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Thursday, October 20, 2011

Reduce the Environmental Impact of Pet Fish [#CTWW]


This week's challenge comes from Jennifer. 

Find one way to lower the environmental impact of your pet.

This week's task is a little challenging for me (no pun intended) because we currently do not have any pets.  The closest we have gotten to pets is fish.  Fish have a pretty low impact on the environment and do not usually require a lot of waste unless you are talking about a huge aquarium in your house.  While other #CTWW folks are writing about bigger animals like cats and dogs, I will focus on fish.  We cannot forget the little guys!

Fish require:
  • Glass aquarium and gravel
  • Distilled water
  • Fish food
  • Filtration system
  • Hood and light
  • pH testing kit
  • Accessories (optional)

The main waste areas are the water and electricity to run the filtration and light, and potentially the type of fish food your fish require.  Here are my recommendations on how to reduce the environment impact of fish:
  1. Reuse old aquarium water to water your indoor or outdoor plants, unless you added aquarium salt, medication, or chemicals, including pH adjusters or algae killers etc. The last two generally are not safe for aquariums anyway.
  2. Purchase the same type of fish or similar in terms of food and water needs - this will ensure that you limit the amount of different foods and accessories that you are buying.
  3. Avoid buying tropical fish because they require a heater and a thermometer - this will reduce the amount of electricity needed to keep the aquarium at a comfortable temperature.
  4. Use natural decor like stones and rocks that you can usually find for free instead of buying plastic ones.
  5. Limit the size of the aquarium and the number of fish.  Bigger aquariums require more electricity.
Fish are smaller in size than cats or dogs, but they still require water, food, and electricity, just like any other animal.  Although fish require less than bigger sized pets, there are still eco-friendly changes you can make that will have a positive impact on your family and your environment.

WE'RE CHANGING THE WORLD ... ONE CHALLENGE AT A TIME!  Be the change that you want to see in the world!
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6 comments:

  1. CandiceOctober 20, 2011 at 10:38 PM

    Thank you for these tips. We recently got our son 2 two and will definitely take these tips into account. I'm your newest follower.

    http://www.wherenothinggoodcomeseasy.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. StephanieOctober 21, 2011 at 2:12 PM

    Hi Katie -

    Thanks for stopping by and linking up. I'm here to follow you back. I really like your blog - it seems to be full of really USEFUL tips! :) I look forward to keeping up with you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Evil EdnaOctober 21, 2011 at 3:42 PM

    good tips, I have a tank with a monster golfish and two smaller fish. One thing I would recomend is a magnetic glass cleaner as this cleans off toot on the glass with the need for complicated chemicals.
    EE

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownOctober 21, 2011 at 4:53 PM

    Great idea Edna!

    ReplyDelete
  5. rewinnOctober 26, 2011 at 11:09 AM

    Thanks for the great ideas. Here's a question - if you mirror the back of your aquarium, would that double the apparent size in a visually appealing way? If this is a largely visual pleasure, perhaps such "tricks" may increase its utility at little or no cost?

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownOctober 26, 2011 at 5:05 PM

    Mirror sounds like a great idea. I wonder what the fish would think of that...might get some interesting behavior! :)

    ReplyDelete

I am grateful for your comments!