Yes, we can’t forget that each of the implementations of those good (or bad) ideas fuels industries full of people making money off our choices. Also, the industries we may decide don’t deserve to exist, employ a lot of people who have done nothing wrong except do their jobs. We as a society, need to be careful to disrupt as little as possible when pushing for the ideas we are positive are the best ones for everyone. What is good for us may not be for others.

 

Selzer, a city person was visiting a farm that belonged to a relative. She asked my cousin if they named their pigs. He replied "We call them Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner." 🤣

Not sure how I'd manage if I had to slaughter my own animals, even though I've worked on farms. Since I've dissected quite a few animals, I think I'd be fine with the butchering, but actually killing something I'd raised...

When we went to visit my father's mother on the farm, we'd always have to walk past the chopping block on the way to the door. There were always a couple of severed hens' heads lying beside it. Keeping the hens was my grandmother's responsibility. She sold the eggs and gutted, plucked and sold the carcasses. She kept the money for herself in a separate account. She also had her kitchen garden, with all the produce she grew and used to feed the family. Anything not needed by the family was sold at the farmer's market. The garden was nearly an acre in size. 😳

When my grandfather died very unexpectedly and the farm had to be sold because none of his children felt they could manage the mortgage, my grandmother's money was the only legacy there was to be divided amongst her ten children. 😥

 

Selzer, a city person was visiting a farm that belonged to a relative. She asked my cousin if they named their pigs. He replied "We call them Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner." 🤣

Not sure how I'd manage if I had to slaughter my own animals, even though I've worked on farms. Since I've dissected quite a few animals, I think I'd be fine with the butchering, but actually killing something I'd raised...

When we went to visit my father's mother on the farm, we'd always have to walk past the chopping block on the way to the door. There were always a couple of severed hens' heads lying beside it. Keeping the hens was my grandmother's responsibility. She sold the eggs and gutted, plucked and sold the carcasses. She kept the money for herself in a separate account. She also had her kitchen garden, with all the produce she grew and used to feed the family. Anything not needed by the family was sold at the farmer's market. The garden was nearly an acre in size. 😳

When my grandfather died very unexpectedly and the farm had to be sold because none of his children felt they could manage the mortgage, my grandmother's money was the only legacy there was to be divided amongst her ten children. 😥

I don't know how Canada does tax on estates, but the US seems to be particularly hard on farmers, partly because they are a special category, where family often works together to make the farms work, and usually farms are running on the edge anyway. If the farm, acreage, house, equipment/assets are added up and then taxed it makes the survivors unable to continue with the farm. If they sell acreage, that may make the farm less capable of providing for those working the farm. I don't know what the answer is, but if the progeny are willing to continue to farm a piece of property, the tax after the death of the farmer should not make that impossible for them.

 

I think it took about 50 years to completely phase out horses to horsepower. So so many jobs lost but new ones created. Change is always inevitable. Many countries successfully use a large percent of electric railroads or their goals are to use all electric railroads and cars. It’s being down around the world. They are working on electric small planes and cruise ships. Change is real hard, real slow and imperfect but often for the better. It is inevitable, the USA the world leader will feel the growing pressure of the majority of the world and will need to flow and grow with the rest. In a 100 -200 years years transportation systems just will not be the same. People need to watch over the environment there will be always some type of balance needed. Everyone doing what they can and just being aware is a start. What is allowed to be dumped into our water ways is disturbing and the growing consequences are hard to ignore. Growing up we had issues with the local dry cleaners and the chemicals they were dumping into the ground contaminated the entire well system in the area and the the water was deemed unsafe to wash in or drink. The neighborhood was given boxes of gallon water weekly until the switch in the neighborhood from well to city water- costing millions of dollars and making people sick because of what the dry cleaner business owner were doing. My mom was the one that started the entire investigation getting her water tested not everyone’s water smelled of rotten eggs but was found unsafe to drink. There are cancer specialists offices popping up all over the island just as much like 7/11’s and Dunkin Doughnuts(popular coffee shops). I have never seen anything like it.

