash. If you want to make it rain outside of the big bank branch, request to receive cash. If you don't want to make it rain, we advise you to request a check.
5. The bank employee will either give you a confirmation letter of your accounts being closed or they will mail it to you. Once you receive the letter, keep it on file for up to five years.
6. Walk out of the big bank branch.
   

What To Do After You Have Closed Your Big Bank Deposit Accounts

1. Shred all remaining checks and debit cards. This is an essential step. If you mistakenly use the checks or debit cards, you will be going back to the big bank branch—except this time it will be to clean up your mess.
2. Go to the non-for-profit credit union you selected prior to closing your deposit accounts at the big bank. Open the accounts, get a new checkbook and debit card, and shake the employee's hand, or even give him/her a hug.

3. Sync up your new deposit account information (ABA routing number and account number for checks, card number, expiration date, 3-digit security code for debit card) to any relevant accounts that require automatic payments. For example, if you automatically pay your car insurance on a monthly basis with your checking account, be sure to sync up your checking account with your car insurance company. You may also want provide your new account information for online products such as iTunes, eBay, and PayPal.

4. Stand in front of a full-length mirror. Admire yourself. You've earned it.

That's all there is to it. Sounds like a lot, and perhaps it is. After all, big banks played a role in making this process difficult because it acts as a deterrent for people to withdraw their money and close their accounts. But if you stick to this guide and remain focused on your goal, you can impact meaningful and measurable change by participating in Bank Transfer Day.

This article originally appeared in FearLess Revolution.

More resources for Bank Transfer Day:
Facebook: http://facebook.com/nov.fifth
Twitter: http://twitter.com/banktransferday
Twitter Hashtag: #louderthanwords
Email: info@banktransferday.org

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A baker’s oven, a backhoe, a well drilling rig. According to social entrepreneur Marcin Jakubowski, these are a few of the 50 machines essential for any society to sustain a modern, comfortable lifestyle.

But these machines are not only essential, explains Leifur Thor, they’re also expensive, hard to repair and designed to be obsolete in a few years. Thor volunteers with Open Source Ecology, a non-profit Jakubowski founded to develop the Global Village Construction Set. The set will comprise durable, modular machines that people can build and maintain themselves with sustainable, locally available materials—often scrap metal. OSE will give the plans away to anyone who wants them. The money a farmer would have sent to a large corporation to buy a hay cutter will stay in the community. The environmental impact of shipping heavy equipment long distances will disappear. These machines are designed to cost roughly a fifth of what factory-produced models do.

"We’re obsessed with the idea that whatever we’re creating is going to have the maximum benefit, for the lowest cost, for the longest time," says Thor.

Preliminary drawings for a steam engine recently went up on the group’s website. Comments are welcome. “We’re involving the entire world in research and development,” says Thor. Though the Global Village Construction Set is still being designed, enthusiasts are already thinking about how to use it. Through OSE’s web forum, people interested in creating sustainable communities are reaching out to others in their geographical areas. A California company plans on using OSE’s modular tractor to build sustainable pressed earth buildings.

OSE is a reaction to the “tremendous inefficiency” of mass production, Thor says. “This is a natural evolution of technology. If we didn’t come along, someone else would have.”

Marcin Jakubowski explains the origins of OSE:

Colleen Shaddox wrote this article for YES! Magazine, a national, nonprofit media organization that fuses powerful ideas with practical actions.

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A few years ago, my husband and I decided that we wanted a better world for our two boys, now 10 and 11 years old. We embarked on a journey to do our part for the environment: My husband quit his job to join a sustainability start-up; I tackled the home.

I started by adopting reusable water bottles and shopping totes, but slowly took it further by replacing disposables with reusables (toilet paper excluded), shopping in bulk with cloth bags, bringing glass containers to the store for wet items (meat, deli, fish, cheese, oil...), and even testing more extreme ideas, like shampooing with baking soda and vinegar for 6 months. A year's worth of our household solid waste now fits in a quart size jar.

What we discovered along the way is that the benefits of the zero-waste lifestyle go well beyond the obvious environmental impact. It has not only made us healthier (since the healthiest foods do not come packaged), but it has also saved us a great deal of money. Most importantly, we now have more time to do the things that matter most to us, like spending it with our kids.

We find that we have become a closer and happier family in the process. We have found balance without compromising our goals, aesthetics, or sanity. Zero-waste living is on auto-pilot.

