Keeping pets involves a lot of responsibility, between feeding them, making sure they don’t leave messes everywhere and ensuring they are cared for properly. But there’s a lot pet owners can do to help the environment by slightly changing some every day practices. Best of all, it won’t cost more than you already spend — in fact, it could save you money.
8 ways to green up your pets
- Use a pooper-scooper. When water hits pet waste, it washes the material into nearby waterways. That increases harmful bacterial levels in streams and lakes, as well as washes nutrients into the water. Reuse plastic bags from shopping to pick up the waste or even purchase biodegradable ones.
- If your cat uses a litter box, switch to a biodegradable litter from renewable resources, such as wheat or newspaper pellets. Most biodegradable litters are safe for septic systems and can be flushed, thus saving landfill space. Best of all, these litters are made from recycled materials.
- It seems simple, but spay or neuter your pet. Adopt from shelters rather than buying from stores or breeders. By reducing the amount of unwanted pets, you will help the planet because resources won’t be needed to supportunwanted pets.
- Don’t buy cheap throw-away toys, which take massive amounts of resources to make and ship, only to land in the landfill after a few chews or tugs. Be crafty and make some of your pet’s toys. Buy toys made from sustainable materials. On that note, try to buy some pet supplies second-hand or find ways to reuse materials around your house, such as old towels rather than paper towels to clean up after the animals.
- Use eco-friendly grooming products and buy toys that aren’t made with high levels of chemicals. You’ll lower your pet’s chemical footprint while protecting her from noxious chemicals.
- Only purchase salt-water tropical fish or other aquarium life if they were raised in captivity or collected in a sustainable way. Look for certification from the Marine Aquarium Council when buying.
- When trimming your pet’s hair, rather than throwing it in the garbage, put pet hair outside so native wildlife can use it to make nests.
- Don’t let your cats or dogs roam outdoors. That way they don’t pick up diseases, harass or kill native species while hunting or reproduce if not spayed or neutered.
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