DisneyNature: Earth is being released in a couple of formats. There’s the 2 disc Blu-ray combo pack which includes both Blu-ray and the DVD along with Disney Blu-ray: Filmmaker Annotations which is exclusive to the Blu-ray pack. The set also includes Earth Diaries: The Making Of The Movie. The DVD includes the extra, Earth Diaries: The Making Of The Movie.

DisneyNature: Earth is available for pre-order now and will ship on September 1, 2009.

Stay tuned because to celebrate the release on both Blu-ray and DVD, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment is hosting a cool giveaway for three readers here at Tree Hugging Family.

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The Raise a Green Dog blog isn’t entirely new but they’ve recently added some new features which make the site a little less bloggy, and a lot more well rounded of an experience for dog owners.

Raise a Green Dog now features…

• A wide variety of eco-friendly, recycled and sustainable dog products.
• Oodles of articles to help dog lovers and their dog to live a greener lifestyle.
• “Johann’s Green Dog Club” – a strange section where dogs all over the globe can take the “Green Dog Pledge” for living a green dog life. (hmmm).
• 10% of the profits made through the online green doggy shop will go to no-kill rescues and shelters

Leslie May, co-author and founder of Raise a Green Dog, notes in a recent press release, “As the dangers for dogs continue, with wide spread recalls of dog food and toys and most recently the EPA’s investigation into the dangers of some flea and tick medications, we are dedicated to helping dog lovers worldwide find the healthiest and safest alternatives to keep their dog the happiest he or she can be, while helping the environment at the same time.”

You know, I’m not a dog lover, but I get it. My sister’s dog is totally like her baby, and I know that for my actual human son, choosing healthy, non-toxic items is a big deal. For dog lovers, it’s much the same, and this site seems to provide plenty of support for healthy green dog care.

Visit Raise a Green Dog to learn more.

Do you have a dog? Is he a green pup?

[image via stock.xchng]

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Thankfully, not me.

I’ve never thought pets make the best holiday gift. Everyone is busy, lots of sharp stuff, small toys, toxic plants, candy around, and so on. Holidays are not really pet friendly. Which is about the extent of pet tips you’ll get from me.

“But Jennifer… I did get kittens for Christmas!”

If that’s really true, or if you just happen to have a feline companion who has been part of the family for a while, then I’ve got good news. Peggy has a brand new, too good to be true, kitty cat blog!

I know you all remember Peggy – right! I do; fondly. In any case, she’s still a tree hugger, but now she’s also blogging cat hugging over at The Kitty Blog! Now, since it’s Peggy you know this is good cat stuff.

She’s got posts like…

• The Only Catnip Tee You’ll Ever Need – my favorite post so far (FUNNY)
  
• Dog vs. Cat People
• Orangutan with a Pet Cat
• Build a Free Cat Toy: Cereal Box Hunt & Knock
• Senior Cats Prone to Hypertension
• Cat Artist Louis Wain: No, cats didn’t drive him mad

And lots more; cat health, cat tips, cat attitude, and I’m guessing even some eco-kitty tips. So why not go see Peggy and her new blog? You know you want to.

[image via stock.xchng]

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Ok, if you’re a regular reader of me, at any of my blogs, you may have noticed that I’m not the biggest animal fan. Animals are often messy, a lot of work, and they’re just not my deal. Pets to me, are enough trouble, once you cross over to wild animals, say like, monkeys, it’s just more fuss. In fact I’ve told a certain ex-co-blogger of mine, on many occasions that I’m the world’s last monkey fan.

That sort of changed the other night. 

We don’t have cable and we only semi-get one channel on our TV, PBS. Anyhow, the other night, around 2am, I was sick of working, so I turned on our one channel and the Nature special, Clever Monkeys was on. I got so into it, I couldn’t go to bed, and trust me I was tired.

Here’s the show description: 

“Love, language, guilt, envy, generosity, secrets, lies, and sophisticated society are not unique to humans. We share all those complex concepts with our relatives – the monkeys! Learn about monkey culture, how and what monkeys teach their young, and how they communicate with one another. Monkeys around the world rely on that knowledge to adapt to the remarkable variety of environments they now call home. Who are the cleverest monkeys? And how much of our human experience do they really share?”

