8 Ways to Green Your Pet

This story is part of Earth911’s “Green Eight” series, where we showcase eight ways to green your life in various areas. The following post was developed in partnership with Earth 911’s sister site, PETS911. To learn more about ensuring a better life for your pet, visit Pets911.com.

Can man’s best friend also be a friend to the environment? According to the United States Humane Society, 73 million dogs and 90 million cats currently inhabit U.S. homes, meaning household pets are an important consumer of valuable resources in many families. Here are eight tips on making your pet owning experience a “green” one.

1. Adopt Your Pet From a Local Shelter

PETS911 maintains a list of over 20,000 adoptable pets from 8,000 animal shelters. All these animals need things like food, water and vaccinations to survive. They are not disposable, just in need of a loving home. Before you consider buying from a pet store or breeder, see if your dream pet is just a shelter phone call away.

2. Help Control the Pet Population

Bob Barker’s famous television line says it best, and spaying/neutering your pets can also have environmental impacts. According to Animal World Network, seven puppies and kittens are born for every human, which means animal overpopulation is a more serious issue than human overpopulation. A neutered/spayed cat will also be less likely to suffer from ovarian or testicular cancer, which means less resources spent on treatment.

3. Find a Local Vet

Every time you drive your pet for a routine check-up, you’re emitting carbon dioxide into the air. A five minute drive creates far less damage than a 45 minute commute to the vet you started seeing when you lived five towns away. When you move over 10 miles, consider finding a veterinarian in your new community. PETS911 has a database of more than 6,000 vets organized by zip code for your reference.

4. Investigate Healthy Food Alternatives

If your family is good enough for the latest trends of a healthy diet, why not your pet? While organic pet food may cost a little more money, it is made with renewable resources and no pesticides or environmentally unfriendly fertilizers. Any extra expenses on food could easily be offset by less medical expenses for your pet from a healthier diet.

5. Recycle Food Containers

As the #1 recycling resource on the internet, it’s only natural that Earth 911 would encourage pet owners to practice good recycling. Whether it comes in cans, bottles or bags, chances are your pet’s food containers can be recycled. Recycle pet food containers using Earth 911.

6. Make Poop Disposal Environmentally Friendly

All animals go to the bathroom, and disposing of animal waste is no fun no matter what kind of pet you own. Biodegradable bags are sold at most pet stores, and provide an alternative to using plastic bags that are nearly impossible to decompose. Flushing any remains down the toilet is a smart option as well because most traditional landfills don’t lend themselves to composting.

7. Buy Your Pet Sustainable Toys

These can range from eco-friendly beds to hemp collars to stuffed toys made from recycled soda bottles. Your pet may not realize that its playtime is saving the environment, but that won’t stop it from having fun with its toys.

8. Keep Your Pet Identified

Everything involved in searching for a lost pet takes up environmental resources. Whether it’s printing up paper flyers to post information or driving around the neighborhood yelling your pet’s name, losing a pet is an environmentally unfriendly process. While tagging your pet can’t prevent it from getting lost, it will surely help with the retrieval. PETS911 has a Lost Pet section for posting both lost and found pets.