Favorite Videos

Meow, tonight I'm gonna share my favorite YouTube videos. The first one is called Kiwi! and is about a kiwi bird wanting to fly. The second one is called Simon's Cat 'Cat Man Do' and is about Simon's cat giving a wake up call. I love them both and hope you will too.

Kiwi! 

Simon's Cat 'Cat Man Do'

TTFN!

-smellycat33

Limericks

Hiya, everybody! Hope you all had a good Earth Day! This post I'm gonna share limericks I found, which is a form of poetry. Limericks are meant to be funny, they have five lines, and the rhyme scheme is aabba. Here are a couple I found:

There was an Old Person of Dover,

Who rushed through a field of blue Clover;

But some very large bees,

Stung his nose and his knees

So he very soon went back to Dover. 

by Edward Lear

=====================

A flea and a fly in a flue, 

Were caught, so what could they do?

Said the fly, "Let us flee."

"Let us fly," said the flea. 

So they flew through a flaw in the flue. 

by Anonymous

======================

There was an Old Man with a beard,

Who said, 'It is just as I feared!

Two Owls and a Hen, 

Four Larks and a Wren,

Have all built their nests in my beard!

by Edward Lear

======================

Mo gathered the smelliest things,

Stinky blue cheese and onion rings, 

He started to reek 

And after eight weeks

Became the Malodorous King

by smellycat33

I hope you like them all. :-]

-smellycat33

Greenhouse Gas Chain

Yay! Only one more day until Earth Day! This post is gonna be one of the shorter ones because we're all preparing for the special day tomorrow!! Today I'm just going to share my views and facts on electricity and global warming. 

Global warming is caused by greenhouse gasses which let in harmful IR (Infrared) rays from the sun. This heats up the Earth but unfortunately many of these rays cannot escape. If we did not have IR trapped in our atmosphere though we would freeze, but this heating up is creating global warming. 

Electricity is usually made from coal which gives off TONS of greenhouse gasses so this is also connected to global warming. As always, you should know turn off the lights when you leave a room, unplug the cord when you're not using it, only use enough light necessary, become nocturnal (j/k), etc.

Personally, I think that most of the research to find a car that runs off of solar, wind, hydrogen, etc. tends to be a waste because its costs a lot of money, wastes energy in the making, and is so much effort! I learned this when we tried making solar cars in science class; endless pain! I would suggest WALKING or using a certain vehicle called a BIKE. We went along fine when the car wasn't invented yet, which goes to show that we can adapt to doing fine without it today.  

This leads us into the whole deforestation issue as well, which is HUGE! Okay, for those who don't know, or are too stupid to notice: We will DIE without trees and plants. I'm not gonna go into this whole thing because this is already a long post. Just keep in the back of your head that everyday over 130 species of plants and animals go extinct, thousands of acres of forests are cut down, and WE'RE the ones doing it. 

 Come on, Earthlings! Please wake up! This is YOUR planet, YOUR future, YOUR life! Make it happen the way you want it!

Happy Earth Day to all, and remember that this should last not only for a day, but forever. 

-smellycat33

Compost!

Composts are a smart way to reduce your food waste and becomes a good fertilizer for your garden. You can have people pick it up and take it to a compost center or you can make your own in your backyard. For more information on how to make a compost you can google it. Here's what you can and cannot compost. 

YES YES YES:

• Fruit and vegetable scraps
• Grains and cereals
• Coffee grounds and filters, teabags

Place food scraps in compostable liner bags (made from plant starches) to help prevent odors and keep your cart clean. 

• Wet shredded paper (to prevent this lightweight material from blowing)
• Food-soiled or greasy paper of cardboard
• Wet or waxed cardboard
• Paper napkins and paper towels
• Uncoated paper cups and plates
• Compostable liner bags made from plant starches
• Compostable containers, dishware and utensils made from plant starches (NO styrofoam or plastic)
• Grass clippings, leaves, weeds, flowers
• Woody waste up to 6'' in diameter

NO NO NO

• Trash
• Meat or bones
• Dairy
• Plastic of any kind
• Plastic bags
• Plastic coated paper, packaging or boxes
• Frozen food containers
• Twist ties, nylon twine, or plastic rope
• Dirt, sod, rock, brick or pavers
• Construction debris
• Painted or treated wood waste
• Lumber
• Liquids
• Animal droppings or kitty litter
• Diapers or feces

See what you can do to compost because it reduces a huge amount of trash!

-smellycat33 

Reduce and Reuse!

Time to reuse and reduce! Almost everything is reusable so be creative and think of ways that you can reuse. Reducing will crate less trash in our landfills, and almost everything can be reduced as well.

Reuse:

• Plastic grocery bags can be used again for groceries, small trash can bags, and diaper bags. 
• Worn out clothes can be used for rags or quilt squares. 
• Newspaper can be used for wrapping paper. 
• Paper bags can be reused for groceries and are great for crafts. 
• Paper can be used to scrap paper or cut up for notes. Remember to always use both sides!
• Wrapping paper is not always recyclable so reuse it for lining shelves and drawers. 
• Broken pottery and ceramics can be used as mosaic art and be broken up with a hammer for garden paths. It can also be used for the bottom of plant pots for water draining.
• You can reuse boxes for crafts and storage.
• Old socks can be reused for dusting rags.
• A sock without its pair can be decorated and used as an iPod or cell phone case. 

