In Portland, Oregon there’s a business that conforms to green standards in every possible aspect. They are Fido’s Indoor Dog Park, where dogs are king; literally.
There’s a retail shop in the front and all the items in their inventory are environmentally friendly, made locally and made from sustainable materials. The products range from cotton doggie tee shirts and visors to home-made dog biscuits.
The turf is called canine grass it has microbial properties and it’s made for exactly this purpose. It doesn’t soak up urine or feces and it’s cleanable with environmentally safe protein breakers specially made for this purpose. There’s over 13,000 square feet of canine grass.
Pets and the Environment get Along Great Here
All the dog feces is put into the “poop chute.” It’s a little door on the wall that reveals a chute when opened. The poop is placed in the chute and it’s gone, forever. Forever until you get outside, that is. Outside the chute is a large tank made from enviro-plastic and a company called Green Dog comes to empty it regularly. Then, Green Dog composts the dog feces into fertilizer and plant food for non-consumable growers, like those that own rose gardens and stock nurseries.
This indoor dog park even has fake trees for the dogs to go on. The Fido’s staff uses a natural cleaner called, “Biozyme” that’s pleasant smelling and it completely removes the urine and feces from the surfaces of the grass and trees.
There’s a drink and snack area for the staff and humans watching their dogs play, and people are encouraged to either bring their own mugs, or use one of Fido’s mugs and wash it when finished. Glass mugs reduce the paper waste that could potentially come from a food service area. They even have one of those Kreuger coffee makers that only makes one cup at a time; that way, no coffee is wasted.
They also boast about their energy-saving insulated bow-truss ceilings, and they use EFL and LED lights.