Earth Friendly Dog Bag

Carissa lives in NYC, owns a tiny Yorkie, and needs a new pet carrier. It has to be comfy for the dog, cute to carry, and eco-friendly. She asked me to help her out.

I took to my mission enthusiastically, and quickly realized that there are NOT a lot of good options out there. Conversely, I found an amazing (and tempting, for me!) lot of eco-friendly dog beds.

I believe the disparity is in the fact that while dog beds are soft and, by nature, gently used, a good pet carrier needs to be rugged. A bed just gets laid on and rarely leaves home, but a carrier is, of course, meant to withstand being carried around on public transportation, shoved under plane seats and have things spilled on it. There are not a lot of eco-friendly materials that can withstand all that, and the ones that are (which would be hemp and organic canvas, or re-purposed plastic and nylon) are expensive to work with.

Anyway, after literally hours of looking, I came up with one.

ONE! LOUSY! EARTH-FRIENDLY! DOG BAG!

Here it is. HEY UNIVERSE? THERE'S A HOLE YOU NEED TO BE FILLING!

The Hemp Dog Carrier in small Sunnica, $35. (This exact bag is available for much, much more at other retailers. Be ye not fooled.)



Hemp is a great material. It is as durable as nylon, and can be used in place of nylon in just about every situation. It is also much, much softer than nylon, and when it gets older, it fades and softens even more, taking on a comfortable, "well loved" look, as opposed to nylon, which just ends up looking dingy and dirty. It is also light-years better than nylon for the environment as it is a plant. If you'd like to learn more, check out this article on the Robbins Pet Care web site. It's where I bought the harness and leashes my trio is sporting. Their shipping is on the high end, but the customer service and selection of hard-to-find earth friendly pet products is worth it.