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Buying eco-friendly dog accessories—bedding, toys, clothes, and the like—allows you to swap harmful, polluting materials with organic cotton, wool, hemp, and other sustainable, natural materials while keeping your pet happy and healthy.

Find it! Eco-friendly dog accessories

Why stop at natural food and grooming products when everything from hemp chew toys to designer organic cotton beds are readily available for your four-legged friend? These purveyors of dog accessories peddle their products with the wellbeing of both your pooch and the earth in mind. Is Mr. Whiskers feeling left out? Many companies also make eco-friendly pet products geared toward cats as well.

Choosing eco-friendly dog accessories helps you go green because…

• You avoid exposing your pet to chemically treated, resource-intensive materials such as conventional cotton.
• Many eco-friendly dog accessories are made by social- and earth-conscious companies.

Dogs are among the most popular pets in the US. About 44 million American households own a dog, totaling nearly 73 million pet dogs. Within the $40 billion pet industry, dog owners spend on everything from food and medicine to toys and accessories to grooming and walking services. The average dog owner spends upwards of $215 per year on food alone.[1]

Due to a nationwide pet food recall in the spring of 2007, consumer demand for natural pet foods has soared; demand for natural pet products—accessories included—has also grown. Natural pet care products represented one-fifth of sales in 2007 and experienced a 19 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2003 to 2007. It’s expected that natural pet care products will rise at a CAGR of 10 percent from 2007 to 2012. It's estimated that approximately 48 percent of pet-owning households in the US are opting to buy eco-friendly and natural pet products.[2]

Many dog accessories such as bedding, clothing, and plush toys are made from conventional cotton, considered to be the world's most pesticide-intensive crop. While only 2.4 percent of farmland worldwide is dedicated to cotton, it accounts for 24 percent of global insecticide sales.[3] In total, $2 billion worth of chemicals are sprayed on global cotton crops each year, almost half of which are classified as hazardous by the World Health Organization (WHO).[4] The various chemicals used to treat conventional cotton can harm beneficial insects and soil microorganisms, pollute ground and surface water, and adversely affect the health of humans and wildlife—including fish, birds, and livestock. Additionally, up to 70 percent of seed used in conventional cotton farming in the United States is genetically modified.[5] Eco-friendly substitutes for conventional cotton include organic cotton, hemp, organic wool, and other sustainable fibers that are also used in bedding and clothing for humans.

Glossary

• genetically modified organism: The result of merging the genetic makeup of two organisms to create a desired byproduct that could otherwise not be found in nature.

External links

• BARk Magazine - Green Living Tips "The Modern Dog Culture Magazine" features tips on how to make you home more earth- and dog-friendly.