Have you considered the environmental paw print of your furbaby? 5 June is World Environment Day 2019 and this year the theme is air pollution.
Today the pet food industry grosses over US$90 billion dollars globally. That’s A LOT of pet food moving around the world! More and more pet parents are beginning to realize the importance of quality pet food for their furry companions. Unfortunately, what many of us fail to realise, is that the pet food industry has a huge negative impact on our environment. This is the hidden cost of pet food.
What’s Your Pets Ecological Paw Print?
The term ‘ecological pawprint’ can be defined as a measurable impact a dog or cat will have on the environment. To put it simply, an ecological pawprint evaluates how much renewable natural resources are required to sustain an individual. One of the measurements is by how much land is needed to sustain a single pet.
Now there are many other factors which will affect your pets ecological pawprint. A few of these include:
- The overuse of plastic in the pet food industry
- The carbon emission and energy consumption of a pet
- The selection of ingredients used in pet food
Plastic Waste
Plastic has been under scrutiny by environmentalists for over a decade but has only recently gained wider global attention. The pet food industry has been very slow to react in addressing plastic.
A recent National Geographic article estimates that of the 8.3 BILLION tonnes of plastic ever produced, only 9% has been recycled, 12% incinerated and a whopping 79% has ended up in landfill and our oceans. A 2017 study estimated that humans dump approximately 8 million tonnes of plastic into our oceans.
Although there are many sources of plastic, there’s no doubt that the pet food industry plays a huge role when it comes to the overuse of plastic.