Environmental Impact of Pets
According to an article written by New Scientist magazine, the environmental impact of owning a dog can be greater than that of owning and driving a Toyota Land-cruiser. We had to do a double take on this claim to understand how that could be the case.
In the book, Time to Eat the Dog: The real guide to sustainable living, two architects working in sustainable living at Victoria University, New Zealand consider the land used to grow protein and grains to feed our dogs. They found that feeding a medium sized dog that eats the recommended 300g portion of dry dog food daily equates to 164kg of protein and 95kg of grains every year. The environmental impact of producing this feed can be greater than operating a Toyota Land Cruisers when fuel, car manufacturing and driving 10,000km p/a are considered.
With over 50% of households worldwide owning either a cat or a dog, the need for sustainable protein has never been more important. The ever increasing benefits of insect protein in pet food are becoming more widely known and accepted, so it simply makes sense to incorporate this hyper-sustainable protein into new or existing ranges. Replacing all or part of the protein consumed by our pets with carbon-neutral insect protein is an easy way to reduce the environmental impact of feed, whilst still delivering high-quality nutrition and great palatability.
The education required in marketing insect protein products is imperative to market uptake. In a paper by Shahida A.Siddiqui, it is concluded that consumers have connected well to the sustainable, hypoallergenic and gut health claims of this novel protein source.
At Viridian we have developed a range of highly palatable forms of insect protein, which are in short, irresistible to dogs. There are multiple ways to use these functional insect proteins into existing formulations or as stand alone insect protein based products.
If it is better for the environment to drive a 4WD every day than it is to have your best friend by your side, why wouldn’t pet owners make the conscious switch to the eco-friendly pet food option, with all the benefits of traditional protein, plus the additional health benefits.
Get in touch today to discuss how we can tailor a solution to make your pet food more sustainable, palatable and game changing than ever before.
