Artificial Grass Girl

No more "accidents" in our house with the Purchase Green Potty Pad!

See this little princess? Yes, she truly is a princess (haha!) Well, as cute as she is, she has a genetic knee problem called patellar luxation. This condition can be very painful and has also allowed for another more painful condition to set into her little knees…arthritis! Some days she is fine, and running around like a puppy…then others she is limping around like a little old woman.

On those painful days, it is hard to get her out of the bed, much less outside for a walk. After more accidents than usual as her condition progressively got worse, I decided to contact Purchase Green. This company makes the neatest artificial grass “indoor puppy potties.” These are sooo neat, and real looking. Honestly, it’s the most realistic fake grass I have ever seen. It even has the brown under the green blades that looks like dead grass. What is even cooler is it feels like real grass!! When we got this in my little man and Layla, the princess, immediately started rolling all over it and just had so much fun. After informing little man that this would be Layla’s toilet he backed off of it a bit (couldn’t have him rolling in it after-now could we?).

The Purchase Green potty is now set up in our bedroom where Layla spends 90% of her time, and has proven to be very simple to care for. We simply keep a puppy pad underneath the artificial sod, and scoop the “accidents” off of it. We change the puppy pad when it becomes soiled and spray the grass down with a mixture of disinfectant and water. I have found that this does not have an odor, and it is much more effective than any other kind of “house breaking” we have tried. She simply cannot get up and go outside all the time…and we adore her, so sometimes we have to make sacrifices.

I urge you to check their site out if you have a stubborn puppy that just will not wait to go out, if you work long hours and cannot get home to walk you furbaby, if you live in a city and have no place to walk your dog, or if you have a crippled furbaby like me!! Purchase Green offers the coolest way to indoor potty train your baby at a very affordable price!!

Installation of Purchase Green's Natures Sod Premier

This is our pick for best big game commercial:

You can't deny a great idea when you hear one. Check out this website:

http://www.farmfreshtoyou.com/index.php

Farm-fresh organic fruits and vegetables from local farms delivered to your home or office. 

Description	LEED Point Value
Water Efficient Landscaping: Reduce by 50%	1 Point
Water Efficient Landscaping: No Potable Use or No Irrigation	1 Point in addition to point from above.
Water Use Reduction: 20%	1 Point
Water use Reduction: 30%	1 Point in addition to point from above.

Description	LEED Point Value
Recycled Content: Total project must contain 10% (based on cost) recycled content, in a ratio of 2:1 post consumer to post-industrial recycled content.	1 Point
Recycled Content: Total project to contain 20% (based on cost) recycled content in a 2:1 ratio of post consumer to post-industrial recycled material.	1 Point in addition to point from above.
Regional Materials:  10% of the total materials needed for project must be extracted, harvested or recovered and manufactured with a 500-mile radius.  If only a fraction of the material is from the region, that amount by weight contributes to the regional credit value.	1 Point
1 additional point available if 20% of project’s total materials meets criteria outlined in above description.	1 Point
Rapidly Renewable Materials: 2.5% of the total value of all building materials and products used in the project (based on cost) must come from materials made from plants typically harvested with a 10-year (or shorter ) cycle.	1 Point

Description	LEED Point Value
Low Emitting Materials:  All carpet installed in building interior must meet Carpet and Rug Institute’s Green Label Plus program testing and requirements.  All cushion must also qualify for CRI’s Green Label program, and all adhesives must meet EQ prerequisite standards.	1 Point

Yesterday, we made it a family outing to go and see what was going on at the Go Green Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center. They offered a variety of of the latest trends in green products and services. The booths were grouped by categories; green clothing, green pet products, green home services, etc.

One of our goals at Purchase Green is to become the premier online department store for GREEN products. So we are always on the look-out for our next line of products. Since we carry artificial grass and pet products, our next line will probably be something that will blend in with these lines.

So we were particularly eyeing the environmentally-friendly pet products. There were a couple that I liked....The first was a pet vitamin company called Dancing Paws. Pet multi-vitamins and joint formulas made from natural materials.  They also sell healthy organic dog treats. The other was natural pet cleaning supplies called Eco-Me.  They sell an interesting variety of pet shampoos, oils, and cleaning supplies, including biodegradable pet waste baggies.

The next group of products that I found fascinating were the mini-solar powered gadgets. Tiny solar cell phone and computer chargers (Energy Acumen Solar ), and the backpack with solar panels on the front that will also charge your electronics while you are out and about. Way cool....I want one!

The most creative group was the Eco-Panda booth. Beautiful bikini-clad girls modeling bathing suits created from recycled nylon materials. These were high quality swimsuits in gorgeous patterns that any woman would love to wear. One of their logos is "Nylon Fishing Nets to Fashionable Swimwear". One lovely girl handed my very impatient 3-year old daughter a stuffed panda bear and made her day. Thank you Eco-Panda!

In general, I was really impressed with the variety of products and how far the technology has come.

Be sure to check out our first Puppy Potty Pad blog review at www.thenursemommy.com .

