Are pets environmentally friendly?

Whether you own a dog, cat, guinea-pig, hamster or goldfish, you may not think about your pets carbon footprint. While buying a toy here or a can of food there, its not likely to be a huge concern to the planets health, however, with at least one third of households on the earth owning a pet, its sure to add up.

While pets themselves are not hugely impacting the planet, the resources you need for them are. Think toys, pet food packaging, litter, poo bags and even pet clothes(!) does make owning a pet not very sustainable.

From choosing what products you buy for your pets, to how you dispose of their poop, there is a few ways you can help to reduce the impact they have on the planet.

Pet poop!

A study in 2017, found that 5.1 million tons of dog and cat poop was produced, just in the USA. That’s a lot of methane gas entering the atmosphere each year. While you cannot stop your pet producing waste, you can choose compostable dog poo bags, compostable, wood, bamboo or biodegradable cat litter and bags instead of plastic and clay. You can also compost your rabbits/guinea-pigs/hamster sawdust and straw too, which will help your garden grow beautifully!

Pet food

Feeding your pets can have an impact too, whether its kibble or meat, its all got to come from somewhere. High protein foods, especially from red meat protein sources tend to have a higher impact. However, the pet food industry does use a lot of products not fit for human consumption, so eliminating the waste of these resources.

You can also help by not over feeding your pets too (which will also help you save on vet bills too!)

Choose pet feed packaged in recyclable, reusable or biodegradable packaging can help limit the impact too.

Play with your pets

While cats have a natural instinct to hunt, playing with them can significantly reduce their need to, meaning you shouldn’t end up with a dead mouse left on your carpet, thus helping reduce their carbon pawprint too!

Pet products

Most toys, collars, leads, beds etc are made from plastic. We all know that we need to reduce our plastic intake, so by choosing recycled plastic or non-plastic items, you can help reduce your impact too. As well as also choosing organic materials instead of polyester or standard cotton can help too.

While owning a pet is probably not considered environmentally friendly, you can help limit the impact they have on the planet. For more tips, download our free PDF guide, ‘How to reduce your dogs carbon pawprint’ here.