Tips on Being an Eco-Friendly Dog Owner
Trying to become more eco-friendly but don’t know where to start? Read below for tips on being an eco-friendly dog owner.
Cleaning Products
Natural and dog-friendly cleaning products are a great step towards becoming eco-friendly. Some traditional cleaning substances include beeswax polish, vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice. These products are effective and safe for cleaning food dishes, mopping floors, and odor elimination. You can create a vinegar and water cleaning solution and even use baking soda to eliminate odors. Another way to clean up pet messes is to clean the area with club soda, let dry, sprinkle it with baking soda, wait 15 minutes, then vacuum. There are endless ways to utilize these household products!
Grooming Products
Many grooming products can be harsh on your pal’s skin. Also, the ingredients can be harmful to oceans and wildlife when rinsed down the drain. You can try washing your pal with baking soda and looking for products with natural ingredients such as shea butter.
Additionally, avoid products with synthetic fragrances, preservatives, and coloring. Look for nontoxic, organic, and biodegradable ingredients and packaging.
Chemicals
Avoid pesticides, fungicides, stain-repellants, and other products containing PFCs and PBDEs. Chronic exposure to these pollutants is believed to have a role in rising cancer rates in dogs. Additionally, look for food bags that use untreated aluminum foil liners. This is because many greaseproof linings tend to contain PFCs.
Also, it is important to be vigilant in unnecessary chemicals in flea and tick preventions and removal. Natural alternatives include using a flea comb daily, vacuum weekly, wash your pal’s bedding regularly, and bathe and lather your pup every two weeks to drown fleas.
Waste
There are eco-friendly options instead of collecting your pal’s poop in non-degradable plastic that ends up in a landfill or not collecting your pup’s waste at all. Consider a pet-waste system that works similar to a septic system. You can purchase a system or install a DIY version too.
Lastly, don’t forget to reduce, recuse and recycle! Making sustainable swaps will help you become an eco-friendly dog owner!