Are you interested in becoming more environmentally friendly as a cat owner? If the answer is yes, then the good news is that by making just a few small changes you can help make a big impact on the natural environment around us. At Country Boarding for Cats and Dogs, we have highlighted three ways that you can become more environmentally friendly as a cat owner. We hope you find this article helpful!
1. Eco Friendly Cat Litter
As reported by the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC), many cat litter brands on sale to the public contain clay, which means it is often obtained through harmful strip mining. Strip mining destroys the natural habitat of many animals by depleting forests and landscapes. As a process, strip mining removes the top layer of soil to expose the fresh clay underneath and causes serious damage to the land and its ecosystems. The process also uses harmful petroleum products to dry the clay at specially built factories, making the manufacturing of clay cat litter incredibly harmful to the natural world. In addition, the clay litter is also non-biodegradable and cannot be recycled and therefore often ends up at landfills.
As an alternative, there are many eco-friendly cat litter products now available on the market. Another environmentally friendly and cheaper alternative to clay cat litter is to use shredded paper or recycled newspapers which absorbs up to 300% more moisture than typical cat litters. It is also incredibly soft and makes a comfortable alternative for your feline friends to use.
2. Avoid plastic
If you are shopping for your cat, try and avoid plastic products. A great alternative is to opt for metal or ceramic material when shopping for food and water bowls and choose cat food that is packaged in recyclable material like cardboard.
Another plastic free alternative is to use biodegradable poo bags and bin bags when cleaning out your cat’s litter trays, instead of the standard black bags which cannot be recycled and often ends up being sent to landfills or incinerated.
3. Sustainable Food
The recent high demand for premium petfood has resulted in many leading brands now using choice cuts of meat or fish in their food products. Many decades ago, pet manufacturers would have relied heavily on the offal from slaughterhouses. However, today with a higher demand for more premium, organic, pet ingredients, this means that additional animals such as cows, sheep, fish, and poultry are needed to feed our cats which has an impact on our environment. Many farms use substantial quantities of freshwater and need lots of land to rear, feed, and slaughter animals which can put a great strain on the ecosystem.
Today, many sustainable cat food manufacturers are starting to use offcuts and offal to diminish food waste, with some even using alternative protein sources in their ingredients. Interestingly, there are many new eco-friendly cat foods available on the market that contain insect protein, to help decrease the impact that livestock production has on the environment around us.
Closing thoughts…
We hope you found our article on becoming more environmentally friendly as a cat owner, helpful. If you have your own eco-friendly tips that you can recommend, then please let us know within the comment section below. Country Boarding for Cats and Dogs is a luxury cattery service within Hertfordshire. Call our friendly team today on 01462 742658 if you would like to board your cat into our luxury cattery.