Now these were some seriously clever monkeys. I swear I watched with my mouth hanging open in amazement half the time. I really don’t know what to say, except for that I have SADLY underestimated monkeys in my life, until now. These monkeys had learned to make their own medicine, attack wild cats, and more, it was astounding.

Also, this show was so entertaining that I’m actually thinking of buying the darn DVD -unheard of for me – I do not buy nature shows about animals.

You and your family must check this show out. Visit PBS to see your local programing guide and to watch a great preview, or buy the DVD at the Nature shop.

Did your family see this show? Tell me what you thought.

[image via PBS]

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Great Cormorant

by Florian Möllers – www.wild-wonders.com

Handsome fella, eh? Wild Wonders of Europe is going to be a big, wild show. Many talented nature photographers are capturing inspiring images of Europe’s wild animals. To get a taste of what’s to come, visit the Gallery and read the Wild Wonders of Europe blog to hear about all the adventures the nature photographers are having right now.

What’s the point? Their mission is “To reveal the amazing natural heritage of Europe and to inspire a desire to save it.” What better way to do that than with amazing photos.

The initiative includes more than 50 nature photographers on 90 assignments in 44 countries. So, expect some great photos in the future.

Read more at Wild Wonders of Europe.

Photo: Florian Möllers – www.wild-wonders.com

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in August 2008

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Last week my Mom came to my hood to sell at my local farmer’s market. It was something like 100 degrees outside. I’m not kidding. However, I took her some lunch and hung around for a bit anyway.

Sure enough, a guy came to buy some hot peppers for his birds. “For your birds?” I had to ask.

He said that he married into a bird family and that his parrots love hot peppers. They seem to be immune to the hotness. Wow, hot peppers make great parrot treats. Read more at The Bird Channel: Birds and Hot Peppers.

Why is this a green tip?

Whenever I’ve grown hot peppers, the plants just wouldn’t stop giving. If you find yourself with more than you can use, and you’ve given away and frozen and canned to your heart’s desire — then, there’s always the birds!

Next time I find myself with a hot pepper surplus, I’m donating to my local parrots, wherever they are. I can’t imagine a more fun use of hot peppers.

PS – This same guy potty trained his parrots. They go in the trash can!

Image via flickr.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in July 2008

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Moving thing is on one end of the garage and I’m on the far other end. I can’t tell what it is, because the lights are low, but it’s huge for a bug, and moving all slow down the wall and creeping me out. Of course, I’m thinking “Spider!” Which I don’t even like in the garage, so I freak.

However, I can’t go to bed with a spider the size of a small mouse in my garage, I’d be up all night thinking, here it comes to get me. So I sneak over, super, super slowly. Oddly, I didn’t sneak over with Raid, which would have made more sense, because frankly, what am I going to do when I reach the end of the garage and Mr. Tarantula is standing there all ready to jump on me? What was I thinking?

I get to the wall and guess what it is?

Not a spider! Thank goodness. So I run and get Cedar, who is still up drawing parrot pictures, and he comes out and gets all excited. I grab a tupperware bowl, grab the frog, and we bring him/her in the house, because we can’t leave a poor frog in the garage.

Look how cute (even with my fuzzy picture taking skills):

Cedar says, “I want to touch him” and actually does twice, but each time screams and leaps backwards, because he/she hops. Then we put him/her outside on the grass near a tree. It was totally odd. We don’t have any water nearby, just a park, but we didn’t know what else to do. That ended our late night nature adventure. But it was kind of cool, and way better than a spider, don’t you think?

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in June 2008

[Images via Jennifer's late night frog series]

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The day was created by the US Senate to celebrate America’s commitment to protecting wildlife, fish and plants that are in danger of extinction.

Visit the Endangered Species Coalition for 10 Easy things you can do at home to protect endangered species. The short video below is a promo for Endangered Species Day.

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I also saw some baby geese crossing the sidewalk.

And here’s another set in the water …

Images by Peggy Rowland.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in May 2008

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Here’s one more: You won’t have to worry about your cat jumping from the refrigerator to the top of cabinets and hanging out above your stove while chicken cooks.

He knows I can’t reach him — way up there with the Crock Pot I never use. I think he knows he shouldn’t jump into the skillet…

Must remember to put him in another room when I’m cooking any kind of meat.

Image via Peggy Rowland.

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