When it comes to the home, you’ll have researched where to buy natural cleaning products online. When it comes to your car, you’ll have done your homework on electric vehicles and charging points. When it comes to energy, you’ll know all there is to know about solar power. But what about when it comes to your pets? You might be being eco-friendly in every other aspect of your life, but are your pets included in that? If not, don’t worry. You can easily become an eco-friendly pet owner, and here are the ways you can do it.
Photo by Richard Brutyo on Unsplash
Change Their Diet
It might surprise you to learn that the pet food industry causes a huge amount of pollution, and is one of the most unclean industries on the planet. It takes huge amounts of water, land, and other natural resources – including animal products like beef which can lead to additional greenhouse gas emissions – to produce pet food in the quantities we currently use it.
There is another way, and it will help you to be the eco-friendly pet owner you want to be. By switching your pet’s diet to a grain-based meal plan, or from beef to chicken and turkey (which is much more sustainably farmed), you can make a big difference to the world.
Pet treats are also a concern as they contain many unsustainable ingredients, the worst of which is palm oil. It’s good to give pets treats from time to time, but you can do this without harming the environment; by organic items or even make your own at home.
Buy Eco-Friendly Toys
Pets all need exercise, and although dogs can be walked (and should be, for at least 30 minutes a day), other pets don’t get to go out and about very much, if at all, and they need to find their exercise in other ways. This is one of the reasons why we like to buy them toys (another reason is that it makes them happy which in turn makes us happy), but those toys are often plastic, and since they tend to get destroyed fairly fast, they then have to be disposed of.
Instead of buying plastic pet toys, make sure you look out for eco-friendly ones made of sustainable materials. Not only are they better for the environment, but they are safer for your pet too, and often look more attractive which is useful if you find them lying all over your home.
Photo by Rebecca Campbell on Unsplash
Clear Up The Mess
We’re really talking about dogs in particular for this item on the list, and we’re really talking about feces rather than anything else. As a responsible dog owner, we’re sure that you do already clear up after your pet when you have taken them out for a walk or when they do their business in your yard. However, just to drive home the importance of this, it’s not just a matter of health and safety; it’s an environmental issue too.
If feces is left on the ground the bacteria within it can easily infiltrate water sources and contaminate them. Remember, though, don’t use plastic poop bags to carry out this chore; use biodegradable ones instead. Eco-friendly pet owners always clear up the mess.
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