Zero-waste pet care is impossible… but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try!

05•22•18

OK, here’s the thing:

{{dusting off my soapbox… it’s been a while since I’ve climbed up here…}}

A few years ago, I devoured content around zero-waste living. I took notes. Ordered bamboo toilet paper. Subscribed to YouTubers and Instagrammers. Joined a few Facebook groups.

Through all of that, I felt equally inspired and intimidated. There’s so much good we can all do, but… when you start poking around online, many of the conversations are centered around the idea that if you’re not doing absolutely everything, you’re not good enough.

For instance, on a blog post about someone who was thinking about fostering a shelter pup: “…if I truly cared about achieving 100% zero waste I wouldn’t have considered fostering a dog at all.” Thankfully that particular writer decided to forgo her 100% goals and fostered the dog, but there was a lot of back-and-forth conversation on that and many other blogs.

There are also a lot of recommendations in other zero-waste literature to adopt vegetarian pets like rabbits instead of meat-eating pets like dogs and cats.

This is where I get frustrated with the eco-warrior lifestyle: Life isn’t all-or-nothing.

Every major discussion doesn’t come down to my-way-or-the-highway. There isn’t a winner and a loser in every single conversation, like the internet makes it seem.

Life is far more nuanced than that with many more variables than can be predicted or controlled for.

Including loving pets.

Including wanting to be gentler on the planet.

Zero-waste pet care is impossible... but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try!

Is zero-waste pet care possible?

Truth: Probably not.

And that’s actually OK… as long as you’re doing your best!

So, when I released The Zero-Waste Pet out into the world, I wanted to emphasize the baby steps, the incremental growth, the tiny changes that add up to create big, sweeping change.

I want to argue that, no, zero-waste pet care probably isn’t possible, but instead of focusing on that from a “you lose” angle, I’d love to focus on the positive side.

No, zero-waste pet care might not be possible, but we should all strive to do the best that we can.

(In hindsight, I totes should’ve called it “low-impact” instead of “zero-waste,” but c’est la vie. Maybe a sequel is needed… chin-scratch emoji goes here…)

Anyway, in light of all the grumpiness on the internet, and in the hopes of creating a more positive, supportive dialogue, I wanted to let you know:

You’re doing great!

You really are! If you make one tiny swap, your small action contributes to the larger momentum. In case you’re feeling stumped for a couple tiny actions, here are a handful of easy, meaningful things you can do today:

Pick up errant dog poop you spot on your walks. It’ll help prevent groundwater contamination!
Turn your AC one degree warmer. You’ll save a ton of energy and money on your bill, and your cats will love you for it! (Here are some more energy-saving tips for spring/summer!)
Pile up your pets’ fur after a brushing session and place it outside near trees or bushes where birds nest. NOTHING makes me happier than seeing my pets’ fur woven into a bird’s nest!! #littlethings #circleoflife
Shop your values. As you run errands this week, think about your purchases as little votes for sustainability. Instead of picking up your usual clay litter, consider a swap to a natural alternative. Grab a stash of canvas bags and stow them in your car so you can decline plastic bags, not just at the grocery but at every store you hit this week. Rather than buy a packaged box of dog treats, whip up your own with ingredients you probably already have around the house. Before you click “buy” or hand over your cash, think about how that trade reflects (or doesn’t) your values.
Pick up your copy of The Zero Waste Pet with coupon code i’m awesome! for 20% off. HAH! Had to get a little shame(ful) promo in here. 🙂 If you haven’t picked it up yet, it’s chock full of tons of positive, easy, achievable tips for lessening your pet’s carbon pawprint. Plus, it includes a password to a private page that includes a ton of extra resources, downloads, recommendations, recipes, and more.

My bottom line: I want you to feel good about every action you take!

Anything is always better than nothing!

You are doing an awesome job taking care of your pets and the planet, so keep it up, and let me know how I can support you on this journey in the comments below!

