Whether it’s all natural, green, holistic or organic, greener pet products are heavily influencing the choices pet owner consumers are making for their pets, as well as the decisions pet business owners are making for their companies.
In the October 2007 Newsweek article “How to Cut your Carbon Pawprint”, market-research firm Packaged Facts provides statistics of U.S. retail sales of natural pet products expected to reach $1.3 billion in 2007, up from $558 million in 2003. By 2012, the market should reach $2.5 billion.
According to American Pet Products Manufacturers petsblog, Americans spent an overall total of $41.2 billion on pet care in 2007, up from $38.5 billion in 2006 and $36.3 billion in 2005. It is estimated that pet owners will spend $43.4 billion in total pet expenditures in 2008.
With the rise in greener pet choices, pet owners are now paying closer attention to the products and services they buy, leading pet business owners to pay closer attention to the products and services they sell as well as how their business is marketed.
It is now easier than ever for pet owners to try anything from organic food and treats to recycled pet toys, leashes and collars made from hemp, all natural shampoos and grooming products, bio-degradable waste bags, kitty litter and pans.
In Arlene Satchell’s South Florida Sun-Sentinel article, “South Florida’s businesses tap booming pet care Industry”, Satchell explains how organic foods and natural treats are popular pet food alternatives in Miami. Businesses serving Miami pet owners include numerous pet food stores that sell natural gourmet treats and foods with ingredients that promote wellness. For about $55 to $150 per month, customers can choose breed-specific, cooked to order natural gourmet meals and treats for their pets from one store. Another natural pet business owner in the area opened shop after losing his dog to cancer, and he started looking for healthier alternatives to feed his pets.
The increased awareness of the impact pets have on the environment along with the eco-friendly and natural pet alternatives becoming more widely acceptable have opened the minds of pet and business owners resulting in a green-hungry audience seeking new and possibly non-traditional ways to live a greener lifestyle.
One city’s approach to tackle pet-induced global warming includes a proposal to improve the urban problem of pet waste.
“American dogs and cats produce 10 million tons of waste a year”, as Will Brinton, a scientist in Mount Vernon, Maine, and one of the world’s leading authorities on waste reduction and composting said in an article in The San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco, a city where animal feces make up nearly 4 percent of its residential waste, is considering “poop power” or, turning pet waste into methane which can in turn heat homes, cook meals, and generate electricity.
For cities where electricity is not generated by pet waste, or for pet businesses like pet sitters, dog walkers, or trainers, that offer services rather than products, a green pet website is an easy option that any pet business can choose when making decisions about how their website is designed, developed, maintained, and powered. A green pet website? Yes, it is possible.