How to prevent your cat from leaving an environmental footprint

Cat hair is not thrown into the brown bucket. Those strands that, in the form of a ball, reproduce uncontrollably throughout the house are organic matter, yes, but they are not recycled in the same place as a banana skin. Faced with this situation, unsuspecting cat owners fail. They also hesitate when faced with simpler questions, such as where to put the dog's shampoo bottle or the cat's droppings.

Being knowledgeable in this matter can reduce the environmental footprint associated with the care of the 13 million registered pets, according to data from the Spanish Network for the Identification of Companion Animals. An impact that can also be minimized if we are careful with the products we buy and the food we choose. Next, we offer you keys to improve.

Recycling . Where to throw each waste

Containers, sand, hair, toys... The most accessible and simple part of this path towards sustainability is to throw our pets' waste and disused objects in the correct bin. These are some of the most common waste:

Food bags. Animal feed and food bags are usually made of plastic. You have to throw them in the yellow container, the right place for plastic containers, briks and cans.

Faeces. As Acerta con laorganica indicates, the website of the Madrid City Council for the recycling of organic matter, excrements should never be thrown into the brown bucket, as they contain microorganisms that survive after the composting process and carry health risks. Canine stools must always be collected with a bag and thrown in the gray bin with an orange lid, the normal rubbish, also called the rest fraction. The same thing happens with cat feces, but it is advisable to separate them before the litter box.

Hair. Following the above logic, the hair of cats (or dogs) is also not recyclable in the brown bin, since it is possible that parasites have nested in it or that chemical substances derived from hygienic or veterinary treatments remain. In the same way as the fluff that we collect with the broom, this residue is thrown into the gray bucket.

Sand. As already mentioned, the ideal is to remove the animal's droppings from the sand and then throw it into the gray bucket in a closed bag. It should also not be flushed down the toilet, as this material does not dissolve immediately and can cause blockages in pipes.

Flea collars. Flea collars cannot be thrown into conventional bins. "Nor should they be poured into watercourses, since they could be dangerous for fish or other aquatic organisms," says Víctor Algra, clinical veterinarian and promoter on the UnVeterinario website and social networks.

Toys. The toys used by the animals, such as a plastic mouse or a rubber ball, can be taken to a clean point or deposited in the gray bin.

Cleaning product containers. Animal shampoo bottles go into the yellow bin.

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— 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖 𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆. Wed Mar 24 09:50:57 +0000 2021

Animal food scraps. The leftover food is thrown into the brown bucket, the one intended for organic matter.

cages The metallic cage of a bird must be taken to a clean point. Failing that, we can throw it into the gray bucket, the waste container. The same thing happens with a glass aquarium.

Sawdust. As indicated by aciertaconlaorgánica.com, the website of the Madrid City Council for the brown bucket, sawdust usually contains chemical or synthetic products that would make it difficult to recycle organic matter. Your site is therefore in the gray cube.

buy . In search of more sustainable products

The challenge of caring for a pet in a sustainable way involves looking at the label of the products we buy to find out where they come from. In recent years, companies that sell feeders and drinkers made with recycled plastic have proliferated. This is the case of the Murcian company Gaun, which manufactures accessories with recovered waste and bioplastic. In the world of cats, Catit distributes scratchers made from recycled cardboard; and the Duvo company manufactures sandboxes from PET bottles, the same ones that are deposited in the yellow container. For felines, and also for dogs, leashes that incorporate wool instead of synthetic compounds are already on the market.

A user who takes care of her purchase decisions is the psychologist Camila Castellanos, a 31-year-old Guatemalan resident in the Madrid neighborhood of Ventas. She is the adoptive mother of Hugo, a brown gerbil that she took in in 2019. The rodent nibbles all the toys that fall into her terrarium and turns them into chips, so Castellanos takes special care when she buys toys for her. her pet. She chooses those made from organic materials, such as hemp or wool. “Although her favorite toy is the cardboard toilet or kitchen paper roll holder. When he destroys them I take them to the blue container. It's a way of reusing,” she comments. For the mouse feeder she opted for one made of glass and ceramic.

For his part, Sánchez, the proud owner of Caruso, assures that he has not found much supply of sustainable products for his cat. Most of the ones he owns are plastic. “Except a wooden stick we just bought and it drives him crazy. I don't know what's wrong with him”, he is surprised.

As for the necessary purchases for the evacuation of our pets, there is a wide range of litters for the cat box. The conventional ones are made from clay (sepiolite or bentonite), the extraction of which involves erosion and a significant environmental impact. Another option is silica sand, which incorporates deodorants and dyes. But perhaps the greenest is biodegradable sand, composed of organic materials such as corn, wheat, shells or recovered newsprint. Dog owners have biodegradable or compostable bags available to collect excrement.

Feeding. A way to reduce the carbon footprint

Like humans, pets also carry a daily carbon footprint that reflects the amount of greenhouse gases they emit based on their lifestyle. For these animals, generating more or less CO₂ depends largely on the type of food that their owner provides.

Only with the choice of feed the difference can be abysmal. If you opt for one made from ingredients of animal origin, such as buffalo or beef, a dog weighing about 30 kilos can emit almost 600 kilos of CO₂ per year. But if you choose one made with salmon or chicken, the footprint could reach up to 150 kilos of CO₂. These data, published by the University of Alcalá de Henares in 2020, can also be extrapolated to cat food. A four kilo feline generates up to 18.50 kilos of CO₂ annually if it consumes sustainable feed and 78.34 kilograms if it consumes the most polluting.

According to the Algra expert, there are certificates that guarantee the products and their standards. Some are the True Zero Waste seal, which pursues the goal of zero waste; the LEED of the US Green Building Council, which globally recognizes the achievements in terms of sustainability of factories; or the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's New Plastics Economy initiative, which promotes the use of recyclable packaging and the reduction of the use of plastics.

Some owners also incorporate foods that they themselves eat into their pet's diet. It is a good idea to take advantage of products that are usually wasted at home. For example, raw carrots for dogs and cooked carrots for cats. eye! Consult your veterinarian first: each animal needs a specific amount of nutrients and certain types of food can be harmful to their health.