Introducing The Zero-Waste Pet (and a freebie Pet-Safe Cleaning Guide)

03•20•18

Several years ago, I spent time defining my mission, my vision, and my values–for life and for this space. One of my top goals in every category is to live an environmentally-responsible life. I’m certainly not perfect, and I don’t think perfection is ever a realistic goal. That’s why I aim for eco-consciousness: making decisions purposefully with my impact on the environment in mind.

All this includes the pets, too, of course.

As I started researching the zero-waste movement, I quickly realized a couple big things: First, there are a lot of incredible people out there teaching incredible lessons on how to live a more environmentally-responsible life, and I’ve gleaned so much information from YouTube and Instagram zero-waste pros. Second, it’s sort of a judgmental community. Not everyone, of course, but in many places around the web, as you research zero-waste, there’s this feeling like if you can’t do it all, be perfect, keep all your waste for a year in a mason jar, go vegan, upcycle everything, etc. etc. than you’re just not good enough.

I absolutely do not agree with that.

I truly believe every little bit counts. As I researched, I implemented lots of easy changes: I stopped asking for a straw at restaurants, I purchased coconut oil in glass jars instead of plastic, I figured out how to DIY my own cleaning products (for way cheaper, btw, than store-bought… see the end of the post on how to get your hands on some recipes and cleaning hacks…), and so on.

Every little bit counts.

But, as I started to implement small changes for me and the herd, I realized there was a big gap in available info for pet people who are interested in more sustainable pet care. So, I started taking notes and then I realized… I have enough notes for a whole lot of blog posts! And not only that… I have enough notes for a whole ebook!

Earlier this year I teased a project I was working on and, well, it’s here!

I’ve created an ebook called The Zero-Waste Pet, and it’s full of useful, practical info along with a lot of nonjudgmental advice on how to cut down your pet’s “carbon pawprint.”

It’s in the editing stages now, and I plan to launch it officially on Earth Day, April 22.

Leading up to the launch, I’m going to host a 7-day email challenge with one actionable tip per day, culminating with the book launch (and a discount code, obvs, for everyone who’s completed the challenge)!

I’m also creating a ton of freebies to go with the book, like a checklist with daily reminders, DIYs, and a corresponding resource page that’ll have everything you’ve ever wanted to know about eco-friendly pet products, along with my preferred resources.

This project has been a long time in the making, and I seriously can’t wait to release it!

Between now and then–it’s about a month away–I’m wondering a few things from you guys:

What would be most helpful to you to learn about zero waste and pets?
Are there any upcycles, DIYs, or recipes you’ve been looking for but just can’t find?
Do you have any tips or tricks on how you’ve made your pet care more sustainable?

I’d love to learn from you and be able to answer your questions in the comments!

If you’re interested, sign up here to secure your spot in the 7-day challenge and to be the first to know when the book is officially up for sale! Freebie Alert: For signing up, you’ll also get a 9-page ebooklet of pet-safe cleaning tips, tricks, and recipes in your inbox!

DIY Plastic-Free Food Puzzle for Dogs

02•20•18

In 2017, one of my goals was to reduce the amount of plastic we used on a day-to-day basis. This year, I hope to find new ways to keep it going!

It’s truly astounding to look around your house and see just how much stuff comes in or is made from plastic. A handful of swaps were crazy easy: Target sells their own brand of coconut oil in glass instead of plastic, for instance. I also switched from a deodorant in a plastic tube to one in a tiny glass pot. We swapped our shower gel for a bar of soap (wrapped in paper!) and started buying bulk coffee in a reusable paper bag.

For the pets, it’s been a bit easier in most areas: Cat food tins are easily recyclable. Cooper’s specialty food comes in a cardboard box with, yes, a plastic bag inside, but luckily it’s recyclable, too.

In other areas it’s been much tougher.

Actually, one area.

Toys.

Even if they’re not made of or with plastic, which most are, many come with plastic tags or in plastic wrap. And, for a long while, I thought there was no escaping it, especially when it came to stuffable food puzzles. He has a bunch of interactive puzzles we’ve accumulated over the years, but recently I took a good look at his stuffable Kongs, Squirrel Dudes, and so on, and I thought… Can we do better?

