Sustainable Pet Products

What does sustainable mean?

Sustainability according to Google is the "avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance". In a nutshell, it means utilising less, making sure things last longer and thus the reducing negative impacts upon the environment.

How does that relate to pet products?

The majority of pet products, we're afraid to say, are borne from a race to the bottom of the barrel. From food, to bedding, toys and everything in between, products are often made with second rate raw materials (based upon cost factor), which will mean upfront a negative impact on the environment, but will also mean from a longevity point of view a substantial impact upon the environment.

There is a reason $20 dog beds from the big chains are commonly referred to as "throwaways"; they're filled with recycled PET (the most common dog bed filler), and they're often sewn up on a budget, will fall apart and the zips will break easily.

Buy, use, throwaway, repeat.

That recycled PET filler (plastic) and the cover? It ends up in landfill, on the side of the road, at the beach (yep, we've seen disused dog beds at our local beach in Newcastle). The impact of plastics on the environment have been known for some time, but are becoming so urgent that the largest organisations on the planet are committing themselves to using less, with Governments beginning to increase regulations too.

There is also a reason that cheap dog toys don't last, they're not made to. Companies make far, far more money if you're constantly buying and replacing toys. Economically it's great for them, whilst sustainably it's burdensome for the environment. Typically again these toys will be made with some type of PET filling, or a straight up mixture of plastic and latex (cheaper than full latex)...and these products simply don't break down...

Here at Rover Pet Products, we are fully committed to sustainability and we continue to make incremental changes across the business to reduce the use of any plastic, even recyclable plastics.

But first and foremost, our commitment to sustainability comes in the forms of our products. Reducing their initial and longer term impact on the environment.

For example our orthopedic bedding range lasts 5-10 years (minimum). That means you only need one bed for that period. Our first ever dog show we ran a questionnaire - most people were buying and throwing away 7 + beds a year. That's staggering. One of our beds in theory over 10 years can save 70 beds going to landfill. The environmental sustainability is substantial.

Then for another example we move to our latex toy range, which are made with natural latex and colourings, and are fully biodegradable. That means a nil impact upon the environment!

Whilst we're not perfect, we believe all of our choices have an impact on the planet we all live on and we want our fur babies to inherit!