Good Idea #1: Renting Christmas Trees

Our City Forest in San Jose California is "renting" Christmas trees. They are living trees that are indigenous to the area. You can "rent" and return the trees at the end of the holiday season for planting.The fee charged for the tree is tax deductible. Our City Forest is a 501(c)3 organization. The mission of Our City Forest is to cultivate a greener, healthier urban environment and a renewed sense of community by involving Silicon Valley residents in the understanding, planting and care of the urban forest. They have an impressive list of programs and services some of which include:

• Tree planting and Tree Care Project Coordination for Neighborhoods and Schools
• Tree Santas (loans decorated Christmas trees to the homebound
• Tree Bank (houses homeless trees - educational site)

Good Idea #2: Bathing A Dirty Cat Without Water

This idea was a suggestion from one of our customers. We were discussing one of our cats, Jack O'Lantern. Jackie is round by nature and "likes his groceries", which doesn't help his situation. He actually can't clean himself very well at all from just behind his front legs down to his tail. On top of his unique physique, he has oily skin. All in all, a dismal situation for the boy.

Our customer suggested taking plain wheat bran, toasting it and massaging it into the coat while still warm, let it cool and brush it out. We tried this on Mr. O'Lantern. The results were spectacular!

We went to the health food store and bought plain wheat bran. This we spread in an even layer on a cookie sheet, about 2 cups worth. We toasted it in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes until brown, not burned.

Next, we spread an old sheet on our table, armed ourselves with brushes, flea combs, cat and tray of toasty warm wheat bran. We grabbed handfuls of the bran, being careful to check the temperature. This came out of the oven pretty hot and we needed to be very careful to let it cool to a comfortable temperature before applying. Then, massage, massage, massage. It cooled to room temperature in a matter of minutes. Next all that was left was the brushing. This, too, went pretty quickly.

The results were dramatic. Clean, silky and not greasy feeling. The bran absorbed the oils as it cooled. The process was a lot nicer for all concerned than the water baths that we had been giving him. We felt a whole lot better putting bran on our cat than shampoo. Jackie almost liked the warm feeling of the bran flakes and definitely enjoyed the massage part. A dry bath in bran flakes. A quick, effective, down right enjoyable way to clean your cat. This method has also been suggested for cleaning rats, although we haven't found anyone who has tried it yet.

Good Idea #3: Keeping little critters from drowning in your swimming pool

Mary Lou from South Carolina wrote us to share her good idea of how to keep the little critters that fall into her pool from drowning. This is what she says....

"We have a backyard pool that lures critters. I have fished out mice, snakes, lizards, turtles, muskrats, rats, bunnies, scorpions, toads and frogs and all species of little and big bugs.

"I have finally found a way to keep them safe till I can rescue them out in the morning.

"I thinly sliced a child's pool noodle and float several of them in the pool like lily pads. They end up in the skimmer baskets and they act like little life preservers. The mouse I saved this morning wasn't even wet. He was sitting on top of the styrofoam noodle slice twitching his whiskers. A Mouse Preserver!"

What's a child's pool noodle? They are long skinny foam toys that kids use in the pool. They look like spaghetti, not noodles. Flexible 5 feet long and 3" in diameter. Perfect for slicing and making little life rafts. Mary Lou has already saved dozens of little things. Way to go Mary Lou! And thank you for sharing. Your idea will probably save several dozen more.