Yes, yes, we can.

{{That said, I’m NOT getting rid of any plastic toys just to replace with non-plastic. Waste not, want not. I’ll continue to use everything until it’s beyond repair and then figure out the best way to recycle, send back, etc.}}

I’ve been experimenting with making my own food puzzles, so here are two ways to DIY plastic-free food puzzles for dogs:

DIY Apple Food Puzzle

Core an apple. Any apple will do, but if you have a great, big dog, avoid tiny apples (choking hazard).

Grab a spoon, and stuff the core with your filling of choice. Obvious options include peanut butter and cheese. If your dog eats a gloopy food like The Honest Kitchen, you can use that, too. Or, if your pup eats kibble, you can soak some in warm water, mash with a fork, and stuff.

Hand the apple food puzzle to your pup, and watch him attack it with glee!

DIY Frozen Pear Food Puzzle

Repeat the steps above but with a pear! 🙂 OK, in all seriousness, with a pear food puzzle, if you have a dog who snarfs his food or destroys his toys–Cooper–freeze it after it’s stuffed because the pear is so soft. However, if you love a senior who has sensitive teeth or a dog who’s missing some chompers, a soft pear with a soft stuffing could be a fun treat!

Of course, with any dog toy, food-stuffed or otherwise, supervise play!

Honestly, this DIY is so easy I almost hate to call it a DIY, but there it is! Best part? No plastic!

Have you tried anything like this before? How did it work out for your pup? If you haven’t, do you think your dog would enjoy a plastic-free, tasty, stuffed food puzzle? Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

A few more DIY toys for you if you’re feeling crafty:

Want to learn more about enjoying an eco-friendly life with your pets? It’s easy and oh-so-rewarding to lessen your pet’s carbon pawprint. Check out The Zero-Waste Pet to learn more, sign up for challenges, download freebies and so much more!

Would you feed your dog crickets?

01•20•18

There’s no question that the world’s food production system is broken.

It’s so complex with factors like soil degradation, water crises, climate change, population explosion, and changing demands for food. For example, according to an interview on Time.com with soil scientist John Crawford, just taking into account three of those factors, “Under a business as usual scenario, degraded soil will mean that we will produce 30% less food over the next 20-50 years. This is against a background of projected demand requiring us to grow 50% more food, as the population grows and wealthier people in countries like China and India eat more meat, which takes more land to produce weight-for-weight than, say, rice.”

This has significant, far-reaching implications for the almost eight billion people in the world.

But what about our pets?

The scary reality is that our pets consume enormous amounts of resources through their diets that, quite frankly, will not be available to pet food manufacturers in the not-too-distant future because of the massive increase in demand for more resources to feed the exploding human population.

Honestly? I don’t necessarily think my dog needs to eat a prime cut of steak for dinner. (Personally, I don’t think people need to, either, but that’s another topic for another day…)

What’s the answer?

Of course, I don’t know. I don’t think anyone does yet. But I do think we’re going to be forced to answer this question far sooner than anyone’s expecting because the earth just can’t sustain the practices we currently have in place.

Two things I’m trying to learn more about:

Byproducts. They have a bad reputation, but the more I read, the more I wonder if it’s an American perception issue because the definition of byproducts: “is the non-rendered, clean parts, other than meat, derived from slaughtered mammals. It includes, but is not limited to lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low temperature fatty tissue, & stomachs & intestines freed of their contents. It does not include hair, horns, teeth & hoofs. It shall be suitable for use in animal food.” (In other words, feces, hooves, roadkill, etc. are not legal byproducts.)

Those parts–heart, livers, kidneys, etc.–make up a generous portion of raw feeders’ diets, I believe, and in many other countries around the globe they’re eaten regularly by people.