The zero in "zero waste" makes it sound scary and hard to achieve. It is actually not as as hard as it seems, and it is as simple as following these five R's, in order:

• Refuse what you do not need.
• Reduce what you do need.
  
• Reuse by using reusables.
• Recycle what you cannot refuse, reduce, or reuse.
• Rot (compost) the rest.
  

Refuse
1. Fight junk mail. It's not just a waste of resources, but also of time. Register to receive less at dmachoice.org, optoutprescreen.org and catalogchoice.org.

2. Turn down freebies from conferences, fairs, and parties. Every time you take one, you create a demand to make more. Do you really need another "free" pen?

Reduce
3. Declutter your home, and donate to your local thrift shop. You'll lighten your load and make precious resources available to those looking to buy secondhand.

4. Reduce your shopping trips and keep a shopping list. The less you bring home, the less waste you'll have to deal with.

Reuse
5. Swap disposables for reusables (start using handkerchiefs, refillable bottles, shopping totes, cloth napkins, rags, etc.). You might find that you don't miss your paper towels, but rather enjoy the savings.

7 Ways to Cook Up
a Sustainable Diet
No Impact Week: Helpful tips
for planet-friendly eating.

6. Avoid grocery shopping waste: Bring reusable totes, cloth bags (for bulk aisles), and jars (for wet items like cheese and deli foods) to the store and farmers market.

Recycle
7. Know your city's recycling policies and locations—but think of recycling as a last resort. Have you refused, reduced, or reused first? Question the need and life-cycle of your purchases. Shopping is voting.

8. Buy primarily in bulk or secondhand, but if you must buy new, choose glass, metal, or cardboard. Avoid plastic: Much of it gets shipped across the world for recycling and often ends up in the landfill (or worse yet, the ocean).

Rot
9. Find a compost system that works for your home and get to know what it will digest (dryer lint, hair, and nails are all compostable).

10. Turn your home kitchen trash can into one large compost receptacle. The bigger the compost receptacle, the more likely you'll be to use it freely.

An attempt at going zero waste starts with small changes. It's within anyone's reach, and change starts at home. As you embark on No Impact Week, remember—you're not alone in the challenge.

Bea Johnson wrote this article for YES! Magazine, a national, nonprofit media organization that fuses powerful ideas and practical actions for a just and sustainable world. Bea blogs at The Zero Waste Home, where she shares personal stories and waste-reducing tips with a growing community of people are taking a stance on needless waste.

Interested?

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A year ago, I undertook a month-long experiment in making the "idea" of eating local a daily practice: For one month, I ate only food that was produced within a 10-mile radius of my home on Whidbey Island, Washington.

I allowed myself four "exotics"—foods from afar—because living without them would make the experiment a prison I'd never want to visit again. My exotics were olive oil, salt, caffeine and limes (and I discovered while researching my book in progress, Blessing the Hands That Feed Us, that these exceptions—plus chocolate—tend to be everyone's exotics).

The diet forced me to confront my habits, preferences, and obsessions. I had to learn to cook from only what's at hand, and understand my unique place on the earth—with its land and farmers and food—as never before.

Sign up for No Impact Week—
an 8-day carbon cleanse that could lead to a happier, healthier, and more sustainable way of life.

I'm a learner, and what I learned nourished me as much as the food did. Now, as hundreds of you take on the challenge of a sustainable diet for No Impact Week, here are seven tips for happier (and healthier) eating, wherever you are planted.

1. Savor your food without distractions. Chew it not for "good digestion" but to enjoy the flavors. Don't read or write emails or watch a movie. You may actually notice when you are full and stop. Savoring alone could lead us to eat, spend, and waste less.

2. Cook with what's at hand. If it is in your fridge or on your shelves, count it as local. How much food do we waste simply because we forget we have it?

3. Become competent in your kitchen. Using hand tools rather than a food processor saves energy and sharpens new skills.

My 10-Mile Diet
When Tricia Beckner asked me to only eat for a month what she can produce on her CSA farm-ette,
I was game. We’ve widened the circle a little to include food produced within 10 miles of my home on Whidbey Island.

4. Adopt one farmer and stock up. Local food means that specific human beings did a lot of hard work with much love to bring good food to their communities. Pick someone who sells at the farmers market or to your local co-op or grocer. Go to their farm and buy food for your No Impact Week experiment. It's fun.