 

1: Tru Earth laundry strips are brilliant, just saying. There is a version in the U.S. called Earth Breeze.
2: We had an EV, the Nissan Leaf, and enjoyed that car. We had a charger installed in our garage. It only raised our power bill by 50 bucks a month. And less maintenance, no oil changes for instance. But when we sold the house and tired to give the car to family members, none of them had a way to charge it at home. We got a good price selling it to a used car dealer and now drive our Ram truck.
3: Just watched a report from an area around Houston that has dioxin in the soil and clusters of cancers. Homes are boarded up and no one will buy them. How does a neighborhood recover from that, with toxic soil, once cozy but worthless houses, and serious health issues?
4: And I still think that anyone who wants to push renewable energy or personal conservation needs to spend a week or two dry camping in an RV with a battery and solar panel. People who boondock / dry camp, have to manage everything, Power, Water, Sewage, Storage of things, Dealing with weather, dealing with little food storage. We all get spoiled with how easy things are with indoor plumbing and power at the flip of a switch and typically more than enough space to store things we don't really need.
5: yesterday was Scoop the Poop day (yes, it is really an observance day in the U.S.). The article I read suggested disposing poop in the toilet. I was thinking , that can't be right. After some looking around online it seems the real answer is "it depends"
6: If you ever get a copy of the original Joy of Cooking cookbook, it had directions on how to clean and prepare game and farm animals.

 

1: Tru Earth laundry strips are brilliant, just saying. There is a version in the U.S. called Earth Breeze.

Ecos has a version of these strips/sheets that is much more economical (it was introduced as EcosNext but now is just Ecos Laundry Detergent Sheets) -- Costco sells it in 192-sheet packages. Sometimes they have the unscented version too, but right now just the natural lavender/vanilla version: https://www.costco.com/ecos-he-laundry-detergent-sheets,-lavender-vanilla,-192-loads,-192-sheets.product.4000174737.html

They work in my front-loading HE machine with cold water -- unlike laundry powder.j

Out West, my dad built his plumbing system to dump certain benign gray-water (like the shower) out onto his garden and fruit trees. He has a flexible pipe that he can move around to direct the water. It was probably illegal when he built it 30 years ago, but he's up in the high desert mountains where nobody noticed. Once in a while neighbors would comment with wonder on how happy his hollyhocks were or how many apples he had on his trees. More areas are starting to wake up to the idea that using graywater for landscaping in dry areas makes tons of sense.

 

I can fish, and I can shoot with bow or gun, so I could probably survive by hunting and fishing if I had to. I have Amish living across the street, and I could probably ask them for pointers on the gardening. My dad owns 15 acres of woodland that is where I would hunt. I could fish from the river out back of my place. I have a bicycle that can easily get me into town and to the nearest city if gas became an issue. Dog food would probably be a problem. If I could get a cart, it is 12-14 miles to where I buy it, but maybe they would run out too. Feeding my dogs out of fish from the river or hunting sound tough. this is a morbid topic, and I need to stay up-beat today.

 

I can hunt, I can fish, I can snare. I can process moose, deer, rabbit, fish
I have a buddy that does a two week trip every year to Alaska just to live out of a tent on the land and believe me it's the opposite of the life he generally leads (father is what I'd politely call wealthy and he does very well for himself independent of that). Another buddy I work with that remote camps every Summer with nothing but a knife and basic tools, has taken some dried food for emergencies. Sometimes, it's how you feel alive, get closer to dead.

On the farm, slaughtering of beef cattle (always kept two), chickens, ostrich, always knew where meat/eggs came from. We've become super soft, kids don't know how to change a tire or make dinner but know all the cheats on Fortnite.

 

There will be a bunch of people hunting and fishing and foraging. I have enough Nutrient Survival for 2 adults for a year stashed around.

Yes, I do have several tin foil hats.

About poop bags:

The most responsible thing to do is to either turn it in to be composted if your locale has a high temp compost recycle service. If that is not an option, you should flush it. Dog waste will break down in a septic or public sewage treatment facility just like our poop does. You could use a container that is easy to carry and a scooper, or wash and reuse plastic bags.

 

I have an aeration tank, not a septic tank, which means I have aerobic bugs rather than septic bugs in my tank to break things down. No way would I flush plastic down there. My pump is dead right now, on the list of things that have to be done after the house is paid off in June. But even without the pump pumping air into it, probably killing off my bugs. I wouldn't put plastic in there.

