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Every pet deserves the best toys to play with. Pet toys are great for creating interactive moments between pet owners and their pets and for letting your pet have some individual play time on their own. As pet owners, we love to see when our pet chooses a toy from their collection and brings it over for a game of fetch.
The construction of soft pet toys uses a lot of material for the infill which traditionally was made from virgin polyester. For over a decade, the world has been fighting the accumulation of large amounts of empty plastic bottles which causes clogged waterways, polluted oceans and interiors according to an article published on the national geographic website about plastic bottles. The same article also claims 1,000,000 plastic bottles are sold every minute globally with recycling rates as low as 30% in the United States. By recycling PET plastics bottles, the amount of waste which accumulates in landfills and in the ocean has a chance to be repurposed into a new product. Plastic bottles can be shredded and through a process which includes segregation of colors, heating, and extruding and spinning new thread can be converted into fabrics and infill which are made from recycled material – how signature P.L.A.Y.’s signature PlanetFill® filler is made and used for dog plush toys and all other products. This exercise helps to reduce the material which is disposed of in landfills and the ocean.
Asides from using recycled materials, it is possible for pet owners to create their own pet toys by upcycling old plastic water bottles. Simply put a used plastic water bottle inside an old, preferrable clean, sock and voila! you have a home made crunchy toy for your pet to play with. Pets are extremely sensitive to smell and using your old t-shirts or towels are a great way to create wrappings for toys and beds while giving your pet a reminder of you. This can be a great comfort for your pet during the days when spend long hours away from home or have to leave your pet at a boarding facility while you travel. Your scent left behind on the fabric will help calm your nervous pet by giving them a reminder of you.
While ecofriendly is often associated with recycled materials, natural and organic material are also equally important to consider in your choice of pet toys. Toys which have been made using natural and organic materials will biodegrade in landfills meaning over a period of time they will breakdown to natural elements such as carbon dioxide and water.
Ecofriendly pet toys help to promote a sustainable and circular economy which allows for the life cycle of a product to be extended through upcycling and recycling or degraded into natural elements and absorbed in to landfills. Next time you choose a toy for your pet look at the labels to see which components of the toys are ecofriendly.
You may find on following page few more fun ecofriendly pet toys which you can make at home using old t-shirts, towels and plastic. Each piece of fabric or plastic bottle that you are able to reuse helps create an ecofriendly environment and promotes circular economies.