Welcome to day 3 of 7 of the 2014 OMD! Holiday Gift Guide! Over the past few months, we’ve tried just about every pet product you can think of – and for this whole week, I’m sharing our faves AND giving them all away! Today’s gift guide is all about the best eco-friendly pet products for the holidays.
We strive to make eco-friendly decisions and purchases as often as possible. Of course, we’re nowhere near perfect, but I always feel like with each step we take, we’re lessening our impact on the planet a little more. When we do have to buy something new – versus something used or repairing something broken – we look for recycled or natural/sustainable materials. This year, we found five awesome pet products that help us lessen our pets’ impact on the planet!
Worldwise Petlinks: Eco-Rest dog bed Canine Cocoon
All dogs are different, and that includes their preferred sleeping arrangements. Emmett prefers a flat surface over anything too squishy or with sides. The other three? Well, let’s just say that this cocoon bed has turned into a whoever-gets-there-first-gets-it situation! What we love best about this bed is that it’s filled with EcoRest, which is a fiber blend of recycled post-consumer plastic spun-processed into a fluffy, high loft fill. According to the brand, the fiberfill is made from about 110 plastic bottles. How awesome is that? Oh, and it’s SUPER comfy. The 28 x 24-inch bed they sent is probably sized most appropriately for Cooper. But that hasn’t stopped Lucas. Or Newt. Overall, this has been a big hit in our house! To buy: $52.22 for the Canine Cocoon Premium Bolstered Pet Bed
Whip-It cleaning assortment
One of the realities of pet care is stains. Or, at least, messes. Our weirdo dogs spend a good amount of time licking things like the floor, so it’s crucial to me to use non-toxic cleaners. We do well with vinegar and baking soda, generally, but for things like barf, I like to use something designed specifically for handling those messes. We tried three products from Whip-it: the 32-ounce concentrated multipurpose cleaner, the 32-ounce multipurpose cleaner in a spray bottle, and the Lil’ Bully stain erasers. The products are non-toxic and biodegradable and contain no acid, alcohol, ammonia, bleach, petrochemicals, or phosphates. Perfect! It works on clothing, glass, laundry, vinyl, leather, carpet, wood floors, and even rust – definitely a multi-purpose cleaner. The spray bottle is certainly convenient, but the concentrate gets your money’s worth! To buy: $30 for the set of three, available exclusively at Bed, Bath & Beyond
Linentails Harness
It has come to our attention that our gift guides exclude the little ones! This year, we’re rectifying that with a couple perfect-for-small-dogs recommendations. This is one of my favorites! From Linentails’ mission: “Linentails is a group of people who love pets, and believe that they deserve the same quality products as humans do.We also believe that it is our responsibility both as owners and as humans to keep our planet healthy and learn to use earth resources in an ecologically and ethically responsible manner.” They make darling products for pets and for the home (I’m seriously swooning over the Tabletop Tabbies), and they sent us the cutest harness in their Faerie Puppies style. Our friend Greta tested this one out for us. Seriously adorable! We love the natural materials and earthen aesthetic. This is definitely a unique and sustainable gift for our tiny buddies! To buy: $99 for the medium harness
Green Garmento
I’ll be honest: When this first arrived, I didn’t see a pet-related use for it immediately. But then… Oh, dear. OK, so this bag is HUGE. It was designed, with other products in the line, to reduce our dependence on plastic bags. You can use this sucker for anything. It’s water resistant and can be folded a bunch of different ways to go from the small box size to a larger bag. The recycled-content handles are an alternative to shoulder straps, which it also has. This thing could have a million uses! I mean, other than for storing your dog. (Cooper photoed in the bag to give it scale!)
This is PERFECT for dog toys, though. I can take it with me as I’m picking up the house to gather up all the toys – are these guys the only ones who spread them far and wide? – then, I leave it out to serve as their toy box. This would be a great gift for anyone but perfect for pet owners who travel – think how much beach gear you could fit in here – or camp or who just prefer to keep all the toys off the floor! We have the one, but I think we need another for the car… To buy: $12.99 for the Gargantote
Petlinks Purr Highness Catnip Scratcher
This scratcher, made from recycled paper pulp, comes with organic catnip to sprinkle into the nubs to encourage scratching. With raised edges and a dip in the middle, it gives cats the option to lounge or scritch away! Created by vets and experts, it hits the sweet spot for cats. Newt took to it IMMEDIATELY! She alternated between scratching:
And lounging:
Plus, it comes with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. To buy: $33.13 Purr Highness Wood Cat Scratcher
We LOVE all of these eco-friendly pet products, and now YOU have a chance to win some for your pups! This is a Rafflecopter giveaway. The widget should load below in a few seconds, or if you’re reading via email or feed, you may have to click the link. Winners will be drawn and notified on Friday, November 28. Good luck!
Come back tomorrow for our next day and a whole new theme for recommendations and giveaways! And if you missed yesterday’s EAT theme, go check out those giveaways. And if you missed Monday’s PLAY, don’t forget to head over and enter to win those giveaways, too!
Disclaimer: We didn’t receive any compensation for this guide, though some of these brands sent products for our consideration. Not all made the cut! The ones here are ones we really, truly love. Any link followed by an asterisk (*) means it’s an affiliate link – you won’t pay a single extra penny if you purchase through those links, but OMD! will receive a tiny bit of commission, which we use to offset the costs of producing this guide! Questions? Send me an email: info {at} ohmydogblog {dot} com.