Reduce:

• Buy your groceries in bulk, so there is less packaging trash. Costco is a recommended store that comes in bulk. 
• Instead of using plastic water bottles, use reusable ones.
• Also, instead of using a paper bag to store your lunch, go out and buy a reusable one. 
• For your lunch use plastic containers such as Ziploc, instead of plastic bags. 
• Only prepare enough food to be consumed, to reduce your food trash. 
• Compost! (see composting blog to see what can be composted)

As always, please comment any other ideas for reusing and/or reducing.

:-)

-smellycat33

Recycle!

Hi, again! Today I'm starting to focus on the three R's: reduce, reuse, recycle. I think that this is probably ordered in the order of the best thing to do to the least eco-efficient. Reducing would be top choice because it starts out with less materials; reuse would be next because it uses more materials but is used more the once; and recycling would be last because even though it reuses as well, it uses more materials and takes energy to do. 

To start I'm going to start with recycling. This is what I am able to recycle at my neighborhood so this won't apply to everyone, but it's pretty preliminary. 

Paper and Cardboard-

• Office paper and opened mail
• Cop and loose leaf paper
• Letterhead
• Brochure and pamphlets
• Greeting and index cards
• Computer printouts
• File Folders
• Blueprints
• Pastel-colored paper and envelopes
• Newspapers and inserts
• Magazines and catalogs
• Corrugated cardboard
• Brown paper bags
• Phonebooks
• Cereal and other paper board boxes
• Paper egg cartons
  

There is no need to remove: paper clips, stamps, address labels, staples, tape wire, metal fasteners, rubber bands, plastic spiral bindings, plastic tabs. If cardboard boxes don't fit in the cart, flatten and place under cart lid.

Containers-

• Plastic bottle and jugs (#1, #2, and #5 only, no lids)
• Plastic srew-top jars (#1 only, no lids)
• Glass bottles and jars (remove lids)
• Aluminum cans (do not crush)
• Clean aluminum foil and pie pans
• Steel/tin cans
• Empty aerosol cans (no lids)
• Paper milk and juice cartons
• Juice boxes and drink boxes (no foil pouches)
• Metal jar lids and steel bottle caps

Please note: Empty and rinse all containers. Do not flatten containers. 

If you are not sure about whether something is recyclable or not, you can always check your recycling listings or center. Meow out.

-smellycat33

Water Conservation

As you all should know, Earth Day is coming up April 22nd! I've decided to post tips on the different ways we can help our earth, starting with the basic water conservation, the three R's (reduce, reuse, recycle), and energy and global warming.

Two things I don't like about this holiday though are:

-People who are convinced they're "going green". I'll admit I am not the most eco-friendly person ever, but I'm making an effort which is what others should do too.

-This encourages people to focus on our world  only once a year, when they should be doing it all the time. It should be like "Earth Millennium" or at least to celebrate our efforts that we've been making year-round. 

Okey-Dokey, to start I'm going to start with things you should already know about water conservation. Of all the water on our planet humans are only able to drink less than 1% of it. Here are twenty tips from my little friends H2O Jo and Flo.

1. Turn off the water while you shave or brush your teeth. (Save 1-5 gallons/minute)

2. Fill up the bathtub half full if you take a bath. (Save up to 12 gallons on a 24 gallon bath)

3. Limit your showers to five minutes or take shorter showers (Save 2-8 gallons for every minute you cut back)

4. Install a low-flow shower head (Save up to 5 gallons/minute)

5. Run only full loads of dishes in the dishwasher (Save up to 15 gallons/load)

6. If you do not have adjustable water levels, run only full loads of laundry (Save up to 40 gallons for every load you don't run)

7. Limit family members to four flushes per day. This will likely mean that the toilet isn't flushed every time it's used (Save 1-5 gallons/flush) Okay, this one's kinda gross but be considerate about your toilet needs. 

8. Install low-flow faucets, faucet restrictors or aerators. (Save up to 5 gallons/minute)

9. Fix any leaky faucets. (Save up to 2700 gallons/year)

10. Get running or leaking toilets fixed. Or install a low-flow toilet. (Save up to 30-500 gallons/day)

11. While waiting for the shower or bath water to warm up, save that water and use it on your house plants, flower beds, trees, in your pets' bowls, or elsewhere.

12. Soak pots and pans instead of letting the water run over them while you scrape. 

13. When washing dishes by hand, fill one sink or basin with soapy water and one with clean water. Dip in clean water to rinse.

14. Defrost food in the fridge or use the defrost setting on your microwave rather than running water to thaw frozen foods.

15. Use the garbage disposal less often(in your sink). 

16. Chill water in the refrigerator for drinking instead of letting the faucet run to cool it.

17. Don't use or install ornamental water features unless they recycle water. 

18. Partially fill a sink or pan with water to wash produce, rather than running the water to wash them. 

19. Use one glass per person per day to cut down on dirty dishes. 

20. Xeriscape your lawn!

 Please please do incorporate these actions into your everyday life for the sake of your planet! If you have any other "green" tips for our planet, please leave it as a comment. Thanks!

-smellycat33

If Poem

Hi, sorry that it's been a while since I've posted. I don't really know yet what to put on my blog, so for this one I'm posting a poem I found and really like. 

If

by E. E. Cummings

If freckles were lovely, and day was night,

And measles were nice and a lie warn't a lie,

Life would be a delight,-

But things couldn't go right

For in such a sad plight

I wouldn't be I. 

If earth was heaven, and now was hence,

And past was present, and false was true,

There might be some sense

But I'd be in suspense

For on such a pretense

You wouldn't be you. 

If fear was plucky, and globes were square,

And dirt was cleanly and tears were glee, 

Things would be fair,-

Yet they'd all despair

For if here was there

We wouldn't be we. 

Hope you enjoy it. 

-smellycat33