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The companionship and love a pet supplies makes our days brighter and extra enjoyable. Caring for and feeding your canine, nonetheless, comes with a excessive environmental worth that, with a number of adjustments, will be lowered considerably. Petaluma baked, vegetarian pet food has grow to be a standout in our quest for extra sustainable canine meals.
The common 22-pound canine consuming about 534 energy of dry meals a day accounts for 1,862 lbs. of CO2 emissions yearly, about the identical affect as flying economy class from New York to London, based on a 2022 report published in Nature.
Unless your canine has very specialised dietary wants, it’s higher for the setting to feed your pet dry meals. Feeding your canine moist meals mixes, that are primarily made out of animal protein raises the affect by as a lot as 700%. Not solely is moist meals extra emissions and water intensive than dry, the packaging and transportation impacts are considerably larger.
Dogs, not like cats, can thrive on vegetable-based meals. Petaluma’s Roasted Peanut Butter and Sweet Potato Flavor meals, which our canines have loved, is supplemented with proteins and amino acids that present all of the dietary advantages of a meat-based food regimen.
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A Difference Maker For Your Pet
Earth911 reviewed unbiased lifecycle analyses of Petaluma’s Roasted Peanut Butter & Sweet Potato Flavor and Baked Pumpkin & Peanut Butter Flavor for Senior Dogs dry canine meals. Based on that data and comparisons with different analysis into pet meals impacts, we award Petaluma our Greener Shopping Difference Maker designation to acknowledge that it achieves a higher than 50% enchancment in environmental efficiency in comparison with conventional pet meals.
Across their carbon, water, and land impacts, Petaluma’s pet food merchandise constantly carry out between 62% and 89% higher than conventional dry meals. The one shortcoming, frequent for a lot of merchandise, is the composite packaging used, which Petaluma’s founder informed us they’re working to enhance.
The firm is a Climate Neutral Certified B Corp that contributes 1% for the Planet annually. It reviews no Scope 1 CO2 emissions from its operations, 3 tons of Scope 2 emissions created by its vitality use, and 309 tons of Scope 3 emissions from its upstream provide and downstream distribution provide chain.
“The majority of our emissions are scope 3 emissions from ingredient manufacturing, that are tougher to scale back and haven’t any path towards net-zero within the present agricultural system,” Petaluma CEO Garrett Wymore stated. The firm has built-in natural carbon sequestration strategies to additional scale back its footprint. “We have opted to take part in carbon offsetting to scale back the affect of our provide chain emissions that we don’t have a lot management over, in addition to assist create a marketplace for carbon sequestration applied sciences.”
Petaluma’s Roasted Peanut Butter and Sweet Potato Flavor dry pet food can scale back emissions by 83% and water used to develop and produce the meals by 62% whereas reducing the quantity of land wanted to develop the elements by 88%, based on lifecycle evaluation supplied by the corporate.
The Roasted Peanut Butter & Sweet Potato Flavor and Baked Pumpkin & Peanut Butter Flavor for Senior Dogs Flavor can scale back emissions by 84% in comparison with conventional options. We are happy to have a product for our older canine that makes use of 68% much less water and 89% much less land than the typical industrial pet food.
In addition to the dry meals, Petaluma additionally makes organically grown Sweet Potato Jerky treats for canines, however has not full a lifecycle evaluation for the product.
Responsible Sourcing of Produce And Energy Carbon Offsets
The pet food at is baked in a solar-powered bakery at Petaluma’s manufacturing facility, and account for 65% of the corporate’s annual vitality consumption. Its operations end in no Scope 1 emissions and solely 3 tons of Scope 2, roughly the identical as one automotive used to commute to work for a yr.
The majority of its carbon emissions fall into the Scope 3 class and 309 tons of Scope 3 emissions related to rising and transporting the produce and grains utilized in its merchandise. Ingredients, a few of that are low-emissions greenhouses, are chosen to scale back their environmental affect. For instance, barley changed brown rice as a result of it’s much less carbon-intensive to develop and didn’t require lengthy delivery steps within the provide chain.
Petaluma has offset 312 tons of carbon equivalents, however Wymore stated he sees this as a short lived repair. “Carbon offsets have some well-documented issues with accuracy, transparency, and effectiveness and we don’t take into account them our major software in creating extra climate-friendly canine meals,” he stated.
Petaluma has dedicated to lowering the affect of its worker commuting, delivery, and packaging.
Packaging, Always The Final Frontier
Like many good issues in right now’s financial system, Petaluma’s packaging is a problem to recycle as a result of they’re shipped in plastic and plastic-and-paper composite luggage that aren’t simply recyclable.
Petaluma initially used a bag that included a Kraft paper layer to scale back virgin plastic use. However, luggage with a mixture of paper and plastic are sometimes not accepted by recycling packages, so the corporate just lately changed the paper layer with post-consumer recycled plastic on its 18-pound luggage and can quickly transition the 5-pound luggage as properly. The layer of recycled plastic permits the model to make use of considerably much less packaging materials – the baggage weigh 50% much less with out the paper layer – and doesn’t enhance demand for virgin plastic.
The firm plans to change to a brand new mono-material method to PET (#1) plastic packaging that makes use of a number of layers of the identical kind of plastic stretched and handled in numerous methods to offer the required moisture barrier to maintain baked pet food contemporary. But even that transfer, which can allow simpler recycling, will take time to offer buyers with advantages due to the shortage of latest recycling applied sciences in lots of American communities.
“These supplies have already got recycling infrastructure in lots of European nations, however only a few recycling services within the United States at present settle for them. As a consequence, they aren’t alleged to be positioned into curbside recycling bins and should be routed by way of particular assortment websites,” Wymore informed Earth911.
Further compounding a troublesome alternative, the mono-material expertise doesn’t work with recycled plastics, and Waymore added: “We’ve opted to stay with our PCR-inclusive multi-layered luggage to restrict virgin plastic use whereas working with our packaging suppliers to make sure we’re offering clear (and truthful) directions to customers about tips on how to recycle the mono-material luggage.”
Taking The Win
Petaluma joins Jiminy’s insect protein-based food and treats as one in all two merchandise to point out a big enchancment in our analysis into environmentally accountable pet meals. No pet meals has achieved our Transformative Product designation, which represents a 90% or higher enchancment, primarily do using unrecyclable composite packaging.
Few merchandise right now are completely sustainable, however we are able to make a number of progress by selecting higher choices when accessible. Petaluma’s meals ship substantial carbon, water, and land use enhancements in comparison with the grocery and pet retailer manufacturers that many canines are fed.
We suggest Petaluma canine meals for pet house owners who need to make their canine’s food regimen extra accountable, with a lighter affect on the planet. You can order Petaluma canine meals and snacks on-line, and don’t neglect to ask for free samples.