Want to go more native? Buy winter storage food to live local in the cold months.

5. Invite someone to dinner. When we eat alone, we tend to wolf down our food. And families are so busy and distracted they often don't think to invite someone over for a meal. I learned that eating is an act of belonging, and we are not meant to be as anti-social as many of us have become. Cook a nice meal from your local supplies and enjoy conviviality.

6. Read the labels at your grocery store. Where do the 25 foods you most often buy originate? Is your olive oil simply distributed in California, or are those California-grown olives? Is your Napa wine really made with Napa grapes, or is it a blend? Is there information about the people who grew the food, packaged, or shipped it?

7. Start some alfalfa seed sprouts on your windowsill on day one. By the last day of the week, eat them.

Local tools, local farmers, local company, local sprouts—it's all part of your local food system.

Here's to No Impact Week showing you how good food can be—for your body, soul, and sense of belonging.

Vicki Robin wrote this article for YES! Magazine, a national, nonprofit media organization that fuses powerful ideas with practical actions for a just and sustainable world. The coauthor of Your Money or Your Life, Vicki teaches classes about frugal, creative, and self-sufficient living.

Interested?

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  Sometimes the hardest part of changing our lives and world is believing that it’s possible. Colin Beavan on finding a place to start.
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• Food For Everyone
  Imagine a food system that delivers fresh, organic food to everybody. Can't be done in a world of industrial food? We say it can, and it must, especially in these economic hard times. We bring together the best ideas for a new food system, tell the inspiring stories of people revolutionizing food production, and show how you too can join a growing local food movement.
  

TAKE A PEEK INSIDE THE FALL 2011 ISSUE OF YES! MAGAZINE

1. Recipe for a Start-up

While food businesses have traditionally gotten started in personal kitchens, most states now require any food sold commercially to be prepared in a kitchen monitored by a health inspector.

That requirement is too costly for many would-be entrepreneurs. People who want to start a food business in Cambridge, Mass., can rent professional kitchen space on an hourly basis from CropCircle, a nonprofit “kitchen incubator” that provides technical assistance and access to equipment like convection ovens and blast freezers. Starting a food business through Crop-
Circle, or one of the other kitchen incubators that have opened around the country, helps keep costs manageable, and entrepreneurs can quickly scale up production when they’re ready.

Hot Bread Kitchen in Queens, N.Y.: A training program and kitchen incubator that helps people from low-income communities get started in the food business.

Photo by Kristin Gladney.

CropCircle members can take a food safety class that prepares them for the state certification they’ll need to go out on their own. Operations Manager Darnell Adams cites the logistical challenges confronting food entrepreneurs, and says there’s room in the market for more kitchen incubators and the help they provide.

Some kitchen incubators focus on a specific population, such as immigrants or organic food producers, but Adams says CropCircle is “here for anyone who has an idea that is viable,” which is why a day on the job might have her sampling kimchi, carob peppermint cookies, or
baba ghanoush. —Colleen Shaddox

2. Free Computers

Computers are vital for almost any business, but not everyone can afford to buy one. Free Geek in Portland, Ore., can help. Volunteers donate 24 hours of their time to deconstruct and rebuild donated computers in exchange for one of their own. Free Geek’s build program guides
them through the process of constructing five computers, so they can take home the sixth. A grants program allows nonprofits to apply for computer donations.

Free Geek in Portland, Ore.: Rebuilt computers in exchange for labor.

Free Geek also offers computer classes, tech support, and a thrift store that sells desktop computers and peripherals at a fraction of retail prices. This keeps computer equipment out of the landfill, working for the local economy, and connecting people to jobs, work, and the world.

For those not living near Portland, Free Geek has numerous affiliates across the country. These affiliates must follow guidelines that include: disposing of equipment in ethical and environmentally responsible ways, using free and open-source software when possible, providing affordable or free tech training, using democratic and transparent governing policies, and being a nonprofit business. —Krista Vogel

3. Quality Child Care

Working parents with young children need quality, affordable child care, while many parents staying at home with their children need a way to earn a living. Nicole Richardson
got assistance from an organization that addresses both these needs.

