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7 Tips for Pet Parents to Be Environmentally Friendly

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Last Updated on May 19, 2024 by Daily News Staff

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(Family Features) For many people, “going green” means walking rather than driving, ditching single-use plastics and conserving energy. To go above and beyond, pet parents can follow additional measures that aid the planet while also supporting their furry friends.

Consider these eco-friendly ideas from Freshpet’s Nature’s Fresh line to support your pets and those in your community while also being environmentally friendly.

Explore Locally
An easy way to reduce your carbon footprint is to visit dog parks and other pet-friendly locations within walking distance rather than driving. It’s a perfect opportunity to explore new hiking or walking trails, contribute to pet-friendly establishments and get a little exercise for both you and your furry friend.

Opt for Eco-Friendly Foods
There are planet-friendly food choices available for pets, like Freshpet’s Nature’s Fresh, which sustainably sources ingredients with regenerative farming methods and offers certified humanely raised proteins. All of the recipes are produced with the planet in mind as waste is reused, recycled or transformed into energy. The kitchens in which the food is made and the refrigerators where customers find it use electricity generated by renewable wind or solar energy.

Swap Out Single-Use Products
When you’re out for a walk with your pet, bring Earth-friendly products like a reusable water bottle rather than a single-use plastic bottle that may one day become a pollutant in waterways or food sources. For your furry friend, a water bowl that collapses completely makes the item easy to store when not in use while also minimizing waste.

Support Local Shelters
If you’re not yet a pet parent but would like to become one, consider turning to local shelters. Adopting versus buying helps control overpopulation and its environmental impact. Another way you can contribute to local shelters is donating gently used blankets, towels, water dishes, leashes, collars, grooming tools and beds. This gives items a second life and helps reduce landfill waste.

Use Compostable Pet Waste Bags
Picking up after your pet doesn’t have to create additional waste. Use compostable bags to avoid adding single-use baggies to landfills. Made from natural plant starch without toxic materials, compostable bags are an eco-friendly option for disposing pet waste. If you have a compost pile used for plants you don’t plan on eating, simply toss the bag in that pile. Alternately, if your compost pile is used for fruits and veggies in a garden, be sure to bury the waste bags elsewhere – pet excrement can contain pathogens that are harmful to humans.

Go Digital with Pet Health Records
Many veterinarians still utilize paper records, but these records are easily lost and can be harmful to the environment. Consider creating a digital record of all your pet’s health documents via the cloud so you and your family can access it anywhere. Pet parents can be sure the documents are always on-hand if they have their smartphones and can recycle the paper documents once they’ve been saved digitally or re-use the documents as scratch paper.

Find more environmentally friendly advice for pet parents at Freshpet.com/NaturesFresh.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

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  • Rod Washington

    Rod: A creative force, blending words, images, and flavors. Blogger, writer, filmmaker, and photographer. Cooking enthusiast with a sci-fi vision. Passionate about his upcoming series and dedicated to TNC Network. Partnered with Rebecca Washington for a shared journey of love and art.

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Rod: A creative force, blending words, images, and flavors. Blogger, writer, filmmaker, and photographer. Cooking enthusiast with a sci-fi vision. Passionate about his upcoming series and dedicated to TNC Network. Partnered with Rebecca Washington for a shared journey of love and art.

home improvement

Simple Ways to Make At-Home Recycling More Effective

To create a more eco-friendly household, consider these practical tips to help you reduce waste, stay organized and make at-home recycling part of your everyday routine.

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Simple Ways to Make At-Home Recycling More Effective

(Feature Impact) Recycling is a simple way households can reduce waste and help protect natural resources. While many communities offer curbside recycling programs, some people still wonder if they’re doing it correctly or if they’re missing opportunities to recycle more.

To create a more eco-friendly household, consider these practical tips to help you reduce waste, stay organized and make recycling part of your everyday routine.

Know What Your Local Program Accepts

Recycling rules vary depending on your city or waste management provider. Most curbside programs include items like cardboard, paper, aluminum cans and plastics, but others – such as glass – may require drop-off recycling. Review your community guidelines so recyclables don’t accidentally end up in the regular trash.