A couple of years ago when the economy was in better shape, many local municipalities, and counties were offering generous rebates for installing artificial grass in residential and commercial settings.  About a year ago, these funds dried up along with most other government rebate programs.  The programs began as a way of encouraging people to install synthetic lawns to save water during times of drought.  Since Southern California, where I live, is in  perpetual drought conditions, the rebates were plentiful. 

Currently, rebates are now available only in certain water agency service areas and only for commercial, industrial, institutional and multi-family facility water customer.  Therefore, RESIDENTIAL rebates are not currently available in Southern California.  Below is a list of municipalities in Southern California that are still currently offering rebates:

• Anaheim Public Utilities
• Burbank Water & Power
• Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP)
• Municipal Water District of Orange County
• Pasadena Water & Power
• San Diego County Water Authority
• Upper San Gabriel Valley MWD
• Western MWD of Riverside County 

For more information about rebate programs in Southern California check out:

http://www.mwdsaveabuck.com/

Be aware  that most of these programs require an online reservation before the product is PURCHASED and INSTALLED. Phone reservations are no longer accepted.  Only original receipts will be accepted as proof of purchase, so be sure to hang on to any paperwork associated with purchase the grass and installation quotes.  

Also, I know that the Las Vegas, Nevada area is also offering generous rebates.  The Southern Nevada Water District is pay $1.50 per square foot of installed desert landscape, which includes artiificial grass.  This is by far the most generous rebate program I have come across.  Check out this website for more information:

http://www.snwa.com/html/cons_wsl.html

I would like to get a list going of artificial grass programs throughout the country on this blog.  Please send me any links or information that you might have about other rebate programs by leaving a comment on this blog.

We basically fell into the pet potty pad business.  We were receiving frequent requests for tiny patches of turf.  We finally figured out that most of these requests were coming from pet owners living in apartments or condominiums, or they had a situation in which they needed to leave their pet inside their homes for an extended period of time.  One of our partners also lives in a condo and owns 2 small chihuahuas.  So he decided to take a remnant piece of artificial grass home and try it out.  He had been using the disposable pet pads on his balcony, but was tiring of looking at their mess.  Also, there were not completely potty trained yet and was hoping the turf would somehow help.

He placed the artificial grass on top of the disposable pad.  And to our amazement, the two dogs took right to the turf!  It's as if they have some instinct to do their thing on grass, even if its synthetic grass.  Who knew?  What is it about grass that draws the dogs to it?  I don't have the answer, but we have had several customers send  us glowing reviews of our pet potty pads say that as soon as they put the pad in front of the dog, it did its deed immediately.  Go figure.

From there we did some research and found out that we were not the only ones who have figured this out.  There are several varieties of artificial grass pet potties.  Some come with trays and other contraptions.  We are probably the simplest, and therefore, the cheapest option out there.  We found the most common sizes of disposable pet pads and cut the artificial grass to fit on top of them. 

Another benefit of our potty pad is that the disposable pet pad beneath the turf lasts for up to 2 weeks. This can probably be attributed to the fact that we sell high end artificial turf, not the stuff that you can buy at the big box stores.  Our ultra-dense artificial grass has drainage holes in the backing, is treated with an anti-bacterial solution, and easily cleaned off with a hose. 

 Sustainability....it's the new buzz word in "green" terminology.  I'm hearing it everywhere....from restaurants, grocery stores,  to economic reports, and politicians.  To be sustainable means to be able to use the resources available to us without harming our current environment or the environment of future generations.  A sustainable world, says World Bank economist Herman Daly, would not use renewable resources (forests, soils, waters, fish and game) faster than they are replenished. It wouldn't use nonrenewable resources (fossil fuels, mineral ores) faster than renewable substitutes can be found for them. Green households aim to be self-sustained; to keep a low carbon footprint.  This can be accomplished by growing your own fruit and vegetables, driving low-emission vehicles, composting, recycling, etc.  We can also increase our sustainability by installing artificial grass in our yards.

So how are artificial grass lawns sustainable?
1.  To begin with, artificial grass is made from recycled products.  Polypropylene, Polyethylene and Nylon are the major polymers used to produce synthetic turf.  These can be recycled from a variety of plastic products.  And 20 years later, when it is time to replace the lawn, the artificial grass can be recycled again into another polymer product.
2.  Water Conservation - it is estimated that most artificial grass lawns will pay for themselves within 3 years via water conservation.  Continued drought conditions in large parts of the country make artificial grass lawns an environmentally important option for homeowners and municipalities.  Artificial grass lawns save millions of gallons of water each year.  Sustainability begins my eliminating waste.
3.  Poison - Also, the water supply is not polluted by the fertilizers and pesticides we add to a natural grass lawn to keep it "healthy".  On top of that, the emissions and pollution created from lawnmowers and weed-wackers are eliminated from synthetic turf lawns.

Sustainability is a goal we should all aim for.  Installing artificial grass will not save the planet but it is one way of decreasing our impact on future generations.