The best thing to do with my dogs' poo is to throw it over the edge of the ravine, onto my own property. But my neighbors had a hissy about that and called the health department and because there is a river, which has bugs in it that would manage it just fine according to my mom who has water and sewer licenses, they (the health department) agreed that I shouldn't let it go over the edge. However, I can dump it anywhere on my property as long as it is 100' from a well. I started putting it along the outside of my property fence toward the miserable neighbor's property, and they called the health department again. It was actually a pile of woodchips, straw, soil, and a small amount poop that was fermenting for 2 years that I was spreading there. But the health department came out again, and said it was perfectly fine what I was doing. Since then, to keep peace, I've been bagging it in extra-strong 4 mill contractor bags and putting it in the garbage. To the landfill it goes. It was causing no problem with the environment, and now it is. Too bad.

 

When I had the kennel, getting rid of the poop was a problem. The garbage contractors refused to pick it up, and I was told I'd have to haul it to the dump, and pay for it by the pound. I really hated doing that, especially in the winter, when the poop was at least 50% mixed with ice and snow.

I noticed the previous owner had been dumping poop on a small berm up against the south facing fence, so when winter came, I started doing that. By the time the snow melted, the poop had dried out, and was dry, crumbly and odor-free. I continued to used this method for the rest of the time I owned the kennel. In summer, I'd mix it with organic matter like woodchips, sawdust, grass clippings or leaves. There was never a problem with odour or flies, as long as I remembered to keep the lids on the poop buckets during the summer, and dump them frequently.

I sometimes wondered if mixing in organic matter would make it less acid and safe to use as compost. However, I was to busy running the kennel to ever plant a veggie garden, and I didn't want to try it on the front flower beds, in case there was a problem.

 

When I had the kennel, getting rid of the poop was a problem. The garbage contractors refused to pick it up, and I was told I'd have to haul it to the dump, and pay for it by the pound. I really hated doing that, especially in the winter, when the poop was at least 50% mixed with ice and snow.

I noticed the previous owner had been dumping poop on a small berm up against the south facing fence, so when winter came, I started doing that. By the time the snow melted, the poop had dried out, and was dry, crumbly and odor-free. I continued to used this method for the rest of the time I owned the kennel. In summer, I'd mix it with organic matter like woodchips or sawdust. There was never a problem with odour or flies!

I sometimes wondered if mixing in organic matter would make it less acid and safe to use as compost. However, I was to busy running the kennel to ever plant a veggie garden, and I didn't want to try it on the front flower beds, in case there was a problem.

Yep, winter pick up sucks. I made a mountain and a hill and at the end of the winter, I bagged it up. I then dragged wheel barrowed the bags and put them around a dead maple tree, to be added to my trash can 4 per week. (The health dept. did tell me that was the ideal, so that was what I was doing.) I was getting there, when my brother asked me if I was getting a dupster this year, he'd go halfers with me. (Is that a real word?) Anyway, I got the dumpster and put them in there. Right now it is 1-2 bags per week all winter this year and so I do not have a mountain or a hill or a 2-year compost going. There is a spot that has been there for about four years, but it isn't worth messing with.

While I have been ill, cleaning the kennels has been impossible. But we had very little rain during the first 3 weeks, and since I had already had 3 dogs over my friend's for a week before she took the other two while I was in the hospital, a lot less poop happened. When I went to clean it all, it was dry and light, mostly dehydrated and easy to pick up. All the kennels area were so large that it really wasn't bad. I cleaned Karma and Vera's area and put down cedar chips. So that was really good. The others in the back, well Uzi always liked to poop in one corner, so she only had a pile in the back double kennel, and the front two kennel areas she has available had no poop at all. Cujo and Hepsi had more -- a little smaller in area and two dogs in stead of one. Bears was easy. One bag for the six of them. Now I have my dogs back. And it rained heavy this past week. And I had surgery today. Sigh, if it isn't one thing it is another.

 

We'll all get in trouble soon if we keep talking about governments and regulations😳
My only thought about the entire matter is we need this planet to function somewhat properly because it's our home.I like to do what I can towards it's up keep.

 

We'll all get in trouble soon if we keep talking about governments and regulations😳
My only thought about the entire matter is we need this planet to function somewhat properly because it's our home.I like to do what I can towards it's up keep.

Governments might make some changes that effect climate, like trying to plant trees on the prairies. And to regulate the methods of widespread farming to prevent the conditions that caused the dust bowl during the great depression. But I don't think you and me, ourselves, can spend our lives scrimping and saving and sacrificing and make any difference whatsoever.