Richardson came from a big family and always wanted to run a child care business. But realizing that dream required her to navigate complex regulations and make renovations to her home, where the business would be based. She turned to All Our Kin (AOK), a nonprofit in New Haven, Conn. All Our Kin prepared her for certification as a child development associate, helped her apply for her license, and provided technical assistance, including one-on-one mentorship from a master teacher. AOK clients get boxes of free materials that range from smoke detectors to art supplies, and Richardson even got a low-interest loan to fence her yard.

“I don’t feel like I’m babysitting kids,” she says. “I feel like I’m an educator.” Today she is certified as an Early Head Start provider and employs an assistant to help care for five infants and toddlers.

AOK opened in reaction to welfare reform, which pushed mothers into low-paying jobs that didn’t cover the cost of child care. Founders Jessica Sager and Janna Wagner began training women to provide outstanding child care in their homes. They expanded AOK’s work when many existing child care providers in Connecticut started going under. They believed that with good training and support these businesses could be sustainable and extend high quality care to neighborhoods where it was scarce. Their strategy worked: The number of providers is actually increasing in New Haven.

With the right skills, child care can be a great career, according to Richardson. “If you have the love for the kids, I recommend it,” she says. —C.S.

4. Ignite! Local Business

Training and mutual support go a long way in making small enterprises viable. That’s no secret to the graduates of Urban FIRE (Financial Intelligence, Responsible Entrepreneurship), a nonprofit in Oakland, Calif., that provides an affordable “crash course” for would-be entrepreneurs in the inner city.

The resulting new businesses are launched every year at the Ignite! New Business Expo, a showcase to encourage community support.

Teamwork extends beyond the classroom for Urban FIRE graduates. The founder of Our Cuban Kitchen in Oakland, for example, buys the restaurant’s desserts and marketing services from fellow graduates. It’s just the sort of collaboration that Urban FIRE founder Boku Kodama
envisions as the basis of a local economy. “What Ignite! and Urban FIRE attempt to do is create intra-dependent villages within their communities so that they can be more self-sustainable without relying on so-called social service programs,” he says. —Lily Hicks

5. Instant Office

Photo by Josh Hallett.

Independent workers may need a ready-made office for just a few hours, or all day, every day, and that’s just what’s provided by Citizen Space in San Francisco, Calif. Freelancers can pay a small fee to drop in occasionally, or a monthly membership for dedicated desk space, 24/7 building access, conference rooms, and office amenities. But this is more than just an office. It’s one of the growing number of coworking spaces that has sprouted throughout Europe and North America in the past five years as collaborative alternatives to working from home.

Citizen Space gives members access to a computer clinic on efficient use of technology—vital to independents whose computers serve as business hubs. It’s just one of the classes and events offered to promote good business practices and encourage social interaction. The networking opportunities are endless, and the atmosphere—somewhere between an office and a coffee shop—proves that people don’t need to work for the same company to be colleagues. —Krista Vogel

6. Factory at Your Fingertips

What would you make if you could run a factory from your laptop? It’s a real option, at least if you live near a Fab Lab. Developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Fab Labs are a suite of industrial fabrication tools controlled by a personal computer.

The first Fab Lab outside MIT, at Lorain County Community College in Elyria, Ohio, has allowed entrepreneurs to start microbusinesses producing everything from knitting tools to circuit boards. Fab Labs currently support small businesses in scattered sites around the United States and even more so in the developing world.

Some of these products may find their way back to the States. A wireless network that helped Afghan farmers keep track of their sheep was repurposed in Kenya as a way to provide Internet access. Now people in Detroit are talking about adopting the system to provide low-cost wireless service. —C.S.

7. Organizing Freelancers

Offering your services on a temporary basis is one way to find work at a time when employers are reluctant to create permanent jobs. Contract workers make up 30 percent of the American workforce, and their numbers are increasing. The Freelancers Union offers “solidarity, benefits, community, and a political voice” to these consultants, independent contractors, temps, part-timers, and contingent employees. The 156,000-member organization is not actually a union in that it offers no collective bargaining. But it advocates for the rights of independent workers, and provides support in the form of group benefits such as 401K plans, health insurance (in certain states), disability insurance, and member discounts.

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Increasingly, universities and colleges employ part-time, contingent, and adjunct instructors, who are sometimes paid less than the cleaning staff, and work without benefits or job security. The American Federation of Teachers is a trade union that now includes workers throughout education, health care, and public service, as well as adjunct professors. The American Association of University Professors and the New Faculty Majority are not unions but do fight for adjunct rights.

