Eco-friendly Dog Supplies [Week 31]
Amanda Drews
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We think about buying sustainable items for ourselves but what about your dog? Pamper your bestest pal with some eco-friendly dog supplies.
I have a 10 year old Australian Shepherd mix named Mira. She is a spunky old gal and doesn’t get along with most other dogs, or people for that matter, but she’s my girl. And I love her. I want her to have a healthy and happy life while having a tiny carbon pawprint.
As with most things around our homes, the most eco-friendly practice is to reuse items or reduce the number of products we buy when we don’t really need them. But sometimes your pooch may wear out the gear she has and need some new stuff. Or you may need to buy some new things between puppy and adult stages or as new dogs join your family.
Before looking for new supplies for your dog, check out your local Buy Nothing group, Facebook Marketplace or nearby thrift or consignment store for used items. If you are purchasing used pet supplies, make sure you disinfect items thoroughly before giving them to your dog.
One of the things you can look for is if a pet supplies company is a member of the Pet Sustainability Coalition. Their core values are “transparency, collaboration, authenticity, and being implementation focused” when it comes to creating sustainable standards in the pet industry.
Disclaimer: I’ve worked in a vet tech position for a couple years but I AM NOT A VET. Your dog may have special requirements or health needs that don’t jive with the things on this page. Consult your vet and also be kind to your vets and techs please.
Dog Treats
Mira is super picky when it comes to treats. If she doesn’t like one, she’ll spit it out or just not even take it from you! What I was looking for in eco-friendly dog treats were pasture raised meat, few artificial ingredients and preservatives and minimal or recyclable packaging.
You can always try out making your own healthy doggie treats as well! Ask your vet.
West Paw Treats and Treat Pouches
West Paw makes treat pouches out of recycled polyester. Their dog treats come in bison heart and lung, beef liver and heart, pork, duck, peanut butter and banana and beef liver and pumpkin. They work with the American Grassfed Association and use only pasture raised bison, their animals are raised without growth hormones or antibiotics and no preservatives are used according to their Treats FAQ website.
Mira approved treats:
Orijen Regional Red Dog Treats
These are a soft, freeze-dried treat made from ranch-raised beef, wild boar, goat and lamb from Champion Pet Foods USA Inc in Kentucky. I bought these at Chuck and Don’s.
Stella & Chewy Freeze-Dried Raw Wild Weenies
These are soft cage-free duck treats out of Stella & Chewy’s in Wisconsin. They are free from grain, gluten, potato, peas and artificial ingredients. The bag has a how2recycle label that says it can go into plastics store drop-off recycling locations. I bought these at Chuck and Don’s. Stella & Chewy is a member of the Pet Sustainability Coalition.
Shameless Pets Blueberried Treasure, Blueberry and Mint
These are soft baked dog treats from Imperfect Foods made from more than 40% upcycled ingredients such as blueberries. 25% of the packaging is made from recycled plastic bottles and milk jugs. The Shameless Pets, LLC hails from Illinois.
Shameless Pets Salmon Says Butternut
These are wild-caught salmon, butternut squash and sweet potato 33% upcycled ingredients through Imperfect Foods. They are free from artificial ingredients, grain, corn and soy.
Only Natural Pet
Only Natural Pet offers treats that contain proteins from free range bison and cattle. Their chicken flavored treats come from cage-free chickens.
Dog Food
Mira has never been much of an eater. She was also free-fed (which is not for every dog) but mostly because she just didn’t eat much. That is until I started introducing Castor and Pollux’s Organix into her diet. She goes nuts for it! I was mostly looking for a free-range chicken food for her but we also mix in the salmon.
Again as I’m not a vet, I can’t recommend anything for your dog. When it comes to grain vs grain-free food choices, nutrient content and ingredients, talk to your dog’s vet. Below are some of the more natural and eco-friendly dog food choices I’ve found.
Castor and Pollux Organix
We’ve tried a few of the flavors in this brand, both with grain and grain-free. They offer free-range organic chicken and oatmeal, free-range organic chicken and sweet potato, wild-caught salmon and oatmeal, wild-caught salmon and sweet potato, grass-fed beef and sweet potato. They are USDA organic certified and their salmon is certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council.
Only Natural Pet
Only Natural Pet dog food uses free-range chicken as well. They are a B corp company and part of the Pet Sustainability Coalition.
Eco-friendly Dog Beds
Every dog needs a cozy corner that is all their own. For an eco-friendly dog bed, I was looking for something that seemed comfortable, the right size, stylish and made of recycled materials. A big plus with dog beds is if they have a removable cover you can wash or if the whole thing is machine washable. That will help extended the life of your dog’s bed and lessen the need to buy a new one if it gets stained or dirty.
DeTails by Precious Tails
This is the bed we got Mira and while I can’t find this exact one online, there are other styles this company offers through some major stores like Target, Walmart, and Chewy. The one we found was made out of some sort of recycled material.
Pawslife Everly Lounger
I saw this one at Bed Bath and Beyond. It’s machine washable, has a nice pattern and they claim each year the company helps save 40 million bottles from landfills.
West Paw
The West Paw Big Sky Nap dog bed is West Paw’s more affordable option for bedding. It is “Oeko-Tex certified safe and filled with eco-friendly IntelliLoft fill made from recycled plastic bottles” according to their website.
