End Plastics
5 Scarily Simple Ways to Keep Plastic Out of Your Pet’s Life This Halloween
October 29, 2025
Plastics are not a distant threat plaguing our oceans and landfills, but are now an ever present evil presence that has followed us all home, whether we like it or not. Microplastics are “invisible” pollutants that have an impact on human health, but also threaten the wellness of our furry loved ones.
And there are a lot of furry friends out there! There are over one billion pets worldwide, and according to the Global Animal Health Association’s 2022 report, the US, Brazil, the European Union and China alone account for half a billion pets. In Argentina, 66% of homes own a dog, with Mexico not far behind at 64%. The Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe have all seen pet ownership rise and in Korea it increased 50% from 2014 to 2018.
According to research from 2024, 66% of households in the US own a pet, with 65.1 million American homes with a dog, and 46.5 million with a cat. In fact 50% of the world’s population owns a pet in one shape or another.
We go above and beyond for our pets, which is evident in the 259.37 billion US dollars we spent globally on pet care items in 2024. A figure predicted to rise to 427.75 billion by 2032. But unbeknownst to most pet owners, plastics are undermining our good intentions and potentially harming our beloved fur babies. Because plastics are ubiquitous in the pet industry – pet toys, pet clothes, pet bedding, pet toiletries, even pet food, they can all include plastics.
Plastic is Haunting Us
That’s not all. Only 9% of all the plastic ever made has been recycled and all plastics over time shed microplastics. Microplastics are small in size, no more than a grain of rice, and are easily transferable. Meaning they haunt us – turning up everywhere, in our water, soil, air, homes and in the food chain.
Last July, EARTHDAY.ORG published Pets Vs. Plastics, a report that covered the ubiquitous nature of plastics in our world and its effect on our pets.
Microplastics and their additive chemicals, have already been associated with a range of health issues impacting our pets, from embryo development to potential infertility, liver failure and miscarriage and more.
Luckily, there are ways we can scare these pollutants away from endangering the health and wellbeing of our four-legged loved ones. To mark National Cat Day this spooky season, here are 7 ways to reduce the danger of microplastics on your pets this Halloween.
1. Plastic Pet Food
When it comes to pet foods, it is also important to look beyond the label on the can and the ingredient list. Because the inner lining of pet food cans often contain plastic chemicals that can leech into the pet food itself. For instance, a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) based coating was found in 95% of all cat food cans and a BPA-based coating was found in 81% of all dog food cans. A component chemical used to make PVC has been proven to be cancerogenic.
We know that microplastics are in the human food chain — one study published in February 2024, reviewed a wide range of meat, fish and vegetarian meat alternatives used for human grade food and reported that 88% of them contained microplastics.
Most pet foods are made with “feed-grade” ingredients, ranked lower than human-grade so there’s far more likelihood plastics can get into pet food. We know that feed-grade includes parts of livestock, such as sheep heads, that are often sent to be rendered and processed for pet food, with plastic ear tags still attached. These ear tags are typically used for identification and tracking reasons, but when mulched into pet food it means your pet is getting an unwanted dose of plastic.
Home made pet food might be a solution for some pet owners. Consider making your own pet food if you can. But always take veterinary advice as changing the diet of your pet quickly can cause issues in and of itself. Dogs need protein, fat, minerals and vitamins to stay healthy. Dogs especially love cooked carrots, squash and sweet potatoes, mixed with protein. This may be a viable option for your pet if cooked in bulk and potentially frozen in batches. Note there are some foods that dogs especially cannot eat, like onions, grapes and chocolate for example. There’s a full list of ingredients to avoid HERE.
Cats have unique dietary needs of their own, that are different to the dietary needs of dogs. Plus dogs and cats have evolving nutritional needs dependent on their age. Cats too have a list of food that are poisonous to them – HERE.
There are many resources online featuring yummy pet food recipes as well as information on how to maximize the nutrients your pets need. Please always check what ingredients you can safely use before making your homemade pet food.
Plus, instead of using plastic bowls for food or water, opt for glass or stainless steel. The next time you go grocery shopping, plan ahead and look online for pet recipes that are all about treating your pets well, and not allowing pet food to trick you into feeding them plastics.
2. Clean up the Candy Wrappers
Everybody loves a Halloween sweet treat! Annually, the average American eats eight pounds of candy. But candy wrappers, due to their complex composition, don’t adhere to standard recycling practices.