Create a Simple Sorting System

Set up clearly labeled bins – separated for paper, plastics and metals – in a high-traffic area like the kitchen, garage or laundry room.

Rinse Before You Recycle

Food residue can contaminate other recyclables and may cause entire batches of materials to be rejected during the recycling process. Quickly rinsing yogurt cups, jars or soup cans of leftover residue helps keep recycling streams clean and more likely to be processed properly.

Break Down Boxes

Cardboard boxes are among the most commonly recycled household materials. Flattening boxes before placing them in the recycling bin saves space and allows collection trucks to hold more.

Compost Food Scraps

Not everything belongs in the recycling bin, particularly food waste. Composting fruit peels, vegetable scraps, coffee grounds and eggshells is an easy way to reduce the amount of trash your household produces. Finished compost can be used in gardens, flower beds or houseplants, turning kitchen waste into a valuable resource.

Find more ideas for making recycling a natural part of your household routine at eLivingtoday.com.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock

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https://stmdailynews.com/category/consumer-corner

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How China cleaned up its air pollution – and what that meant for the climate

How China cleaned up its air pollution: Beijing’s air quality went from hazardous to good while Delhi and Lahore still struggle. Discover how China dramatically reduced pollution since 2013—and why cleaner air may have unintended consequences for global warming and climate change.

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How China cleaned up its air pollution – and what that meant for the climate

How China cleaned up its air pollution – and what that meant for the climate

Gemma Ware, The Conversation

Delhi: 442. Lahore: 334. Beijing: 16. These are the levels of PM 2.5, one of the principle measures for air pollution, on November 19.

As Pakistanis and Indians struggle with hazardous air quality, in Beijing – a city once notorious for its smog – the air quality is currently rated as good.

Ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government was so concerned about pollution that it introduced temporary restrictions on cars, shut down factories and stopped work on some construction sites. The measures worked and one study later found that levels of air pollution were down 30% during the period when the temporary Olympic restrictions were in place.

It would take a few more years before the Chinese government implemented a clean air action plan in 2013. Since then, China has achieved a dramatic improvement in its air quality.

In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, we speak to Laura Wilcox, a professor at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science at the University of Reading in the UK, to understand how China managed to clean up its air pollution. But Wilcox’s recent research uncovered some unintended consequences from this cleaner air for the global climate: the pollution was actually helping to cool the atmosphere and by taking it away, it may have accelerated global warming. Wilcox explains:

 What we’re seeing is a removing of cooling that’s revealing warming that’s already there. So the air pollution isn’t the cause of the warming. It’s just letting us see stuff that we’ve already done.

Listen to the interview on The Conversation Weekly podcast. You can also read an article by Laura Wilcox and her colleague Bjørn H. Samset about their recent research on The Conversation.

This episode of The Conversation Weekly was written and produced by Mend Mariwany, Gemma Ware and Katie Flood. Mixing by Michelle Macklem and theme music by Neeta Sarl.

Newsclips in this episode from Voice of America, CBC, AP Archive, ABC (News) Australia, WFLA NBC Channel 8 and
PBS.

Listen to The Conversation Weekly via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our RSS feed or find out how else to listen here. A transcript of this episode is available via the Apple Podcasts or Spotify apps.The Conversation

Gemma Ware, Host, The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The Conversation

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Beverages

Primo Brands and River Partners Launch Groundbreaking River Restoration Project in California

Primo Brands and River Partners to launch a nearly 1,000-acre restoration project along California’s Sacramento and Feather rivers. The initiative will generate 50,000 acre-feet of water benefits annually while restoring habitats, improving flood protection, and strengthening climate resilience for communities and ecosystems.