Once upon a time, I read a book called, Lad, a Dog. It was a fairy tale (novel). But it spoke of a time in history, and that time included WWI or WWII, I don't remember which. But someone decided that it was patriotic to stop having dogs, to euthanize dogs to save meat for soldiers. And people did it. And those that did it shamed those who wouldn't. I had surgery today and am on narcotics so I'm not sure what my point is. I just don't think that owning dogs, poop bags or no poop bags, is ruining the earth. There are folks that seem to think that we should entertain this idea though. That we should reduce our dogs' carbon footprint. Shaming folks for owning dogs is only a few steps behind.

 

I read (and LOVED) all the Terhune books as a kid!

I don't think people are going to be convinced they have to stop owning pets due to their carbon footprint, BUT the current insane cost of veterinary treatment, which is always continually increasing may make it impossible for all but the wealthy. :'(

 

Amen, Dogma!

 

Switching out from green to the purple bags. Will see how it holds up. [emoji90]

 

I believe doing a small kindness can have a domino effect. I remember a commercial on TV years ago,possibly put out by the Morman church? I can't remember the details but there was a bad tempered grumpy person that witnessed someone stopping to help someone for a moment. He in turn refrained yelling impatiently as he normally did and offered a kind word.Each person along the way did one tiny thing to make another's day better.

 

I agree. Nothing replaces kindness. I spend a lot of my free time doing things for other people. I run a small charity that gives items to NICU babies at a hospital that serves a modest income community, to cancer patients at a wellness center and to the homeless. I do it because it makes me happy to share my talents. I’ve trained a few dogs for people who couldn’t do it themselves, which is somewhat more frustrating and less rewarding because you can train the dog but not fix the person. I try to use as few resources as I can comfortably manage because I want to, not because I’ve been scared into it. We each have to do what makes the most sense for us. When I worked two-three jobs and was raising a family, I did less because I had less time. Do I think everyone should be kind to others? Absolutely. But it’s also not my place to tell people what they should be doing and I get frustrated with people who feel it’s their job to do so.

 

Have seen this in my own life. I was having coffee with a woman I'd met online, and in walked a man who had just finished 6 months in the rehab where she worked, to overcome his drug and alcohol addiction. She invited him to join us, and paid for his coffee.

When he found out I needed help to get my house ready for sale, he volunteered to work for nothing. I accepted his offer, after talking privately with the woman who knew him, and making sure she thought he could be trusted. I found he was quite handy at what he did, so eventually I was paying him $15 an hour.

We became friends, and he insisted on accompanying me to all my chemo appointments, to support me. (My brother was supposed to do this, but he hurt his back really badly, and wasn't supposed to drive.)

There were a few blips along the way, but now, 4 years on, he's engaged to be married to a really nice woman, has got his welding certificate back, and has a unionized job that pays really well!

He says if I hadn't helped him, he no doubt would have slipped back into addiction and might have overdosed and died.

He still drinks, but between his job and living in a stable relationship with his fiancée, he's staying reasonably sober!

 

I guess the takeaway to this thread is a) okay the current bags aren't perfect, but there aren't a lot of alternatives that work for bagging poop. b) some municipalities MUST be making it work. As I've said, in Ontario our pet waste goes in the green bin, and gets composted along with kitchen waste. Both go in the same type of (plastic) bag, which is designed specifically for this one purpose. (I checked the box, and the bag we use are plastic.)

More work obviously needs to be done to make things better. And it was interesting to hear the different solutions people have for dealing with the poop at home, when they don't have to bag it and take it with them!

And the world is certainly not going to end if we fail to get rid of the poop in an environmentally friendly manner...

When I was told I had to transport the poop from the kennel to the dump, I put it in heavy weight black garbage bags and placed the bags inside a kiddie pool in the back of my SUV, in case they had leaks. Then, I drove the mile to the dump with all the windows down, and had to pay cash to dispose of it. It went in the dumpster with all the other non-recyclable garbage.

Things have certainly improved a lot since then!

 

Life is full of compromises. I think the best we can do is the best we can do at the time.

We all decide what is important to us at any given time. The best we can do is to treat others like we wish to be treated, to make decisions based on moral and ethical principles and to leave this world a better place than we found it.

Of course the definitions of those terms are completely objective, and sometimes you have to place the needs of yourself and your family over others.