Animals, nature and people are intimately linked. Perhaps you have recently heard of “ One health ” (or “a single health”), especially in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. But it is not an epidemiological term of the “COVID generation”. This concept has been known for more than a century, when it was known that human and animal health are related to the natural environment in which they coexist.
Feeding and caring for a pet, just like us, has negative effects on the environment . And if the “health” of our ecosystems get sick, animals and people will too. Considering that the number of pets has grown dramatically in recent years, families who share our lives with an animal have a moral obligation to reduce their environmental impact.
- adopt
There are thousands of animals waiting for a home. If you buy a pet, you will be helping to increase the number of individuals and, in this way, increasing the consumption of finite and increasingly scarce natural resources.
- Sterilize your pet
Every living thing has a carbon footprint. Major or minor, but we all have it. With protection entities full of animals, breeding with ours is not only ethically irresponsible, it is also ecologically imprudent. The only way to guarantee 100% that our pet will not increase the already existing population (remember once again the thousands of pets that are homeless), is to sterilize our animal.
- Shop at your local store
It is undeniable that receiving the dog’s food at home and not having to carry it is very comfortable. But digital commerce also has some disadvantages for our planet: the compulsive or uninformed purchase of products that we do not really need, the increase in traffic in cities due to the process of home delivery or the generation of packaging (in the United States they represent 30% of solid waste).Why don’t we take a walk to a store in our neighborhood? And if you also have a dog, go with him! Not only will you be doing something beneficial for both your physical and mental health , you will also be reducing your carbon footprint and boosting the local economy.
- Be a responsible buyer
Reduce, reuse and recycle are the keys to a more sustainable world. Although we can find more and more accessories with the “ecological” label, most of the accessories for our pets are made of plastic. The production and distribution of any product, even if made from recycled materials, pollutes .Pets are the clearest example that material things do not bring happiness. So before buying them a new toy or having necklaces with the full color range, let’s think: do they really need it or is it more of a whim of their own?
- Biodegradable hygienic bags and bedding
Have you ever thought about how many bags to collect your dog’s feces or how many kilos of bedding you use for your cat’s litter tray per year? That our pet relieves itself is something that we cannot avoid. But we can use biodegradable and ecological bags or bedding.And no, it is not better to leave the poop in the garden “because it is fertilizer”. Apart from the obvious unhealthiness that this entails, faeces can be a source of pathogens and parasites.
Yes, there is the possibility of composting the feces of our pets, but it must be done separately from vegetable composting, away from orchards and water sources and under safety measures during handling of waste, such as an FFP2 mask and gloves.
- Give what you no longer need
To a friend or an animal protection entity… If you have something that your animal no longer needs, you can give it a second life by offering it to another. It is important that we do not give broken or deteriorated things that can compromise the safety of others: a harness that does not close properly or a damaged ball, can cause an accident and even the death of the other animal and even people…
- Use organic cosmetics
Yes, even today we can find shampoos in stores that respect the environment: without parabens, silicones, perfumes or dyes. These substances, some derived from petroleum, will end up in the wastewater and that cannot always be treated by purification systems, thus passing to the seabed and river beds , damaging the ecosystem.
