According to a lot of experts owing pets is not entirely sustainable in itself, unless you want to eat them, but lets face it, pets have lots of other benefits and I doubt most people reading this blog could face life without pets.
So how can we make our pets more sustainable?
Here are a few ideas. I am sure that you all have other ideas, so please add them to comments at the bottom of this blog post or email me directly and I will add them!
Pet Food- What do you feed you pets?
- Have you thought about where it comes from?
- Is it sustainably sourced and produced?
1. Where was it produced?
Remember that in terms of sustainability, local is best. The prroblem is that lots of the premium brands that we support and indeed see our pets doing well on, are produced overseas and shipped here. Some local products worth looking at for cats and dogs include: Ziwipeak, K9 natural, Ultra and NZ pet foods. I do not have any particular knowledge of any of these foods or companies, but they are all locally sourced and produced products and they seem to have growing profiles. You need to research, review and check the AFFCO status of the products before switching to them. It is also important to note that I have not yet checked out their green policies, so you should do that too.
2. Could I make a balanced diet myself and would this be ok for my pet?
If you choose to make your own pet food, be very careful that you have sought the advice of an animal nutritionist and/or your veterinarian in the first instance to ensure that the diet you are feeding is completely balanced. A good starting point for learning about raw diets is: Raw essentials which was founded by an Auckland based veterinarian. Imbalanced diets can lead to a number of serious diseases, including rickets, which used to be common place in New Zealand , even up until the early 1990's that has now virtually gone, due to improved and readily available quality commercial diets.
I would also like to note here that you should "beware of dog roll" as many of these, although produced locally, have resulted in poisoning incidences, often due to the level of nitrites, not to mention the effects of the high fat content of dog roll (but that's another story).
3. What is the green policy of the pet food company?
Some of the companies listed above might be locally produced but have a terrible green track record whereas a food produced overseas might be the opposite, so you need to research that first. Look at their policies in terms of product sourcing, waste reduction and progress to being carbon neutral.
4. Packaging?
Is this recyclable? Could it be or why isn't it? The most common theme I have hit up against is that the packaging chosen is required to keep it fresh for longer which increases the shelf life. Having said that, it is not only the packaging the improves shelf life but preservatives too. A pet food with a long shelf life may have more of these - which may not always be good for a pet or the environment.
All of this has got me thinking that perthaps these major food companies could do their research in a central point but distribute the recipes to smaller loca manufacturers? Perhaps this is cost prohibitive. The reality is though that big pet food companies will have to respond to what the consumer wants. So research, pressure and iif you need/want to - change the food you feed.
Pet food is potentially a big can of worms and as a veterinarian myself, I do tend to promote the premium range pet foods, which there is no doubt pets do well on and this is what I learnt at university, but over recent years I have certainly started to look at other options especially in terms of can we get great results with our pets from products produced closer to home. I do believe the answer is yes and I will be doing more research on this subject.
Bedding choices:Do they need a separate bed? They could share with you because that's right folks, the behavioural experts opinion on this has now changed and its ok to do this, as long as the rules are consistent.
This might suit some of you but to be honest, I don't want a dog in or on my bed either. The cats I can cope with, but a dog, not so keen!
So what other choices?
- Use polar fleece as its a recycled material, easily washed and dried and warm and cosy. You could use it to make a cushion, or just put a blanket on your favourite couch ot one dedicated to the pets, so the place of rest can be easily washed.
- Avoid bean bags as the polystryene beans can't be recycled. Its a waste product with no end use.
- Visit TradeMe, an ecoshop or other second hand store and purchase a chair or couch suitable for your pet.
- Like the picture shows, cats love warm spots in the garden. Tip a pile of fresh lawn clippings in your cats favorite garden rest spot. The top provides a dry bed, while the grass heats and composts underneath providing a natural electric blanket.
I am quite sure you can all come up with 100% sustainable sleeping options for your pets that don't involve spending large amounts of money. I look forward to your ideas and feedback.
Toy choices:
Sure, your pets need toys, but often you don't need to spend much money. String and newspaper for a kitten for example is as much fun as an y store brought toy. Or for a dog that likes rolling a toy for a food reward, try and old plastic bottle with a whole in it, or just no lid. Remember supervision with any toy, homemade or store brought is required at all times.
In some cases when you might feel you do need to purchase a specific toy that you can't improvise with at home, its a case of choosing the more expensive options of a toy to ensure it has a long life.
Dealing with waste material
Number 1's are packed with nitrogen, so are great on your garden or lawn. Just remember to hose in the area they have toileted to reduce the burning of plants or lawn or train them to toilet in one area and not into a water way.
Composting their number 2's is more problematic in a temperate country like New Zealand where it is harder to achieve high temperatures for a lengthy period in compost. The faecal coliform, E.Coli is often present in dog faces and is responsible for severe illness in humans. Also present is parasite larva such as Toxocara canis and felis, which are responsible for the human disease visceral larva migrans. In order to deactivate these.
Also Niki Bould, who is one of the sustainability champions at Otago Polytechnic told us this about how she deals with her dogs faeces: "I own a bokashi bucket (get the from the DCC customer service area) and then use the enzyme from that regular bokashi bin. So I dug a deep hole at the bottom of my garden, put gravel at the bottom of it and then pushed a large bucket (with holes in the bottom of the bucket for drainage) into the hole I just made. The bucket has a lid that is held in place with a stone. Then after a few times of putting dog poo in it (a layer) I sprinkled enzymes on top. Depending on how many dogs and how much dog poo, is the amount of time it takes to fill. Once full, I put the contents of the bucket at the bottom of a pile of compost specifically for non-edible plants. The contents of the bucket should be dry and non-stinky. The first time I did it I realised I had put the hole in the ground in a place that gets very waterlogged, meaning the bucket and its contents were wet, stinky and a bit gross! I moved it and now it works fine, an extra deep hole with a lot of gravel at the bottom is key i think."
Remember when collecting dog faeces, when out on a walk, that you should choose an alternative to plastic to collect your dogs faeces. Even the plastic bags they say are biodegradable can take 500 years to do so and this is just too long. Consider carrying a small bucket with a lid and trowel. It can then be tipped into your special doggy do compost or bokashi bucket at home perhaps. Another thing you could do is carry a paper bag to collect you doggy dog in. If you dog produces poo that a paper bag won't handle, then pick it up with old newspaper first then place this in the paper bag. This is far more biodegradable than the biodegradable plastic bags! Lobby the local council to provide doggy doo composting at local dog parks and dog recreation areas too.
For cats litter trays, choose recycled and biodegradable material for the trays. There are plenty of options made from paper and also wood shavings that cats like and they work well. Once spent, remove the faecal material and tip it straight in your compost bin. Cat faeces need to be dealt with in the same manner as dog faeces, because they harbour the same risks.
For cats litter trays, choose recycled and biodegradable material for the trays. There are plenty of options made from paper and also wood shavings that cats like and they work well. Once spent, remove the faecal material and tip it straight in your compost bin. Cat faeces need to be dealt with in the same manner as dog faeces, because they harbour the same risks.
Grooming
Did you know that pet hair can just go straight in your compost bin? So every time you groom your cat or dog, collect up the fur and throw it in your compost bin. If you take your pet to the groomers, ask them what they are doing with the dog hair. Let them know it is absolutely fine to be composted.
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I hope there are some useful ideas there. I look forward to hearing more and updating this post as we do more investigation.
Have a great day greening up your pet!
Francesca
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