Cumbria CVS Green – No 11 January 2025
January 16, 2025
Welcome back to Cumbria CVS Green!
In our eleventh blog post, Maria Bezuszko, Step Forward Employment and Volunteering Officer and Admin officer at Cumbria CVS, takes a look at how to be an eco-friendly pet owner. It’s pawsome! (Sorry.)
If you have any suggestions about what you’d like to see in our regular updates, let us know! Contact us by emailing info@cumbriacvs.org.uk
You can find our what we’re doing to minimise our environmental impact and find details of organisations supporting positive environmental action in Cumbria on our Climate Commitment page here
Catch up on our other blog posts here
Can you be an eco-friendly pet owner? A look at our carbon paw print
I would like to start off by saying I am the proud owner of both a cat and a dog and they bring me delight, joy, and comfort all day every day. I would not be without them, but this opportunity to contribute to the CVS blog got me thinking about the carbon footprint of my furry friends.
Day to day, I do my best to live with an awareness of the impact my life has, and overall, I feel I do reduce my impact. There will always be more to do, and I enjoy the challenge of finding ways to live more sustainably.
When it comes to Tilda and Cleo though things are more challenging. There are several resources online which can support you and guide you to a lower carbon paw print for your pets. I am only going to look at a couple or I’d be here all day! There are a few links at the end if you want to do some further research.
The first and probably biggest impact is feeding them. So much food and treats come heavily packaged and not recyclable. There is also a lot of conflicting thoughts about the correct diet for our pets, but one constant is they need protein, and that usually comes from meat. This meat production comes with a large carbon footprint. While things such as plant-based diets are becoming more accessible and safer for our pets they do seem to come at a cost, and less evidence online about what should make up this sort of diet. We feed the cat a complete dry kibble and the dog devours her high protein raw food. Everyone will have their own views on these choices, I have two happy and healthy pets, so I don’t want to change their diets drastically.
One big thing I try and do to reduce this impact is make homemade treats instead of heavily processed and packaged ones. It takes a little research but there are lots of ideas out there to make sure the treats are safe and suitable for pets, they also eat them with much more excitement than the humans I cook for – always good to know I can cook, at least for the pets!
I also buy their food as locally as possible, reducing transport impact and the company we use has very basic packaging to reduce waste.
Of course, the other side of food consumption is the clean-up. From poo bags to cat litter, I try and use the most environmentally friendly I can find and afford and dispose in the safest and greenest way I can. Simple things like switching to compostable poo bags will reduce their impact. There are many options available to put in a litter tray. Many are now biodegradable, compostable, even flushable – although that’s something I’ve never tried! If you do use a litter tray and must place the waste in your general waste bin, try to use environmentally friendly bags. Again, a personal preference but I find clumping cat litter produces less waste.
As we raised Cleo from a puppy, we also had the toilet training to master. Again there is a lot of choice out there and some more friendly to the planet than others. We opted for reusable, washable pads and found they probably worked out cheaper in the long run, and we never came downstairs in the morning to find she had ripped the pads to pieces, as I have seen happen with the disposable ones.
Finally, consideration should also be given to toys, their materials and packaging. Where you walk the dog – walk local if it is safe to rather than driving somewhere. As you would with your own attempts to reduce your carbon footprint, have a look at the labels and packaging of the many extras that come with pet ownership, from products you use to give them a clean to supplements and accessories. Don’t forget that many places accept outgrown coats, accessories and harnesses so as with our own clothes – pets can also donate and reuse.
There is a lot that can make a small impact and together over a lifetime, it does add up.
https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/actions/how-be-eco-friendly-pet-owner
https://www.animaltrust.org.uk/pet-advice/sustainable-pet-owner
https://www.petdrugsonline.co.uk/pet-advice/how-to-be-a-sustainable-pet-owner
Training and Events
Climate and Carbon Literacy Training
23 January 2025, online.
Equip your staff with climate knowledge and actionable strategies to cut emissions.
CAfS also offer bespoke courses tailored to your organisation or community, the impact it has on the climate, and how to make a positive change.
Unpacked Webinar Series
CAfS have launched a new webinar series, unpacking energy saving topics.
With a range of expert speakers, the free, hour long events will cover a wide range of topics including home energy, farm carbon audits, renovation & retrofit, reducing food waste, solar PV and electric vehicles.
News and Information
Housing Support Fund
CAfS are looking after the Housing Support Fund for both of the county’s council areas this winter. In addition to award winning home energy advice, they can also offer free fuel vouchers, free energy saving equipment and support to access government grants. Click here for more details or call 01768 216 500.
Energy Efficient Web Design
Westmorland & Furness Green Enterprise Hub offers an energy efficient web design service to help businesses calculate website carbon emissions, identify sustainability improvement opportunities and provides recommendations for digital carbon reduction.
New regulations will soon require your business to separate recyclable materials from your general waste
From 31 March 2025, new regulations will be coming into force that require all businesses to separate recyclable materials from their general waste. The following groups of recyclable materials will need to be separated:
- Glass, metal and plastic
- Cardboard and paper
- Food as a dedicated collection
The new guidelines will apply to all businesses, healthcare establishments and academic institutions, but small businesses with fewer than 10 full-time employees are temporarily exempt until the 31st March 2027.
You can find guidance and a toolkit to help your business prepare for the changes on the WRAP.
CAfS Annual Report
Catch-up on Cumbria Action for Sustainability’s Annual Report for the year April 2023 – March 2024.
Job Vacancy: Programme Manager
To head up CAfS’s Home Energy & Communities Team.
We’re looking for an experienced project, people, budget and strategy manager for our Home Energy and Communities Team, overseeing our Cold to Cosy Homes project, retrofit service, our ‘Made Easy’ projects and more. Closing Date: Monday 20 January, 9am, so move fast!
Community Engagement Report Published
In September you might remember a couple of events and a survey to gauge public opinion on Project Collette, a potential 1.2GW off-shore, community owned windfarm off the Cumbrian coast. The information collected has been analysed and a report is now available.
People want affordable, accessible public transport. Bus reform is a good place to start
This blog written by James Somerville of NPC, advocates why we need properly funded bus services that are regular, reliable and affordable. They argue that, even better still, would be new homes that have quick and easy access to services, and the infrastructure to enable active travel.
Energy Saving Trust responds to the UK Government’s Clean Power Action Plan
The UK Government has set out an action plan to deliver clean power by 2030, one of the Prime Minister’s key milestones. The Clean Power Action Plan outlines how the UK Government will build an energy system that can reduce energy bills.
Stew Horne, Head of Policy at Energy Saving Trust, has welcomed the actions that the government plans to take, but highlights that the rollout of a national, impartial advice service could support the shift to renewable energy at home.
