Reduce, reuse, and recycle. A popular sentiment today, and one frequently practiced in the Pacific Northwest. We are a community striving to protect our environment in every way possible.
According to the Oregon Department of Environment Quality website, “nearly a ton of waste materials per person is landfilled each year.” Further, “the EPA has found that discarded food is either the largest or next single-largest component of America’s solid waste.”
To address the issue, several programs have been created to reduce — or redirect — waste headed unnecessarily for landfills. As it turns out, some of them yield substantial benefits beyond their core missions. A good example is Sustainable Selections, a program begun by Quest Recycling of Frisco, Texas, whose purpose was to divert food product from landfills for redistribution to animal care providers.
Reports of dogs dying within hours (or seemingly minutes) after visiting a favorite swimming hole sent a wave of fear through the Northwest pet community in recent weeks. The first reports were extremely vague; the cause of illness and death unknown.
It wasn’t long before the cause of such sudden, heartbreaking deaths was found to be toxins found in blue-green algae. Algae blooms are found in many streams, rivers and ponds — places where many dogs love to recreate during warm months.
This summer’s lack of rain, combined with a long string of high-temp days, created a major health concern that all pet parents need to know.
Algae blooms tend to grow in shallow, stagnant or slow-moving water, thriving in high temperatures. Some produce untreatable and deadly neurotoxins that can quickly cause death. Even the smallest amount — ingested by licking a wet paw for example — can lead to grave illness or death.