Sustainability by design

Take the lead

Ecology and sustainability have become of primary importance, both for companies and for consumers. If the responsibility for the choice previously lay almost exclusively with the end user, today companies are increasingly expected to take the lead in designing sustainable products. Numerous ‘green’ materials enable them to meet pet owners’ sustainability needs.

A real need

What was considered a trend has in fact turned into a real need. Maintaining consistency with the principles of sustainability extends through the entire chain of the design and production process and involves all parties: from the producer to the consumer. Offering consumers a choice of sustainable products requires companies to be proactive.

Sustainable mindset

The sustainable mindset is becoming more prevalent in every aspect of life with a pet. Even right from the start, when choosing a young pet (or more often an adult one), people are increasingly taking an ‘adopt, not buy’ approach. Living sustainably and ecologically is a lifestyle shift that involves owners, pets and the social context, entailing complex dynamics. For companies, the geographic location of their production activities is largely irrelevant nowadays. ‘Made in…’ is no longer an automatic indication of a product’s quality or sustainability; markets have become more discerning.

Green materials

From food to hygiene and from toys to kennels, there is no style without substance. Sustainable options can be based on non-toxic products made from ‘green’ (for example, organic, renewable or recycled) materials. For instance, starting with the basic pet needs, bags for dog droppings can be made from biodegradable polymers, and cat litter can be made from vegetable fibres which guarantee zero-impact disposal. Other sustainable products include sleepers made from bamboo fibre and eco pads for use during puppy training. Pet toys made from wood, fabric or rope are enjoying ever-greater success, and there is growing interest in scratching posts and cat trees made from cardboard and natural fibres, combining the need for play with materials that pets find instinctively pleasing.

Manufacturers can limit the use of synthetic chemicals by switching to pesticides that exploit the qualities of essential oils or vegetable surfactants for hygiene and cleaning. To comply with the principles of sustainability, producers should avoid unnecessary packaging and plastic as much as possible and should use recyclable cardboard or mono-material packaging; ideally that is also designed to be converted into kennels or litter boxes.

Everything matters

Consumers’ sustainable choices are based on a specific motivation that is not open to negotiation and should not be ignored. Manufacturers should take the sustainability factor seriously right from the early design stage. It is important to remember that everything matters: from raw materials to the labour employed, from suppliers to logistics and the distribution network, right up to the company’s ethical commitment – which is often illustrated by allocating a percentage of the profit to global sustainability projects.