Can you be an environmentally friendly dog owner?

What is the environmentl impact of keeping pets? We are all guilty of generating a lot of waste and even our pets have a large carbon “paw print” of their own. But it is quite easy to reduce the impact the whole household has on the environment by making some simple choices when caring for our pets. Here are some ideas that might be helpful for maintaining an eco-friendly household with your furry friends!

Adopt: Finding a pet in need of a home from a rescue shelter is a more sustainable and humane option than buying one from a breeder. It’s difficult to filter out which puppies are bred in appropriate conditions and which are the result of inhumane farming methods.

Puppy farmers often travel a considerable distance from where they are breeding the animals to show them off to buyers, sometimes even renting a property to make it look like their own home, fooling the buyer into thinking that the dogs are living in a secure home. By adopting from a local rescue, you are also helping them rescue and help other animals,

Spay and neuter: There is an overabundance of pets without homes. Many animals are euthanised each year because they have not been able to be rehomed. To give an idea of the numbers, in 2018 the RSPCA only rehomed 1 in 3 animals that they had rescued and around 30% were put to sleep. Aside from the environmental impact of all of these animals, it’s really sad that so many animals are abandoned in favour of us choosing a specific breed, colour or genetic history of a puppy. When you consider the uncertainty of buying from a breeder you may not be getting what you expect anyway. But if you do choose to buy a puppy, decide whether he needs to be able to bring another 10 pups into the world where their future will be uncertain.

Food Choices
Food is a major contributing factor to the environmental impact of your pets. When considering the production methods, transportation and distribution of pet food it’s been estimated that the footprint from a medium-sized dog can be similar to that of a family car. Meat-based pet foods are designed to be high in protein, which needs a lot of meat (and a lot of animals, land, food, transport and so on). It’s not suggested to move to a meat-free diet and vegetarian/vegan diets are not necessarily the best way forward for animals. There appears to be little evidence to support a grain free diet, and dogs are surprisingly efficient ad digesting and getting nutrients from grains. By using these foods, you can reduce the amount of meat that is needed and reduce your pet’s carbon footprint – maybe not by a significant amount, but if everybody takes these ideas on board suddenly there is a real positive impact. You can read more about his here: http://theconversation.com/a-big-pawprint-the-environmental-impact-of-pet-food-74004

Supplies
It’s hard to keep track of all the things we buy for our pets – food, treats, toys, medicine to name a few. Most of these will be swimming in unnecessary plastic packaging. Without a change by the manufacturing industry, there’s not much, as consumers, we can do about this. With the mindset that lots of small contributions can have a significant impact, Chemeyes are on the path to removing all of our plastic packagings. As it stands, we are able to offer all of our own brand capsule and tablet products in recyclable paper eco-pouches which are expected to save nearly 1mt of plastic waste each year. We’re only a small company, so imagine what the big companies could achieve with a change to how the package their products. That really would have a positive impact on our world.

Cleaning your pets
Is there really any need to buy dog-specific shampoo for your dog? There are so many natural products that you probably already have in your home that can be used to make them smell better and look a bit shinier. Each shampoo bottle is another piece of plastic and more carbon from manufacturing and transportation. Can you switch from wet wipes and paper towels to a regular towel? If you are using paper products make sure that they are composted or recycled properly.

Walking your dog.
For 8 years we used to drive our dog to the park so we could take her on a walk. It took a while, but we eventually got the idea that we could actually walk to the park. Amazing, right?! The impact of this is, aside from the emissions from the car, is a saving of £50/week on petrol, a huge reduction in the miles the car is doing, reduction in costs of car maintenance and increased fitness – and yes, the obsession with how many steps we do each day is firmly planted now!

#itstartswithyou