Thanks to forward-thinking companies like WizSmart, dog parents no longer have to choose between convenience and sustainability.

When you think “convenient”, you probably think “disposable”. Products like paper towels, plastic wrap, and single-use cutlery have made our lives so much easier – but they’re no friend to the environment. So we’ve come to believe that convenience and sustainability can’t co-exist. But some companies are going against the grain to reduce our ecological footprint and save us time, and this trend doesn’t stop with the human market. From biodegradable poop bags to pee pads made from recycled material, being a dog parent has never been so easy, or so green.

Quality over quantity

It’s simple: investing in quality results in less waste. The longer something lasts, or the more use you can get out of it, the less you’ll have to throw away. This reduces the impact on landfills, which is ultimately better for Mother Earth.

“Use products that work better and last longer so you can use less – and waste less!” says Beth Canfield, Business Developer at WizSmart, a leading manufacturer in sustainable pee pads. “The cheapest price per unit is rarely the most economical choice. You just end up using more product, which costs more in the long run anyway!”

Conscious material selection

Certain materials are worse for the environment than others, so it’s important to read labels and choose wisely when investing in pet products. Some of the most popular options, like plastic and synthetic fabrics, are the worst offenders. Material choice is especially important when buying products that can’t be reused more than a few times, like food pouches and litter box liners.

Then there’s the packaging factor to consider. There’s not a lot you can buy these days that doesn’t come wrapped in layers upon layers of packaging, so it’s important to support brands that ensure every part of their product– including what it’s wrapped in – is eco-friendly.

Beth recommends looking for more sustainable materials like bioplastic made from sugar cane instead of fossil fuels. As a member of the Pet Sustainability Coalition, WizSmart uses recycled materials in both their pee pads and their packaging. “We figured combining defective, unused baby diapers and pee pads was a good idea,” says Beth. “We found out that baby diaper manufacturers were throwing away a lot of perfectly fine, unused diapers! So not only are we making a better pee pad that lasts longer than most – we’re also saving over 240 million diapers from ending up in landfills each year.”