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Pets go green: Tips for cutting pets’ carbon pawprints
By Pet Connection Staff
April 27, 2010
In this week’s Pet Connection newspaper feature, our Dr. Marty Becker and Gina Spadafori take a look at the trend towards more environmentally conscious pet ownership, and share a few tips for people hoping to reduce their pets’ carbon pawprints:
* Pay attention to packaging. Pet food, pet toys, pet supplies, pet cleaning and grooming aids, pet medications — pretty much all of these have one serious environmental problem: packaging. Look for alternatives, such as bulk buying that reduces throwaway containers, and use products that come in recycled and recyclable packaging.
* Toss with caution. Always dispose of drugs, pesticides, shampoos, chemicals and the containers they come in safely. Flea-control products, as well as many pet shampoos and dips, need to be disposed of carefully as well, according to federal, state and local guidelines. (As for those flea-and-tick products, don’t overdo it, and follow directions carefully.)
Get more tips here. One of the best? Take a walk! It’s good for you and your dog, both.
And from Team Becker in The Buzz, true confessions about veterinarians and their pets’ dental health:
Do as I say, not as I do? Maybe! While veterinarians advise brushing pets’ teeth to prevent dental problems, slightly more than half of veterinarians polled admitted (probably sheepishly) that they don’t brush their own pets’ teeth. Only 8 percent brush their pets’ teeth regularly — still probably a higher figure than the general pet-owning population, but with lots of room for improvement.
Want more? Read the entire Pet Connection for this week!
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A local dairy farmer gives me boxes of used teat cups from his milking machines. He saves on waste disposal fees and I get loads of freebies to hand out to friends and clients.
As far as other dog stuff, I prefer to buy the best I can afford and take good care of it. Buying cheap, disposal junk is a waste.
Comment by Janeen — April 27, 2010 @ 3:58 pm
Hey, Janeen — my best cheap disposal dog toy is a paper bag from the supermarket. Pepper loooooooooves ripping them to shreds which I promptly dispose of in the recycling bin.
Even at 4 cents/bag “penalty” for not bringing my own bag (I bring my own bags to places that only give out plastic as I have no use for it), it’s the highest value for those of us who don’t live near dairy farmers with cool freebies! ;-)
Sometimes, cheap disposable isn’t waste! ;-D
Comment by Dorene — April 27, 2010 @ 5:57 pm
There are so many “Green” options out there when it comes to your pets. Buying food in bulk so to cut down on shopping trips, or giving your pet tap water vs. bottled are some of the popular options I’ve read lately, there are tons of others out there!
Comment by Animals Away — April 28, 2010 @ 7:34 am