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Last Updated on September 11, 2025 by Daily News Staff

Primo Brands and River

Before and after: An example of the transformative riverway restoration that Primo Brands and River Partners have joined forces to implement at 10 different sites along the Sacramento and Feather rivers in Northern California to generate lasting water, community, and ecosystem benefits.
Credit: River Partners (CNW Group/Primo Brands Corporation)

Primo Brands and River Partners Launch Groundbreaking River Restoration Project in California

A major public-private partnership aims to conserve water, restore ecosystems, and strengthen climate resilience across the Sacramento and Feather rivers.

Tampa, Fla. & Stamford, Conn. — August 25, 2025 — Primo Brands Corporation (NYSE: PRMB), one of North America’s leading beverage companies and owner of the Arrowhead® Mountain Spring Water brand, has announced a major collaboration with River Partners, a California-based nonprofit specializing in large-scale river and floodplain restoration. The initiative represents a transformative step toward conserving water resources, restoring critical habitats, and advancing climate resilience for communities across California.

Restoring the Lifeblood of California

The project focuses on revitalizing nearly 1,000 acres along the Sacramento and Feather rivers—two waterways that form the backbone of California’s water system, supporting agriculture, biodiversity, and millions of residents. Over the next three years, River Partners will restore 10 multi-benefit floodplain sites with support from Primo Brands’ financial investment.

The restoration is expected to deliver nearly 50,000 acre-feet of volumetric water benefits (VWBs) each year, equivalent to more than 16 billion gallons of water—roughly what 500,000 Californians consume annually.

Beyond water conservation, the initiative will:

  • Reconnect rivers to floodplains to improve groundwater recharge.

  • Restore salmon spawning and rearing habitats in degraded river corridors.

  • Enhance biodiversity and protect endangered species.

  • Improve flood protection for vulnerable communities.

  • Renew Tribal access to culturally significant natural resources.

Corporate Commitment to Water Stewardship

“At Primo Brands, our mission is to Hydrate a Healthy America™,” said Charles Fogg, Chief Sustainability Officer at Primo Brands. “Collaborating with River Partners allows us to advance our water replenishment goal of helping to restore 100% of water used or displaced by our operations in high-priority watersheds facing shared water challenges.”

River Partners President Julie Rentner emphasized the significance of the collaboration:

“The Sacramento and Feather rivers are the lifeblood of California’s water system. This partnership will not only yield measurable water benefits but also provide critical improvements for endangered species, flood protection, Tribal access, and public health through restored lands.”

A Model for Nature-Based Solutions

The effort underscores the growing role of nature-based solutions in tackling water scarcity and climate change. With one of the largest restoration footprints in the western U.S., River Partners will apply decades of experience to ensure measurable and scalable outcomes.

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By aligning private investment with nonprofit expertise, Primo Brands and River Partners are demonstrating a replicable model for safeguarding California’s most critical water supplies.

About the Partners

Primo Brands is a North American leader in healthy hydration, with a diverse portfolio of trusted bottled water brands including Poland Spring®, Pure Life®, Saratoga®, Mountain Valley®, Arrowhead®, Deer Park®, Ice Mountain®, Ozarka®, and Zephyrhills®. The company manages over 80 springs, actively conserves more than 28,000 acres of land, and delivers hydration solutions to homes, businesses, and retail outlets across the U.S. and Canada. Learn more.

River Partners, founded in 1998, is the leading nonprofit dedicated to restoring California’s rivers and floodplains. Its large-scale projects—spanning nearly 20,000 acres statewide—combine farming techniques, ecological science, and community collaboration to advance climate resiliency, biodiversity, and water conservation. Learn more.

Dive into “The Knowledge,” where curiosity meets clarity. This playlist, in collaboration with STMDailyNews.com, is designed for viewers who value historical accuracy and insightful learning. Our short videos, ranging from 30 seconds to a minute and a half, make complex subjects easy to grasp in no time. Covering everything from historical events to contemporary processes and entertainment, “The Knowledge” bridges the past with the present. In a world where information is abundant yet often misused, our series aims to guide you through the noise, preserving vital knowledge and truths that shape our lives today. Perfect for curious minds eager to discover the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of everything around us. Subscribe and join in as we explore the facts that matter.  https://stmdailynews.com/the-knowledge/

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