The United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers (UE) of America describes itself as an member-run, independent union. UE has a growing membership that includes a range of occupations and represents approximately 35,000 workers in more than 140 autonomous locals around the country.

Whether these and other newer professional unions grow to have the political and economic clout of the Teamsters or SEIU remains to be seen. But in the age of social networking there are new avenues for organizing from the ground up.—Larry Buhl

• More articles from New Livelihoods, the Fall 2011 issue of YES! Magazine.

• Who's Building the Do-It-Ourselves Economy?
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• Less Work, More Living
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• How State Banks Bring the Money Home
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1. The Perfectly Sustainable Pet

Whether kept on a farm or a city rooftop, chickens are the most sustainable pets. They love hunting for garden slugs, and they’re walking composters that will transform kitchen scraps into glorious fertilizer—and a bounty of eggs. If you buy young chicks, make sure they’re hens—unless you want roosters crowing at dawn and irate neighbors. To raise a tame chicken, get it used to human contact by keeping your hand near the feed while it eats, and holding it regularly. You might end up with a friendly lap chicken rather than a lap dog. 

2. Low-Cost Vet Care

The Humane Society recommends a pet insurance plan to help meet the cost of unexpected veterinary treatment. The website also lists organizations in all 50 states that offer free or low-cost animal health services, including spay/neuter clinics. Local vet schools may also offer low-cost clinics. Go to humanesociety.org, avma.org.

3. Adopt a Mutt

Puppy farms aren’t green, and neither is the fact that 4 ­million stray cats and dogs are put down each year. Why not adopt a lovable mutt instead of buying a purebred?

Exotic pets that escape or are released into a foreign habitat can wreak havoc on native species. For example, efforts to restore the Florida Everglades are undermined by a population of 150,000 Burmese pythons—the result of owners releasing pet snakes into the wild. Florida wildlife officials hold amnesty days where owners can drop off exotic creatures, no questions asked.

4. Flea-Free Home

A flea infestation is misery, but commercial “bug bombs” fill your home with potentially hazardous organophosphates. Try controlling the local flea population by using a combination of non-toxic methods. Grooming your dog, cat, or rabbit regularly with a flea comb is a good start. As the fleas are caught in the comb, deposit them in soapy water to prevent them jumping back onto your pet.

Fleas lay their eggs in the environment rather than on the animal, so cleaning up dust, debris, and pet hair will also help. Wash pet bedding and vacuum every five days, and get the vacuum bag out of the house before those tiny flea eggs hatch. You can freeze or burn the bag contents to destroy the eggs. Using a wet vac with slightly soapy water is an efficient way to capture both stray fleas and eggs. “Natural” or “food grade” diatomaceous earth (not the kind used in swimming pool filters) is safe to use in areas that can’t be reached by a mop or vacuum—the fine powder dehydrates fleas.

5. Toys and Treats

Give small wildlife a break—keep your cat indoors at dusk and dawn, when cats are most likely to hunt, and channel some of that hunting instinct into active play. The recycling bin can be a source of cat amusement. Twisted paper bags are good for a game of pounce, and a cardboard box can be an alluring hiding place. Recycle when your cat becomes bored.

6. Waste Not

Leaving dog or cat waste where pets drop it might seem like a natural alternative to putting it in a plastic bag and dumping it in a landfill, but harmful bacteria from pet waste may seep into local groundwater, be swept away in rainwater runoff or, if flushed, survive sewage treatment and eventually contaminate streams, lakes, or bays. Some pet owners compost pet waste in a miniature outdoor septic tank. For cats, make sure you’re using  litter made from materials that can be easily composted—such as corn, wheat, or recycled newspaper, rather than unsustainable clay.

In Alaska, where dog sledding is the official state sport, owners are advised to compost dog waste from their kennels for the least environmental impact. An excellent guide published by the USDA gives clear instructions on building simple pet waste compost bins, and the conditions to create high temperatures for efficient composting—even in the cold Alaskan climate. Find it at ak.nrcs.usda.gov/compost.html.

Jennifer Kaye and Lindsay Kucera wrote this article for 9 Strategies to End Corporate Rule, the Spring 2012 issue of YES! Magazine. Jennifer and Lindsay are interns at YES!

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