Why Choose Sustainable Eco Friendly Dog products?
With an estimated 13 million dogs in the UK, all needing to be fed, groomed and entertianed that can lead to an awful amount of waste. And, just think of the amount of poop that needs to be dealt with every day. Each dog produces about 340g of waste a day which is just over 4,000 tonnes between them.
The waste created can come from unrecyclable food and treat packaging, cheap plastic toys that don’t last. And, of course the biggest issue is all the single use plastic poop bags that take hundreds of years to break down in landfill. And, when they do break down they release microplastics into the environment.
We recently got a new pup, a Fox Red Labrador called Bramble, so I’ve been looking for the most sustainable eco friendly dog products to ensure we minimise our waste.
5 of my favourite sustainable eco friendly dog products
Skinners Dog Food
I looked at lots of dog food brands and decided to go with Skinners who are a family owned and run British business. They have been making dog food in their own Suffolk Mill. Skinners use locally sourced ingredients, where possible, from the fields surrounding the mill.
They provide a wide range of products to suit most dogs and as we have Labradors we’ve gone for the Field & Trial range.
As well as producing good quality nutritious dog food I was also impressed with their ethos towards using more sustainable packaging for their products:
We are mindful of our carbon footprint, which is why we don’t want to just stop at recyclable packaging for our new products.
We have also updated our dry Field & Trial packaging with a new look and chosen fully recyclable packaging!
Our 15kg bags are 100% recyclable and made out of ‘4’ Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) plastic – one of the most recycled plastics. LDPE can be turned into all kinds of new things, including bin bags, and other new packaging.
Our 2.5kg paper bags are 100% recyclable and FSC certified.
Adios Poo Bags
Our two Labrador pups produce a lot of poop so we get through quite a few poo bags. There are lots of dog poo bags on the market from single use plastic ones that will take hundreds of years to reak down in landfill, leaching microplastics as they do. To so called “biodegradable” ones that claim to be “Green” but that may not be the case, it’s a bit of a minefiled!
When you’re looking for eco friendly dog poo bags you’ll usually see three options:
- Degradable
- Biodegradable
- Compostable
However, these can mean different things and dog poo bags are prone to ‘greenwashing’ – a misleading claim about the environmental benefits of a product. The UK government are trying to crack down on this with their Green Claims Code, but it’s still an issue so you need to read the labelling very carefully.
Our favourite poo bags from adios are made from 100% plant materials which are completely compostable and biodegradable and certified to EN13432 and TUV standards for composting.
Degradable bags are commonly mistaken for biodegradable bags. A degradable bag is a petroleum-based plastic bag that can take up to 1000 years to breakdown, all the while building up within the food chain having potentially devastating effects on the animals that consume them.
Biodegradable bags are basically degradable bags with an EPI additive to speed up the breakdown process. It is not clear how long biodegradable bags with this additive take to breakdown and the Science behind it is not widely supported. Adios Plastic’s bags are 100% biodegradable and compostable – meaning that they can safely breakdown back into the Earth within 90 days when composted. – Adios
If you’re looking for eco friendly dog poo bags the best option is always 100% compostable.
Green & Wilds Eco Friendly Dog Products
Our favourite eco friendly dog toys are made by Green and Wilds and our pup Bramble loves them. The toys are made with hardwearing natural materials and are holding up well to lots of chewing and tug of war games.
Our range of eco toys are made from pure jute and split leather. The toys are twin stitched over four layers of jute, filled with cotton jute rope, waste cotton or a recycled plastic bottle. These toys are natural, renewable and recyclable. – Green & Wilds
Band and Roll short leather leash
There are so many leads to choose from and I use differnet ones for differnet situations. My favourite short lead for walking around town when I need to make sure Bramble is close by my side is the short leather leash – Hitch from Band and Roll. Their products aren’t cheap but they are made to last, plus they look gorgeous.
Goods we create and curate not only reflect our taste and idea of quality, they are made with purpose of embracing a slow way of life. Therefore, we strive to create sustainable products while being transparent about the materials and processes involved in manufacturing. Hence, we can proudly say no to production lines and are able to reduce our impact. – Band and Roll
Mason Cash ceramic water bowl
I love the traditional design of our ceramic Mason and Cash water bowl. It holds a litre of water and is heavy enough that the pups can’t throw it around which they sometimes do with the lighter stainless steel bowls. The thick walls also help to keep the water cool and I don’t have to worry about them chewing it as it’s made from natural materials.
I hope you found this useful, you may also like to check out my selection of eco friendly dog products in my online shop. Now that we have a new pup I’m adding more products all the time.
