How to Be An Eco-friendly Pet Owner?


How to Be An Eco-friendly Pet Owner? |

The news regarding climate change these days is horrifying, which is why we, as pet owners, should become more eco-friendly and try to reduce our carbon footprint as much as possible. But is it possible to be an eco-friendly pet owner?

So, how can one be an eco-friendly pet owner?

You can become an eco-friendly pet owner by doing the following things:

  1. Adopt and do not shop
  2. Get your dogs plastic-free toys or toys that are made from recycled materials
  3. Use a reusable pee pad instead of disposable pee pads
  4. Replace your dog’s plastic poop bags with compostable ones
  5. Replace paper towels with hand towels
  6. Feed your dog a plant-based diet

If you are interested in learning more about the things that you can do as a pet owner to reduce your carbon footprint and become more eco-friendly, then make sure that you continue reading this blog post.

How to Be An Eco-friendly Pet Owner? |

How to be an eco-friendly pet owner?

Number one: Adopt and do not shop

How to Be An Eco-friendly Pet Owner? |

You must have heard this slogan a billion times, but what is the difference between adopting a dog and buying one from the pet store?

Well, adopting saves dogs from being killed, which is the fate of dogs who are in overburdened shelters. These shelters kill dogs to reduce costs and preserve their limited resources.

Number two: Get your dogs plastic-free toys or toys that are made from recycled materials

Once you feel like your dog is no longer interested in playing with one of their old toys, although it is still in good condition, you can donate these toys to you one of your local animal shelters instead of throwing them away and sending them to landfills.

It is reduce, reuse, recycle. So whenever you can, try to reuse and repurpose the things that you already have if they are in good condition instead of just throwing these things away.

If you want to purchase some new toys for your beloved pooch, try to get them one that is sustainably made or that are made of recycled materials. Try to avoid plastic as much as possible and try to get them toys that are dye-free.

Rope toys are sustainable and a must-have for eco-friendly dog owners.

Why?

  1. They are sustainable toys.
  2. Dogs enjoy playing with rope toys.

If you are interested in getting your beloved pooch a new, eco-friendly toy, then feel free to check out our Top 5 Rope Toys for Dogs Who Really Want to Play page.

Number three: Use a reusable pee pad instead of disposable pee pads

Many pet owners rely on disposable pee pads when they are training their newly adopted dogs to keep the house as clean as possible as you potty train them.

I am not going to lie; disposable pee pads are very convenient because all you have to do after your dog potties on them is just throw them in the garbage. However, this convenience is both, very pricy and super unsustainable because it increases your carbon footprint.

Fortunately, there is a more sustainable and eco-friendly alternative to disposable pee pads, and that is disposable pee pads. Check out this table were I compare and contrast disposable pads and reusable pads.

Disposable PadsReusable Pads
PriceOn the long run, reusable pads will cost you more moneyOn the long run, reusable pads will cost you less money
ConvenienceMore convenient because you get to throw the pads right awayLess convenient because you have to wash the pads in the washing machine every day
EfficiencyA tieA tie
Eco-FriendlinessPlastic pad increase your carbon footprintReusable pads are more sustainable and eco-friendly

As you can see, it is pretty evident that reusable pads easily win this competition. If you want to invest in a sustainable, reusable pad for your beloved dog, then make sure that you check out PADSMART™. Padsmart is our Washable Fashionable Reusable Pee Pad. 

If you want to learn more about how you can pee pad train your dog the ecofriendly way, then check out my How to Potty Train A Puppy on Pads And Be Eco-friendly blog post.

How to Potty Train A Puppy on Pads

Number four: Replace your dog’s plastic poop bags with compostable ones

If you have a dog who is trained to go potty outside of the house and not on a pee pad, then you probably use more than a couple of disposable plastic bags every day to clean up their poop.

Now that is a lot of plastic because you are probably sending about one thousand plastic bags filled with your dog’s poop to landfill, which is increasing your carbon footprint, which contributes to the global warming crisis that we are currently facing.

Luckily though, there is an alternative to that. We now have compostable bags that are designed specifically to help you throw away your dog’s poop more sustainably. One great brand that does that is Earth Rate’s Compostable Bags; these biodegradable bags are made of vegetable starch.

Number five: Replace paper towels with hand towels

Using paper towels to clean up any mess that our beloved pets create is the most convenient thing ever. Sometimes, we even use paper towels to clean our dog’s paw and legs after they come back after a walk or a hike.

However, you can reduce your carbon footprint by replacing these paper towels with reusable hand towels that you can easily wash in a washing machine after you finish up cleaning your pooch.

Number six: Feed your dog a plant-based diet

Reducing the amount of meat that you feed to your dog is going to make a more eco-friendly pet owner.

How to Be An Eco-friendly Pet Owner? |

Why?

Because meat requires a lot of resources to be produced, it has a significant environmental footprint, and its production ends up actually causing pollution.

If you are still going to feed your dogs and cats meat, try to pick meats that have a lower impact on the environment like rabbits and chicken. The carbon footprint of producing beef exceeds that of the other meats.

But do not dogs and cats belong to the Carnivora order? How are they going to sustain their health on a plant-based diet?

Yes, dogs and cats to belong to the Carnivora order. However, they are omnivores. Let us focus on dogs, though.

A dog’s body is capable of transforming specific amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins, into other amino acids. This allows dogs to get all of the amino acids that their bodies need without consuming any meat!

If you are still worried about where your dog is going to get all of the protein that their bodies need, do not worry. Eggs are considered to be an excellent source of protein for dogs because they have the highest biological value.

The phrase highest biological value is just a representation of the ability of the protein to supply the animal with amino acids that they need.

How to Be An Eco-friendly Pet Owner? |

Other questions related to how to be an eco-friendly pet owner

How to potty train a puppy on pads and be eco-friendly?

Potty training your puppy the eco-friendly way is possible even if you want to pad train them. You can do so by using a washable pee pad + implementing positive reinforcement techniques.

Learn more about this by checking out my How to Potty Train A Puppy on Pads And Be Eco-friendly blog post.

How to Be An Eco-friendly Pet Owner? |

That’s it for today’s post. You should now know seven different things that you can do to become an eco-friendly pet owner. These seven things are the following:

  1. Adopt and do not shop
  2. Get your dogs plastic-free toys or toys that are made from recycled materials
  3. Use a reusable pee pad instead of disposable pee pads
  4. Replace your dog’s plastic poop bags with compostable ones
  5. Replace paper towels with hand towels
  6. Feed your dog a plant-based diet
How to Be An Eco-friendly Pet Owner? |

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