Can Pets, Like Kids, Turn Adults into Greenies?

I’m not a pet owner (much to my sons’ dismay).  So I’ll admit that I was stumped when Lisa of Condo Blues proposed hosting this month’s Green Moms Carnival on Green Pets.

Green pets? Sure, I’ve seen aisles of organic dog food, which made me grumpily think about how American dogs are treated better than millions of humans around the world.

But that was before I learned from Treehugger that “the animals used to make many pet foods are classified as “4-D,” which is really a polite way of saying “Dead, Dying, Diseased, or Down (Disabled)” when they line up at the slaughterhouse. Unless that can of Chicken ‘N Liver Delite explicitly states that it contains FDA-certified, food-grade meat, you should know that its contents are considered unfit for human consumption–but apparently good enough for your cat or pooch.”

This weekend, while I was mulling over my post for this month’s Carnival, I stopped by Rehoboth’s Greyhounds Reach the Beach pet fair to check out what was going on in the world of “green pets.” While there, I picked up some home made dog treats as holiday presents for my brother and brother-in-law. (They aren’t much for gifts, and I’m sure they’d rather have treats for their dogs than for themselves!)

I couldn’t help but notice that there were many “natural” vendors at the fair, like those selling these soy candles.

Then it hit me. Could pets, like babies, become a starting point on the journey to sustainability? Much has been written and entire movements have been formed around the concept of Moms Going Green, or Kids Greening Their Parents. But what about pets?

Can we influence other consumption patterns by opting for simple, natural treats or doggie gifts instead of something made of plastic?

Maybe that’s what those soy candles and recycled stock dog prints were doing at the pet fair!

Let’s hope that after buying a sustainable dog treat, more owners think about treating themselves as well as ….Fido.

Head on over to Condo Blues today, where Lisa has a slew of interesting posts from the @GreenMoms about both Greening Your Pets and National Adopt A Shelter Dog Month. In fact, that pet fair I visited? Turns out it’s held every year as part of Greyhounds Reach the Beach to encourage people to adopt greyhounds. See you next year?

— Lynn

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Kids and Veterans on Memorial Day

I think of Memorial Day as the start of the summer beach season. It wasn’t until my dear brother made a comment about “no one remembering veterans anymore” that I realized Memorial Day could be yet another “teachable moment” with my kids.

When I told my eight-year-old son we were going to watch the Veteran’s Day observance in Rehoboth Beach, he grumbled and groaned. I wasn’t surprised. What kid in his right mind wants to go to something called an “observance” when the sun, sand and boardwalk amusements beckon?

Maybe if he had known a veteran would give him one of the shells fired off in the salute, he would have argued less.

Perhaps if he realized that a World War II veteran would tell him, “Yes, I remember FDR! Of course!” it would make his first big oral book report — due this week —  that much more interesting.

Or had he known that a reporter for the local newspaper would interview him, my idea for the outing might have seemed more exciting.

But in the end, what mattered most to me was not the arguing beforehand, but what he said after the ceremony ended.

“Thank you,” he said to the veterans.

And to me, he said, “Thanks, Mom, I’m glad we came.”

What did you do on Memorial Day? If you didn’t observe the day with veterans, do you plan to next year? Please leave a comment and share!

— Lynn

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Finally, Beach Food Meets Its Match: Fruit Stands On (Near) The Board Walk?

Who doesn’t love the beach? I sure do.

The sun, the sand, the kids, the views….

But  the snacks sold on the boardwalk do nothing for a beach body.

You know the drill.

Soda. Pizza. Ice Cream.  Taffy. Chips.

So I was beyond excited over Memorial Day weekend when I spied this little stand set up a stone’s throw from the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk.

“It’s a trial,” the woman selling strawberries told me.

Determined to support that trial, I bought two cartons of the fresh, local Delaware-grown  strawberries.  (They weren’t even organic, and I still bought them!)

So this last weekend when I hit Rehoboth Avenue once again, I set out to look for my favorite beach fruit stand.

But sadly, it wasn’t there.

What gives? Worried that my one healthy “street food” choice was gone, I called the fruit stand’s owners, Fifer Orchards.

And I’ve got good news for all you fresh fruit fanatics: the stand will be back on the 4^th of July, and hopefully most weekends thereafter till August.

What about you? Have you seen fruit stands near your favorite boardwalk before?

— Lynn

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