What pet food should I buy to be more eco-friendly?

The carbon footprint of an average-size cat is 310kg of CO2e per year. The carbon footprint of an average-size dog is 770 kg of CO2e per year. For a large dog, this increases to 2,500kg of CO2e per year. The biggest contributor to this footprint is what your pet eats.  

The pet food industry is responsible for 106 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year. A country producing the same amount would be the world’s sixtieth-highest CO2 emitter. 

It is therefore important to consider how the food that you are feeding your pet is impacting the environment. 

To make your pet’s diet more environmentally friendly, you can: 

• When choosing a new pet, consider herbivorous animals, like rabbits and guinea pigs, as their diets are naturally more environmentally friendly.
• If you have a dog, they can eat some plant-based foods, although if you do change your dog’s food you should speak to a vet to unsure that your pet is getting the nutrients that they need. 
• Cats cannot eat plant-based foods and must eat a meat diet, but some cat foods are more environmentally friendly than others. 
•  When buying meat-based food for your pet, choose chicken flavour instead of beef, as chicken has a smaller environmental impact. 
• If buying fish-based pet food, ensure that the fish was sustainably caught. 
• Although you may be tempted to feed your pet human-grade meat, this is not necessary and will increase your pet’s carbon footprint. Instead, opt for meat by-products like bonemeal and organ meat.  
• Look for food in reusable or recyclable packaging and ensure you recycle it.
• Buy pet food in bulk, as long as you can use it all before it expires. 
• Consider making your own treats for your pet, to save on packaging and emissions from transport. 
• Don’t overfeed your pet. Check in with your vet to find out how much your pet should be eating and consider using a measuring cup to correctly portion your pet's food.