Eco-Friendly Products for Your Pet
We’ve all heard the phrase “we only get one earth” time and time again but when you stop to think about it, you often only think about the impact that you have on earth. Have you ever considered how the products that your pet uses every day could reduce the impact they have? We pulled together a few items to show you how simple changes can make a big difference on your pet’s footprint.
Poop Bags
If you had to guess, how many times a week do you use a doggie bag to pick up after your dog? Now imagine that multiplied by all the dog owners in the world! You can quickly see why it is estimated that over 500 million single-use plastic bags enter landfills each year. These bags are one of the biggest issues that people face when it comes to helping their pet be more Eco-friendly. With more focus being put on this alarming issue, there have been several products released that are trying to combat the problem.
Pooch Paper is a great example of a biodegradable option to single-use waste bags for your pet. Made from softwood pulp and are unbleached to help reduce the overall environmental footprint, these bags contain zero plastic and will degrade in weeks or months depending on the elements. The company is focused on all aspects of production so the bags are produced using methods of biomass and waste reduction water saving programs.
Collars
Something that you may not be considering but could be more environmentally conscious is the collar that your pet is wearing! While a collar can last for a long time, people often do not consider the material that it is made of when purchasing it.
A great example is Cycle Dog, who specializes in environmentally and sustainable products for your pet. In 2019, they began by upcycling inner tube rubber from bike tires into collars for pets. To this day, they have since saved 120 garbage trucks worth of tubes from landfills. Not only do they use tubing, they also use recycled plastic bottles in their Ecoweave collars and leashes!
Cat Litter
Did you know that most cat litter is made with either a synthetic or natural silica dust? Silica Dust has been found to cause upper respiratory infections in humans so having it in your home may cause some issues.
Using a biodegradable cat litter made from compressed paper, corn, wheat or other organic materials, can help cut down the harmful items that are in most bigger box litters while reducing the impact on our planet. While the bigger boxes of litter tend to be cheaper, there are budget friendly options that can help you keep your cost low while helping the environment like Feline Pine. Feline Pine uses 100% Natural Pine to control odor and is also chemical free. Others such as Fresh News use 100% post-consumer paper from recycling centers to make their litter and is made in Michigan!
People may not think about their pet products being eco-friendly, but there are certainly ways to integrate them into your life. If it’s helping to reduce waste in landfills or just choosing eco-friendly options the next time you need a collar, you and your pet can be on the road to environmental sustainability!
