How green is your pet? Plus best buys for your next trip to the pet store
You may be doing your bit to protect the planet – but have you ever thought about your pet’s environmental paw print? Here are some ways to reduce it…
Our pets give us a lot of happiness – and we give them plenty in return. Squeaky toys, plastic collars, beds and bowls… and countless treats! Plus, if you’re a dog owner, you’ll spend a lot of time picking up poo with plastic bags. So, if you don’t want to end up in the environmental dog house, what can you do?
Food for thought
Meat requires a lot of land and energy to produce – so just imagine the carbon footprint of the world’s 500 million pet dogs and cats.
Scientists have worked out that the footprint of a medium-sized dog is twice that of a large four-by-four car. A cat’s is smaller – although still similar to that of a Volkswagen Golf!
Your pet might not thank you for turning them vegan – and in fact cats need a certain type of protein only found in meat products – but you can make them a little greener.
Billions end up in landfill – read the recycling information and dispose of them accordingly. You can recycle all makes of pet food plastic pouches and bags through the Mars Petcare programme via Terracycle – visit terracycle.com to find drop-off points.
TEMPT YOUR POOCH WITH INSECT PROTEIN
Yora uses grubs (yum!) raised on vegetable waste to make its sustainable pet food, Yora Insect Protein All Breeds Dog Food (£11.99 for 1.5kg, yorapetfoods. com). So far it’s saved the planet more than five million kilos of carbon – the equivalent of 41 cars driving to the moon!