Pets

POOP

Let’s start with the messy stuff. Pet waste is a tricky one to deal with. 

You don’t want to put it in your own home composter as it could contaminate the future compost soil. Chances are your municipal composting program won’t accept it because of bacteria and disease contamination issues. You don’t want to use a compostable bag and send it to the landfill because of the potential generation of undesired methane. And as well, some municipalities prohibit disposing of pet waste through the municipal garbage system.

If there is nowhere for your pet to run wild and do their thing au naturel, then you have a few options, depending on what’s available where you live: (1) use a composting pet waste toilet (yes, they do exist); (2) discard it in your home toilet; (3) use a pet waste collection service (yes, they do exist in big cities); or (4) take it to a central pet waste composting depot (yes, they do exist—there’s an impressive one called EnviroWagg in Denver, Colorado).

As for transporting the pet waste, compostable baggies or paper bags are great if you’re going to be composting it. If not, you could consider designating a little bucket or a container with a lid and a carrying handle as the poop container you take with you on walks to collect the poop. Once back home, just flush it in your bathroom toilet. This will require regular washing after each walk, but completely eliminates the need for bags.

Image credit: Earth rated

FOOD CONTAINERS

Regarding food, try to purchase in bulk and in compostable paper packaging if possible. Serving it up can be done in stainless steel or ceramic bowls, both for the food and water. A multi-layer (at least two) tiffin is a very handy pet travel kit. It has a built-in carrying handle, and can include a container for a dry food, or wet food and once you’ve arrived at your destination, or en route, you can set up a portable water station with another layer of the container. Airtight stainless steel containers can also be handy for transporting more liquidy wet foods.

Image credit: Yeti

 

TOYS

Try to steer clear of pet toys made of plastics and synthetic fibers, for exactly the same reasons they are not recommended for humans. They go straight in the mouth and will be chewed and likely torn and ripped over time. Go for natural toy materials like organic cotton, hemp, rope, wood and wool.

Image credit: The kind pet

 

BRUSHES

Grooming brushes are available made of wood and natural bristles or pins. For example, a wooden dog grooming brush may have one side with hard wooden bristles to get out knots and tangles, and the other side light plant fiber bristles to smooth Rover’s coat to a sheen. As for cats, most love to be groomed, if they feel like it and are in the mood, and don’t have something better to do like lounging or sleeping, or ignoring tedious humans. A wooden brush with soft plant fiber bristles avoids the standard plastic fare.

Image credit: The kind pet