Jax and Bones
Jax and Bones out of California offer a stylish variety of eco-friendly dog beds stuffed with recycled plastic bottles or CertiPUR-US certified foam. The company is part of the Pet Sustainability Coalition. The fabric scraps from the bedding materials are upcycled into face masks or their P.U.P bags.
Cycle Dog
Cycle Dog’s beds are full of EcoFill Recycled polyester from plastic bottles.
Harry Barker
Harry Barker offers some beds filled with post-consumer plastic bottles made in the USA. Some of there beds are made with a jute and cotton blend.
Leashes and Collars
I had a hard time finding many eco-friendly dog leashes or collars in the main pet stores that were made out of recycled materials. I did find one brand at Chuck and Don’s called Coastal New Earth.
Coastal New Earth
Coastal Pet’s New Earth line has leashes and collars out of “natural soy fibers” that are “the by-product of food manufacturing”. They claim this material is very durable and has anti-bacterial properties. The company sends support to programs such as Animal Behavior College, Morris Animal Foundation, and Leader Dogs for the Blind. The company is located in Ohio.
West Paw
West Paw is a certified B corporation out of Montana that produces leashes and collars out of recycled polyester. They have options such as this pink fractal collar and this lake trout leash that are both colorful and affordable.
Cycle Dog
Cycle Dog offers handcrafted collars and leashes from Oregon made out of recycled plastic bottles. They have by far the largest selection of patterns I’ve seen online. They also sell harnesses.
Bath Time
For an eco-friendly dog bath, we were looking for something that has minimal artificial ingredients. There were a few choices that I found at Petsmart that seemed like natural choices but some of them were really great smelling. Normally for me that would be fine, but I just don’t feel like a dog (with their waaaaay better than ours) sense of smell, wants to smell like a mango smoothie. Just my thoughts, so I went with the no fragrance options.
Earthbath
Earthwhile Endeavours Inc that creates Earthbath is a member of the Pet Sustainability Coalition. According to their website, they are “Our products are cruelty free and proudly made in the USA with natural and organic ingredients and no parabens, sulfates or artificial colors”. I’ve seen this brand at several larger pet stores.
Burt’s Bee’s Pet Care
As with many of the other Burt’s Bee’s products, Burt’s Bee’s Pet Care offers dog shampoo and conditioner that is “cruelty-free, pH balanced for pets and are formulated without parabens, phthalates, petroleum, synthetic fragrances, SLS, and dye” and are made in the USA.
Dog toys
There are two toys in the world that Mira will play with. She has her pink baby squeaker ball and one of those noiseless squeaker stuffies. But if I ever wanted to get someone else a dog toy as a present, here are some eco-friendly dog toys I would consider.
West Paw
West Paw is a Certified B Corp company from Montana that makes the Zogoflex dog toys that can be returned back to West Paw to be turned into new Zogoflex toys over and over.
Cycle Dog
Cycle Dog has a variety of bouncy hard toys made from Ecolast post-consumer recycled materials and some plushie toys made of Ecofill recycled filling.
Brushes
We used to have a golden retriever in our family named Teddy. He was the SWEETEST dog in the world and also the “hairiest dog I have ever worked with” according to his groomer. Needless to say we already have the gear for dealing with dog hair, but if you’re looking for a new brush, I found these:
Only Natural Pet
Petsmart has Only Natural Pet bamboo brushes. The packaging is made out of 50% recycled material and the rubber on the handles is made from 100% recycled materials.
Burt’s Bees
Burt’s Bees also offers a variety of bamboo brushes for dogs. These brushes are designed in the USA but “made responsibly in China” according to the packaging.
Doggie Dental Care
Brushing your dog’s teeth and keeping up with dental cleanings is super important for your dog’s overall health. As satisfying as it was for me to clean off chunks of tartar from my client’s dog’s teeth, I would have rather they didn’t have any. When that tartar gets out of control and you start getting into x-rays and pulling teeth, it gets really painful for your dog and extremely expensive for you. Take care of your doggie’s teeth proactively just as you would take care of yours.
Burt’s Bees
Burt’s Bees offers a mostly natural doggie toothpaste made in the USA.
Poo Bags
There seems to be a few different options when it comes to what is the most eco-friendly way to deal with dog poop. Many of the products available highlight that they are biodegradable bags. But if they go in the trash, won’t they be releasing methane as they degrade? That’s if they actually degrade at all. They shouldn’t go into municipal compost and they shouldn’t go into any backyard compost that may be used for edible gardens. And for crying out loud, they should never just be left on the ground for everyone else to look at just because you don’t feel like carrying it home!
They also make special pet waste composters but I don’t know much about those. Overall, it would be helpful to know how much energy is put into making the biodegradable or recycled plastic options vs just a plastic bag.
Another option is to pick up and flush your dog’s poop down your toilet. I’m not really into this one because you are going to have to transport it into your house and you’ll be using extra water flushing it down. Plus not all cities have the capacity to deal with the pathogens in non-human waste. And if you have a septic system, do not flush your dog’s waste.
Green Polly
These are eco-friendly dog poop bags because they are made from recycled plastic. They would go in your trash but at least they are given new life to an old plastic bag.
Sundeau Cornstarch Poop Bags
These bags are made from biodegradable cornstarch
Jax and Bones
The P.U.P. bags from Jax and Bones are made of upcycled fabric from their dog bed line and are a stylish way to hold your poop bags while out and about.
- Figure out what you already have for dog supplies and what you need.
- Ask your vet before switching to any new foods or treats for your dog.
- Check on next week’s post on Eco Friendly Holiday Cards
