Flush Puppies Winners Ready for Earth Day

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

courtesy r.g.
Abby Shows Off Our Prize

Earth Day is Monday and All Things Dog Blog will be celebrating by sharing tips--both my own and other bloggers--for helping Fido go a little greener. The opportunities are endless so be sure to join us for the listings of posts you can learn from in our Mutt Monday Blog Hop.

Thanks for all your participation in this Go Green Giveaway. Tanner enjoyed posing for the cover photo! 

If you are not among the winners today, please feel free to drop in at FlushPuppies.com to place your order. Then pat yourself on the back in the knowledge that you are putting dog doodie where it was meant to be managed. A wholehearted thank you from mother Earth...

Flush Puppies is sure to be thrilled at the number of entries and enthusiasm of the comments. We finally get to draw the winners and ship the prizes. That's always the fun part :)

Today's winners are Vivian S, Crystal R, Daraya, and Betty L. I have already notified each of you via email from AllThingsDogBlog@gmail.com. Check your spam if you do not see this email from my account, or write me back with your shipping address. I look forward to hearing your feedback. Please drop in at Flush Puppies' Facebook page and let them hear a thank you from you.

Happy tails,

Flush Puppies Earth Day Giveaway

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

© AllThingsDogBlog.com
Flushable Doodie Bags

Flush Puppies are back and we couldn't be more thrilled. I bumped into the founding brothers at Global Pet Expo and they were happy to provide some additional giveaways. Yay! Perfect timing with Earth Day just around the corner.

You may be wondering how doggie poop bags can be "Green". With Flush Puppies, it's easy. These bags are flushable in municipal sewer systems, and completely biodegrade within a couple of days. Simply drop the bag of waste into a toilet and flush. One important tip: Don't tie a knot in the bag. This holds air inside the bag, and when water pressure is low, the bag may not flush well. With many toilets being made with lower water pressure to conserve on this important resource, we need to remember this important rule.

What else do we love about Flush Puppies? No more smelly trash cans! That's huge. With my mom now living nearby, she has recently switched to Flush Puppies when she learned that she cannot dispose of Jacque's 'jobs' in the community trash receptacle. That left her with a not-so-uncommon problem. Fortunately I had the solution for her and now Flush Puppies has a new customer--Jacque!

So, if you'd like to give Flush Puppies a try, you can enter below to win a 3-pack of bags. There are 20 bags in a package, so this should be an ample one-month supply for most dogs. I'm offering lots of ways to enter, so choose your faves and jump right in. Pat yourself on the back for making an effort to live a little lighter on planet Earth.

Our giveaway will take entries through midnight on Thursday April 18. Winners will be announced on Friday, April 19. Good luck to you all!

Prefer the sure-thing method? No problem. You can simply order your Flush Puppies online. Their website also includes a store locator at this link which may help you find a brick and mortar store near you. Flush Puppies thanks you!

Flush Puppies has provided this product for a promotional giveaway. I have not been compensated for this PR. No purchase is required to enter.

Solid Waste Management for Dogs

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

Help Keep it Green

Wow; is that a compelling title or what?! For some weeks now I've had the pleasure of viewing a dumpster and porta-potty outside my office window. As I watch my neighbors walk by, I frequently see a bag of poop being dropped into the dumpster. That may seem like the logical place for it. It's all trash, after all.

Hmmm....Here's the thing. The dumpster contains pressure treated lumber that was used to build a dock prior to the 1994 removal of this particular product from the market. I won't bore you with all the toxic materials that could have been used on this lumber, but trust me in saying it is long and scary. That said, this dumpster full of toxin-laden wood is pretty dangerous stuff. It shouldn't be burned as firewood (although this is frequently done) because this releases chemicals and toxins into our atmosphere.

© AllThingsDogBlog.com
My Glorious View :(

When I looked up the guidelines for disposal I was appalled to learn that the federal government does not have rules for placing such hazardous building materials in a hazmat (aka hazardous materials) dump. It can actually be taken to any dump that accepts general building materials. Ugg. So arsenic, chromium, copper, creosote and more are likely going to be seeping into the ground for hundreds of years, all due to the thousands...maybe millions...of docks built with these materials before 1994.

One brief statement I found indicated that some facilities provide heavily lined dumps specifically for hazardous building materials. These serve to reduce the seepage into groundwater from such materials. I'm not convinced that they're permanently secure; but they're better than just dropping the discards into the ground. Perhaps this is where our retired electronics also go after all their components are recycled or reused.