As a result, candy wrappers are amongst the top five commonly found items on beaches and waterways. These wrappers also shed microplastics directly in our homes and cars – all the places that are pets are. These micro and nano plastics collect in household dust and can be easily inhaled by pets, especially as they live closer to the ground. Studies have found high levels of plastic related flame retardant chemicals (PBDEs) in the blood serum of dogs and cats.
Our pets’ plastic intake levels are also powerful benchmarks for our own plastic intake level. Dogs are considered sentinel species, which means because dogs live close to people and share the same air, water, and surroundings, if something harmful shows up in dogs first and alert us to risks for humans.
The most optimal solution is to reduce your candy consumption. Or opt for treats in recyclable materials like cardboard and paper. But the most important thing to reduce our pet’s inhalation of microplastics in household dust is regular sweeping and vacuuming!
As we continue to see numerous pet foods recalled for questionable ingredients or potential contaminants, it should be safe to say that regulation could be stepped up. As pet food companies try to use different ingredients from various sources as a way to make their food more sustainable or less expensive, it can also become more questionable as to the quality.
Dr. Chyrle Bonk, (DVM)
3. Plastic Toys are Not Nice
There are very little federal and state regulations on pet toys and most pet toys are made of plastics. With this explosion of the pet industry over the last decade, you might assume that all pet toys on the market have been vetted by federal, state or global agencies. You would be wrong to think this.
The Consumer Products Safety Commission CPSC, which is dedicated to reducing “the unreasonable risk of injuries and deaths associated with consumer products”, has never recalled a pet toy because it was deemed to be hazardous. The Commission argues that it could only do that if a pet toy was deemed dangerous to a human as it has no authority to protect your pets. And the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not regulate pet accessories, toys, beds, crates, grooming aids, cat litter, etc.
There are virtually no federal or state laws, which expressly apply solely to the manufacture and sale of pet toys. However as a result of past consumer concerns it is possible that in the future there may be limitations on the amount of lead and/or other chemicals contained in pet toys.
American Pet Products Association (APPA)
Plastic pet toys often contain additive chemicals, like phthalates and Bisphenol-A (BPA), and because our pets love to chew on these toys, plastic chemicals can leach directly into their gums. On top of that plastic toy fragments that break off as they chew can be ingested and reach their stomachs. Exposure to these chemicals has similar effects on our pets as it does to humans – including impacting sperm count and potential infertility. A study in 2019 found phthalates in every single sample of cat and dog urine tested. The levels of phthalates found were similar to the levels found in human beings.
Research from 2017 suggested BPA is linked with changes to the gut microbiome and metabolism of pets and another study, albeit from 2013, conducted by researchers at Texas Tech University found that aging and worn dog toys contained increased concentrations of both BPA and phthalates. According to a 2022 study there is evidence BPA might trigger the progression of prostate tumorigenesis, as shown in experiments on beagles tested in laboratory conditions.
It is a sobering thought too that every year in the US alone an estimated 634 million dog toys, mainly plastic, end up in landfills. That is the equivalent to 40,500 tons of plastic waste dumped every year so your dog can chew on something ‘cute’. So, do your pet and the planet a favor and opt for pet toys made of hemp, cotton and natural ingredients instead. A cotton T shirt tied up in knots for example will make your dog just as happy as a plastic pumpkin chew toy.
4. Trick or Treat?
A commonly overlooked source of microplastics in our pet’s lives are plastic textile materials like polyester, nylon, and acrylics. These synthetic fibers are used to make our cats and dogs’ clothes, bedding, and costumes. The global pet clothing market alone is expected to grow to $6.3 billion by 2028 with the pet bed sector reaching $4.25 billion in 2022, with a projection to reach $8.23 billion by 2030.
Fast fashion has exacerbated the use of these cheap materials, with global synthetic fiber production increasing from 57 million metric tons to 111 million metric tons in the last 20 years alone. Halloween is fast fashion’s dream holiday – making cheap costumes the norm as 83 percent of the materials used for these are made of oil-based plastic. Which is a nightmare for our pets’ health as we wrap them in polyester ghost gear.
Better alternatives for our pet costumes, and our own too, are linen, cotton, and wool. All of these materials are natural fibers that are durable and will make for hauntingly cool pet costumes.
5. Sucking Up the Spooky
Last but not least, end your spooky night right with a careful cleanup! Check indoors and outdoors, for plastic candy wrappers, decorations, and even forgotten chocolate bars, as chocolate is poisonous to dogs.
We hope these tips help you celebrate the spooky season free of plastic nightmares. If you want to support our work dumping plastics, sign the
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