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Eco Friendly versus Green Pet Products

green cat toys

Green Pet Products

Eco Friendly green pet products are the latest marketing trend for consumers who want to purchase green pet products that are safe for the environment.  As a result of this marketing trend, many pet product companies and marketing businesses have jumped on the opportunity to represent their products to environmentally conscious consumers.

Being an inventor and marketer for CatTamboo brand eco friendly interactive cat toys and teaser toys for small dogs has given me something to say on the topic!  As a consumer myself, I have to start by asking a good question:  Can Plastic really be Eco Friendly?

This is a valid question that I’m certain many are asking.  We see it all the time where companies producing green pet products made from indestructible plastics are marketing their “Eco Friendly” pet toys.  First, we should begin the topic with a clear distinction: There are really two consumer buying patterns to look at here.

  1. Consumers are motivated to purchase green pet products that are safe for the environment.
  2. Consumers are loyal to businesses that make an effort to protect the environment.

If you are a consumer who is looking for green pet products that are safe for the environment, you can find them among the eco friendly pet products available in our line of green pet products. Otherwise, you might have to do some digging to find green pet products that are actually “green” in that they are safe for the environment.

The places that occupied the first page of my search are major pet product companies and when you click their link, you get an array of products….most made from plastics.  Many of the products boast themselves as Eco Friendly because they have catnip in them or use some type of product from nature.

 

However, these companies also produce and sell large volumes of cheep plastic toys that pollute our environment.

The fact is that companies in the pet industry have realized that appealing to either of the two consumer buying patterns is the goal.  As a consumer, your goal will naturally be to find companies that fit both categories.  These companies will likely have a brand new, innovative, green pet product because they will have begun with the premise of being Green.

So in summary and to Answer the Question: Can Plastic really be Eco Friendly?

The answer is yes.  But plastic is not a green material and green pet products are not made out of plastic.  However, a business that produces plastic pet products can claim their plastic pet product is eco friendly if they:

  1. Use recycled plastics
  2. Make an effort to reclaim and Recycle the plastic products that they produce
  3. Attempt to conserve energy and reduce waste/pollution when making their plastic products.

Companies producing large amounts of plastic and distributing them throughout the world are also appealing to Consumers who are loyal to businesses that make an effort to protect the environment….and if your business is plastic, then consumers these days might accept the reality of plastic toys but will require that you go about your business in an environmentally conscious way.

About our green pet products:  CatTamboo pet toys use long, all natural, custom made rods to fly a wing arrangement around the house.

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Ecostar Award

Ecostar Award, Montana USA

In February of 2010, CatTamboo™ Pet Toys received the EcoStar Award for our environmental efforts.  We felt honored to be among the other 27 small businesses that won the award.

That February, we gathered in the capitol city of Helena, MT at the capitol building, in the rotunda.  Our Montana governor (Brian Schweitzer) gave a wonderful speech about our heritage in relationship to nature.  Montanan’s have always been good stewards of the land and those who where not didn’t make it out here.

It was impressive to see how much other companies have done to help our environment.  In the future, we had hoped to see many others join this event, but once you’ve won the honors those who participated will bring other businesses along or encourage them to make some changes.   In 2012, CatTamboo™ Pet products got more green with the introduction of a new program.  The program involved collecting wild game birds from Montana, Wyoming, Washington, and South Dakota.  Comparing the statistics of how many game birds are shot each year, the numbers of wasted natural resources are staggering.  Our networking goal for 2013 was to process multiple hundreds of each species including ducks, geese, wild turkey and pheasant. Now it is 2015 and we are still striving to make use of these otherwise wasted natural resources. Click here to learn more about our Game bird conservation program and the statistics on how many game bird hunting licenses are pulled each year in Montana alone and what that equates to in terms of feather and feather toy numbers.  The fact is that most game bird feathers are wasted because collecting and processing them is a challenge and expense.  It is much easier to just hook up a supplier from China. But we have the same values as all Ecostar award winners in our commitment to make the planet greener, and we love supporting the US and Montana economies.

Another development from 2012 game bird conservation efforts is happening this fall of 2015 with the possible addition of yet another feather resource and feather type.  We are researching the possibility of adding white domestic turkey to the mix.  White turkey feathers are strikingly beautiful and make awesome cat toys.

In addition, we have large scale plans that will continue to take plastic waste out of the environment and employ Americans for production and distribution of our made in the USA pet toys.