New methods of preservation are in use now and today's dock lumbers are much more Eco-friendly. Pressure treated lumber is not the greenest stuff on the planet, even with today's new standards. Recycled plastic bags are now made into decking and this gives new life to these toxic dregs of our modern world. The wood being removed due to disruption by gigantic tree roots is now being replaced and redesigned to retain the structural integrity of our dock. We'll see how this round goes. Check back in 30 years!

Watching the wood piling up, along with the poop bags intermingled in the mix, I couldn't help but wonder about the synergies that would occur when these materials end up decomposing over many years in the same dump. Add the plastic bags that those doggie "doodies" are contained in and we've got a treasure trove of  toxic stuff that would take a chemist to determine the outcome of, say 50 years from now.

I just checked my supply of flushable poop bags and felt a little better. That's one hazardous material (referring to the poop, not the bag, which is made of a dissolvable and biodegradable material) that is being about as properly disposed of as it can be, in our sewer system. 

I hope to add a Doggie Dooley (outdoor pet waste composter) one of these days when there are no more contractors working in the yard, digging and breaking things, almost daily. Add to that I have one of those super pooper scoopers that works for picking up deposits left by our local bear (yes, I'm serious!) that lives in the woods behind our home. Believe me, when he drops it in our yard, it can't be missed or picked up with a XL poop bag. No way. No how.

All this digression was simply to remind you that picking up after your dog goes beyond the bag. Think about the place it goes and what it ends up there with. They all decompose together and chemistry class happens. Let's look out for our Earth. It's the only one we have. If you don't do it for you, do it for them.

Happy Earth Day!

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

© All Things Dog Blog
Oliver the Tree Hugger

Today is a day when many of us join the masses to honor mother Earth with more sustainable living practices. You can do this in your own way, from participating in a local celebration to adding a new act of preservation to your daily routine. Try one of these on for size and see if it doesn't feel good to do your part:

• Start composting your kitchen and household wastes, rather than sending them to the landfill where the micro-organisms in the ground cannot assist with their breakdown.
• Purchase biodegradable, no-phosphate home cleaning solutions that don't pollute with their runoff.
• Choose natural ways to fight pests in your home, yard and on your pets. Some solutions include peppermint oil spray, clove oil, DE powder, Borax and more. Be sure to read up on their proper use :)
• Skip the plastic, whether it be water bottles or bags. Choose re-usables to reduce landfill overuse and unnecessary recycling.
• Plant a tree in a place where its shade will help cool your home in the summer heat.
• Use styrofoam packaging materials as extra insulation in your attic.
• Clean up your dog's waste promptly with a flushable poop bag, and allow our sewer system to do what it was intended for. Try Flush Puppies!

These and many more small changes can get you started in a lifestyle that will promise a better future for your grandchildren and our Earth. If we each add one new habit, imagine the synergies of change....Happy Earth Day!

Flush Puppies and Dog Pack Snacks Go Home with Combo Pack Winners

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

© Carrie Boyko
Time to Give it Up, Oliver

Flush Puppies and Dog Pack Snacks certainly did get your motors running. Thanks for your enthusiastic entries. Oliver feels the same way. 


Our friend Deb at Dog Pack Snacks shared a snack package with the boys and they were feeling pretty perky yesterday after a Pea-Nutter Cookie and a jerky treat. We hope our winners are equally delighted.


Each of you will get two 3-packs of Flush Puppies for the inevitable cleanup that happens when you walk your dog. These packages happen to be the wallet packs, but be aware that you can purchase Flush Puppies on a roll as well. They also have a variety of carriers, so be sure to check out the options as they have recently added to their choices, and these should be appearing on their website for sale very soon.


By the way, DID YOU KNOW...The Environmental Protection Agency recommends flushing of dog waste as the best method of protecting the environment from bacterial runoff into water bodies. Our wastewater management systems were created to process this "material" properly, disposing of it safely after treatment. And don't forget, when flushing your Flush Puppies bags, make sure they are left open--unknotted. With this method you'll be sure to have clear plumbing and happy tails!


Today's winners are Jennifer M, Victoria L, Lily K, and Kim T.O. These lucky ladies will receive an email from AllThingsDogBlog@gmail.com requesting their addresses. Watch those spam files if there is no email by Friday evening. 

For those of you who did win, feel free to order your own USA-made Dog Pack Snacks and flushable Flush Puppies at the links above. Additional giveaways are open on All Things Dog Blog and may be found linked in my middle sidebar individually, or at the page you'll visit when you click the image at right. Have a wonderful weekend!



These products were provided for this promotional giveaway by Flush Puppies and Dog Pack Snacks. I was not paid to run this giveaway. There was no purchase required to enter.