How To “Restore Our Earth” With Your Dog

With Earth Day 2021 just around the corner, it’s time to decide how we, as dog owners, can participate in this annual event that globally celebrates and supports environmental protection. This year’s Earth Day theme is “Restore Our Earth,” which we thought was incredibly fitting, but in all honestly, they always nail their theme.

This year, we wanted to approach the “restore our earth” narrative from a perspective that includes our furry best friends! The actions we take as dog-owners should be proactive in the effort of protecting our planet. 

As a conscious consumer, you have the power to make a positive impact on the earth and every action helps.  Whether that looks like making more sustainable choices in regards to your dog’s environmental impact or quite literally taking your dog with you as you navigate your own sustainable journey, this post is filled with a few ways you can Restore Our Earth.. with your dog in mind (and in tow).

Actions Dog Owners Can Take To Restore Our Earth

The actions and decisions you make as a dog owner count. All pets have an environmental impact on our earth. But with informed choices, we can mitigate our dog’s impact by making eco-conscious purchases or take more sustainable actions surrounding the care of our dog. 

1. Restore Our Earth With Smart Dog Food Choices

What we feed our dogs can have a huge impact on both their health and the planet’s health. Like human food products - oil, energy, and water are used in high quantities in the packaging, processing, and transportation of pet food. 

We talk more about sustainable dog food choices in this blog post. But here are a few actions you can take to help decrease your dog food’s environmental impact and help restore the earth:

• Support locally sourced pet foods

• Consider raw dog food for a lower carbon footprint 
• Feed your dogs organic, grass-fed, high-quality animal byproducts (without hormones, antibiotics, or preservatives). Trust us, it matters!
• Purchase sustainable dog food brands
• Stop overfeeding your dogs!

1. Restore Our Earth By Switching To More Sustainable Dog Toys 

The market for eco-friendly dog toys has exploded - for a good reason! Now, you can find almost every type of sustainable toy for your dog, no matter how picky a playmate they are. The question is...is this the most sustainable option? 

It’s certainly a better option than buying new, unsustainable, mass-produced dog toys that get shipped from across the globe. We talk more about sustainable dog toys in this blog post, but for now, here are few actions you can take (or at least think about) the next time your dog needs a toy. 

• Avoid using plastic when and where possible when you obtain toys for your dog! This includes plastic packaging, too. Don’t forget, plastic is made using toxins and chemicals that are harmful to us, our dogs, and the planet
• Purchase toys made from materials like fast-growing wood, natural rubber, and organic fabrics like bamboo, hemp, and organic cotton

• Reuse or repurpose old dog toys made of fabric, woof, or other usable materials
• Recycle dog toys that are unsalvagable!
• Seek out local pet suppliers who make eco-friendly toys or sell toys made of recycled materials

1. Restore Our Earth Through Other Responsible Actions As A Dog Owner

Making sustainable choices surrounding your dog’s food and toys will certainly contribute towards restoring our earth, there are a few things you can do to make sure your dog’s impact is a positive one!

• Don’t be afraid to buy secondhand supplies for your dog (your dog certainly won’t care!)
• If your dog has outgrown beds, collars, leashes, clothing, toys, or bowls - don’t toss them away. You can give them a second life by donating them! Not to mention, this will help keep your dog’s stuff out of landfills

• Look for biodegradable products when dog products like poop bags, shampoos, conditioners, and pet cleaning products. This helps keep our waterways from contamination of toxic and harmful ingredients so often found in these products
• Pick up your dog’s poop and dispose of it responsibly! Dog poop is a huge source of bacteria pollution in our watersheds. It is actually considered a very harmful pollutant alongside oil, herbicides, insecticides, and other deadly contaminants by the Environmental Protection Agency

What are some other ways to Restore Our Earth this year?

You can take plenty of actions that don’t directly involve your dog to start making an impact and restoring the earth to all its glory. Here are just a few ideas you can do with or without your dog!

Actions To Include Your Dog In

• For every dog item in your house: including bowls, toys, beds, outfits, etc., plant a tree or a group of trees in or around your neighborhood...with your dog in tow! You can also donate to or get involved with this awesome non-profit: One Tree Planted
• Take your dog and gather recyclable materials around town, in your local nature areas, or even near your home. Clean up your community while taking your dog for a nice long walk

Non-Dog Related Action

• Start a letter-writing campaign targeting government officials who aren’t on board with ecological concerns
• Put together a city-wide campaign to start a recycling program in your town, if one doesn’t exist
• Start a neighborhood garden or assist your friends, family, or neighbors by helping them start or manage their own small home-gardens 
• Help your neighbors or other community members build a compost bin to create eco-friendly fertilizer
• Organize and teach a class on local activism

We’ve mentioned a few ways to be more earth-friendly with your dog in this post, but just remember, small, individual actions add up quickly! Earth Day is an excellent reminder that millions of people are also taking action to restore our earth and reduce our own impact (and our dog’s impact) on the environment.

From reusing shopping bags at pet stores to donating unwanted dog items, there is a responsible way to handle all aspects of dog ownership. Hopefully, this post will help you take action this year for Earth Day (and all year long) towards reducing your dog’s impact on the planet!

Do you have any other actions we can add to this list? Comment below!