World Environment Day: Eco-Friendly Goodies for Dogs

Today is World Environment Day (WED), a United Nations initiative to encourage worldwide awareness and action for our environment. Every little thing we do continuously helps. For me, I started shutting off the water when I brush my teeth, and I stopped eating meat. In other words, we can become agents of change. I like that feeling. It’s empowering. I think we can all agree the weather has gotten pretty batty over the past couple of years. It’s disconcerting how violent and unpredictable our winters and summers can now be.  The 2013 WED initiative captured a massive amount of attention; the statistics are pretty impressive:  about 200,000 blog posts and more than 26,000 articles were published on WED between June 1 and 10, 2013 alone. Videos on WED were viewed by close to 120 million people on digital screens in Times Square in New York, Piccadilly in London, and at Live Windows (Benetton stores) in Milan, London, Munich, Barcelona and Almaty. On social media, among Twitter’s reported 200 million active users, WED was among the top 10 most talked about topics in at least 15 countries on June 5,  with an estimated 47.6 million impressions on the Day itself. Wow! So here, on Bark and Swagger, we’re going to look at eco-friendly goodies for our dogs, doing our small part to help our planet.

Gorgeous Orchid
Dog Bed Cover

The Orchid Dog Bed Cover

This is a cool concept in dog beds. The covers are a first of it’s kind, utilizing sublimation printing, a new eco-friendly line of fun! Sublimation printing is very lifelike because it’s done using a digital printer and dyes that become a part of the fabric itself. Therefore, they don’t fade or wear easily or have any weight. Pretty cool, right? This particular cover is an Asian orchid scene, at once stunning and serene. To create the bed, just stuff old clothes into the cover – our pups love our scent – fluff, and the bed is made. You can buy additional covers and change the look anytime you want.

Where to buy: Bitch New York

Sizing: Small: 20″ x 5″
Medium: 28″ x 5″
Large: 38″ x 5″

Price: $38.00

The Mondrian Collar & Leash Set

The Mondrian Collar & Leash

For anyone who doesn’t remember Le Mondrian, it was the uber cool L.A. hotel originally located on Sunset Boulevard back in the 80’s. It’s exterior featured a commissioned work by Israeli sculptor and experimental artist, Yaacov Agam – L’Hommage a Mondrian – which covered the hotel’s 9 story exterior. It looked like this, and was inspired by Dutch artist, Piet Mondrian, who founded an early 20th century art form called neoplasticism. The hotel is still around today, but isn’t the same go to spot it once was. The Mondrian collar and leash, on the other hand,  is still pure pop art cool. Made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycled webbing, it is lighter weight and softer than standard nylon collars and leashes, yet just as strong and durable. They are printed with eco-friendly, non-toxic printing, so they’re safe for the mouthy dog.

Where to buy: Bitch New York

Sizing: Collar – Small (10-15″)
Medium (15-20″)
Large (20-25″)

Leash: 5′

Price: Collar – $17.00; Leash – $26.00

Organic cotton
bear overalls

Organic Pink Overalls

This sweet overall is made from 100% organic cotton, and comes with a removable stone lace skirt, for a simpler, unisex style. The softness and purity of the cotton make this a great choice for dogs with sensitive skin. The styles come in pink bear or blue bear, and the graphics are eco-friendly printing, as certified by the SGS Group, the Geneva-based company that provides inspection, verification, testing and certification services. For those who want style and sustainability.

Where to buy: Bitch New York

Sizing: XS – L

Price: $57.00

Pawticure Party Set

Dog Pawticure Party Gift Set

Fabulous Fifis, there’s a world of possibilities in one gift set. Yes! A girl’s pawticure party! Invite your bff’s (best friend fidos), serve little doggy cupcakes and, of course, something for us doggy moms, and have the time of your lives experimenting with these bold, beautiful, eco-friendly and non-toxic colors from Dog  Fashion Spa. You are limited only by your imagination. In true Bark and Swagger style, the colors are updated every season, based on what’s trending on the runway. Gotta love that, ladies!

Where to buy: Dog Fashion  Spa

Price: $100.00 for the set. Each item also sold separately.

Eco-friendly fashion is lots of fun, yet World Environment Day is a time to also reflect on what we, as individuals, can do to help sustain our planet. The smallest gestures, when performed by many, takes on gigantic proportions. My commitment is to be a better recycler and shut the lights when I leave a room. I do it, but sometimes I’m sloppy. I like to think we’re all one big family living in a reallyyyyy big house. So, as Ellen DeGeneres likes to say to close out her show, “Be kind to one another.” Let’s do something to be kind to Mother Earth, too.

What can you do for World Environment Day? Here are some tips. Tell us about it in the Comments below.

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