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See Spot Recycle
It may be all fun and games for
Fido, but when dogs chew their
toys to bits, the leftover plastic
pieces pile up in landfills. In 2005
alone, Americans generated 6.5
million tons of nondurable plastic.
The environmental impact of
doggie destruction got pet toy–
maker Spencer Williams thinking.
Williams’ Montana-based West
Paw Design already used recycled
materials like soda bottles and
production scraps in beds and
toys, and manufactured products
in a green building. But to take
the company’s eco practices
one step further, Williams and
his engineers developed a new,
rubber-like
material
called
Zogoflex. Zogoflex differs from
other plastics typically used in
dog toys in that it’s engineered
to be recyclable and is made
from an FDA-approved material.
Now if Spot gnaws up his
Zogoflex frisbee, his owner can
send the broken remainders back
to West Paw, where they’ll be
ground down, made into a new
toy of the owner’s choosing, and
returned at no extra cost (besides
the shipping, that is). Owners can
>
also opt for a cash refund if they
don’t want a new toy. Overall, the
whole process creates less than
one percent waste. “Our view
is pets are one with the planet,”
Williams says. “It seems contrary
that by making your pets happy,
you would be compromising
the environment.” Now that’s
something to chew on.
—Jeanette Hurt
To order Zogoflex toys or other West Paw
products, check out westpawdesign.com
Red-bellied Cooter turtles are one of
many species Turtle Atlas tracks.
> wildlife
Turtle Power
Now, helping to conserve
turtles can be as easy as a walk
in the park. The reptiles are in
decline in the Northeast because
of habitat fragmentation from
new roads and homes. To
save them, scientists need a
better understanding of their
distribution and range. That’s
where a new initiative called
the Turtle Atlas (turtleatlas.
>
org) comes in: Researchers are
recruiting everyday citizens to
report turtle sightings—from
backyards to roadsides—in
Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Contributing to the Turtle
Atlas is easy: Participants sign
up online, read the training
manual, and then log in to upload
photos and enter locations of
sightings. Observations are sent
To start tracking turtles, birds, or bees, visit turtleatlas.org,
birds.cornell.edu/pfw,beespotter.mste.uiuc.edu
28 | february-march 2008
to the Massachusetts Natural
Heritage
and
Endangered
Species Program (NHESP) and
the Connecticut Department of
Environmental Protection.
The Turtle Atlas is just one
of many online projects that use
citizens to track animals. Others
include Cornell University’s
Project
FeederWatch
for
counting
birds,
and
the
University of Illinois’ BeeSpotter
for tracking poorly documented
wild bee populations.
So far, Turtle Atlas volunteers
have entered about 450 sightings
of ten different species over a
two-year period. “The records
we get from the public help
to drive our conservation
efforts,” says Lori Erb, a turtle
biologist at NHESP. “We need
to know where the turtles
are in order to protect them.”
—Alisa Opar
Fixing your car’s flat is as easy
as calling a tow service. But
if it’s your bike that’s busted,
it can be a bit harder to
get back on the road. Enter
bicycle roadside assistance
programs. The increasingly
popular clubs function like auto
clubs such as AAA—call a
toll-free number, provide your
member number and location,
and a dispatcher sends
someone to drive you and your
bike home or to a repair shop.
Better World Club, the
first and largest national
organization to offer roadside
assistance
for cyclists
and drivers,
was founded
in 2002. The
organization
donates 1
percent of its
revenue to
environmental
advocacy
groups like
the Sierra Club Foundation
and offers a 15 percent
discount to new members
with hybrid or biodiesel
vehicles. Packages start at
$39.95 per year or can be
added on to auto packages
for $15 a year. Erik Nelson,
the club’s vice president of
activism, says that 15 percent
of its 20,000 members now
take part in the bike program.
And Better World
Club is not alone. Other
bike repair programs are
cropping up across North
America: Currently, League
of American Bicyclists, the
British Columbia Automobile
Association in Canada,
and several repair shops
also offer bicycle roadside
assistance. “Most of the
members who are signed
up for bicycle roadside
assistance are concerned
about long-distance cycling,”
Nelson explains. “It’s not a
service that everyone needs,
but for those who do need it,
it’s extremely valuable.”
>
—Jodi Helmer
To get your own biker
benefits, check out
betterworldclub.com,
bikeleague.org, and bcaa.com
Photo by Lori Erb (left center)
Pedal
Pushers