So, why have we cut them out of our pet food to replace it with meat? Just thinking out loud… I don’t know the answer, as I said…

(For the sake of discussion, here’s the legal definition of meat: “is the clean flesh of slaughtered mammals and is limited to…the striate muscle…with or without the accompanying and overlying fat and the portions of the skin, sinew, nerve and blood vessels which normally accompany the flesh.”

Crickets. Bear with me here. Cricket protein is supposedly more nutritious all around than beef and chicken, and it seems to be far more sustainable to raise crickets than livestock (though in my reading, it seems like the benefits have been inflated by marketers). There are going to be 9 billion people on the planet by 2050, and the UN says insect protein is pretty much the only solution to meet those protein demands. So, why not dog food out of cricket protein? I’m learning more about all this, but if you’re interested, here’s some reading material for you: Huffington Post, CBS News, Time.com, and Men’s Health.

Here’s a great video put out by the Pet Sustainability Coalition that touches on this issue, including mentions of cricket protein and another alternative protein, Asian carp. The most startling fact to me in this video: The average European cat consumes more resources in a lifetime than the average African. Not the average African cat. The average African person.

One final note: If I could find dog food made from crickets or Asian carp, I’d totally switch Cooper to it (since he’s allergic to most non-novel proteins, byproducts are probably out for my little guy)! In our family, we aren’t vegan. Even if we were, we wouldn’t impose that on our pets. That said, we do eat vegan three days a week. We subscribe to a dinner box of vegan meals and sides (Hungryroot <— referral link for $30 off) and we’ve made a ton of other, super-simple swaps like vegan mayo for regular, vegan sprinkle cheese instead of dairy shredded, plant-based milk (for John and I) instead of cow’s milk, that sort of thing. Violet’s formula is made from cow’s milk, and the cats eat cans of Wellness meat, and Cooper eats The Honest Kitchen fish formula. We’re trying to do better, and now that I’m researching this in depth, we’re going to try even harder to do even better. But I still don’t have any answers.

So, I’d love to hear from you: What are your thoughts on how we feed our pets? Have you thought through the relationship between our food production system and what hits your pet’s dish? Anything I missed here? Or any further questions you have that I should include in my research?

Green your routine: Eco-friendly pet care

04•22•13

Happy Earth Day, everyone!

On Earth Day 1990, my school handed out tiny saplings, no more than a few inches high, in paper Dixie cups. My dad let me plant it in the far corner of our backyard. I’m sure he expected it to die, but here we are 23 years later and that sapling is the evergreen you see framing the left side of this pic:

Little things matter. Over time, the littlest things can become big things, like this tree. So in honor of Earth Day, here are a few simple things you can do to green your pet-care routine:

After a grooming session, collect all that fur. Instead of stuffing it in the trash, place the fur in a basket outside. Birds will flock to gather up that prime nest-building material.
Imagine, thousands of years from now, anthropologists of the future will dig through our landfills to find evidence of our culture. What will they discover? Millions of (non-degraded) tied-tight plastic bags. Of course! they think. Our ancestors saved their most prized possessions in these bags to last for eternity! What’s inside? What can it be? They carefully unwrap the bags to discover… perfectly preserved dog poop. Switch to biodegradable poop bags so that the bag and the poop can degrade.
If your local pet supply store has a “treat bar,” purchase a range of treats in bulk instead of lots of packages of several kinds of treats. You’ll be cutting down on the enormous amount of packaging you receive (especially if you bring your own bag).
When it comes to eco-friendly pet care, an often-overlooked area is home maintenance. You have to clean your house, right? I am constantly cleaning noseprints off of windows, sweeping dog fur off of every flat surface, and wiping up huge quantities of dust/dander/mud. Instead of purchasing chemical-laden cleaning products that aren’t good for your pet or the planet, use non-toxic cleaners like baking soda and vinegar. Bonus: Baking soda makes a great dry shampoo for your pup, too! Just massage it into his fur, then brush out thoroughly.

Those are a few of my ideas to green my pet-care routine. Any other thoughts or suggestions? What little steps do you (or your dog!) take to be a little more eco-friendly?