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The Environmental Impact of Pet-Food

Did you know the conventional pet food industry releases 64 million tons of CO2-equivalent greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere every single year, and this is just in the United States alone,



(Image: Daya the puppy, who inspired this whole business.)


Which is the equivalent to driving 13.6 million cars for a year. Says Professor Gregory Okin from The University of California.

“In the US alone, our pets’ diet contributes to 25-30% of the environmental impact of meat consumption.” He notes.

If American dogs and cats made up their own country, they would rank fifth in meat consumption globally, a 2020 study by the University of Edinburgh stated, placing the pet-food industry as a whole, just behind the Philippines when it comes to total emissions generated.

These same pets also produce about 5.1 million tons of feces in a year, as much as 90 million Americans do. And if they’re eating hormone fed, chemical and additive full meat off cut pet food, (which most pet foods are made from) their body’s and their feces will be full of these toxic wastes too, which then go to landfill.  

 

 

But there’re things you can do to help.

 

Choose dry over wet pet food when choosing, which has significant impact on emissions and so does choice in ingredients.

In their paper, “Environmental Impact of Diets for Dogs and Cats,” a group of researchers evaluated the greenhouse gas emissions of different dog diets which included land and water used, comparing commercial dry-food diets, wet-foods, and home-made pet meals and found wet food has the greatest environmental impact, contributing up to seven times more emissions than dry foods or biscuits.

 

Researchers found that a medium size dog eating wet food was responsible for 6,541 kilograms of CO2 per year, which is the equivalent of 13.5 European Round trip flights. This is also without factoring in transport and packaging which would have an additional impact given the increased weight, & life cycle of aluminium cans, compared to lighter, more eco-friendly bags & pouches dry food is sold in. And refrigeration implements for raw or partially cooked wet pet foods increases environmental costs to boot.

 

On the other hand, dry foods for the same dog would emit 828.37 kilograms of CO2, which is a much lower at roughly 1.7 European flights, compared with 13.5 flights for wet foods.

 

But not all dry food is equal. The University of Edinburgh estimates that dry food sourced from meat contributes up to 2.9% of agriculture’s CO2 emissions.

 

While mixed animal & plant-based diets for dogs, lowers emissions significantly, as well as potential diseases in dogs. (But I’ll cover disease potentials in future blogs.)   

 

To bridge this sustainability & protein need for some companies who are trying to be more environmentally friendly, they are turning to insect protein of the cricket, spider, fly larvae & worm kind. But the environmental impact of those are arguably higher than for chicken.

Other companies are turning to growing meat from rabbit and mouse stem cells and making freeze dried pet treats from these.

But the biggest environmental & protein stand out is probably algae, which is high in protein, omega 3 fatty acids, blood purifying chlorophyl and many essential vitamins & minerals, as well as the fact that algae releases more oxygen into the air, and traps CO2, making it not only mega healthy, but a massive fighter for climate control.  

 

Companies such as us here at Daya Pet Food Co. are using whole, locally grown algae, mixed in with natural and organic ingredients, low environmental impact gluten free, organic, hypoallergenic foods, such as functional vegetables, fruits and grains, sourced from local farms, to create four options in flavours from 25% sustainable meat (kangaroo & algae), sustainable Marine (25% sardines & algae), high protein vegetarian & vegan options.

So, your fury baby is still getting all their nutritional needs met, but from a wider, more nutritionally broad, gut bacteria feeding, low allergy and disease fighting, environmentally protecting sources. And we do dry food to boot.

 

Contact us to try at honor@dayapetfoodco.com.au

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