Help your pets reduce their pawprint

Your Challenge

Pets can be wonderful additions to our lives, but they also come with their own footprint. Worry not, there are practical steps you can take to reduce this! 

• Food and treats – ensuring your pet receives the correct nutrition it needs is important. But where possible, we can choose foods with sustainably sourced fish (look for MSC-certified), organic ingredients (look for Soil Association or the EU Organic certifications), meat from free-range, high-welfare farming practices, farmed insect protein sources, and foods with plenty of vegetables. Feeding pets fresh, unprocessed foods helps to reduce their footprint. 
• Toys – it’s tempting to shower our pets with new toys but often these are played with and soon forgotten (or destroyed and thrown away!). Try storing toys in a drawer and swapping them out each week; this keeps older toys exciting. You could also make new toys from old clothes or even from old toys – keep a bag of scraps (such as squeakers and stuffing) and sew or tie pieces together to make ropes, cuddly animals and more! When buying toys, try second-hand options in charity shops, or look for those made from natural materials like hemp, wood or cotton, or from recycled plastics. 
• Wearables – think about reuse and consider buying second-hand harnesses, collars and leads. If you have a puppy or kitten, they can outgrow their old items quickly, so shop second-hand and sell them on afterwards – keeping items in use for longer! When buying new, again look for recycled materials. 
• Companies – look for companies that are taking responsibility for their environmental impact. For example, several companies now report their emissions footprint and are taking action to reduce it by investing in electric delivery vehicles, renewable energy in their factories, and recycled packaging. Beware of companies greenwashing, particularly those that are selling ‘eco’ products but aren’t taking action to reduce their impact! 
• Poo bags – almost all poo bags will be disposed of via incineration in the UK, very few go to landfill.^[1] Placing poo bags in a bin is the most responsible way to clean up after your dog. To reduce the footprint of the poo bags you buy, look for ones made from recycled materials (as this uses waste material and reduces the impact from waste on our planet).  Poo bags should never be composted or left to decompose in the natural environment as they still act as plastic and leave behind microplastics, as well as potentially being a risk for wildlife and essentially acting as litter. You should also look at the company that produces those bags: are they acting in a sustainable way or are they selling a ‘green’ product with no other commitment to the environment? Look for businesses that are working to reduce their emissions and packaging, and are caring for our planet.