Pet Sustainability Coalition kicks off 2024 Earth Day Rally

BOULDER, COLO. — Pet industry companies are invited to participate in the Pet Sustainability Coalition’s (PSC) third-annual Earth Day Rally during the month of April, in which the coalition will offer a variety of “micro-actions” that companies and individuals can take to advance their progress toward corporate responsibility and reducing emissions.

This year’s Earth Day Rally will include more than 50,000 available actions to help industry professionals realize “a better future for pets, people and the planet,” the PSC stated.

“The Earth Day Rally inspires individuals from across the pet community to take action and build a more sustainable lifestyle while also breaking down competition and tapping into our networks to inspire our largest group ever to take action,” said Jim Lamancusa, executive director of the PSC. “Through our 30-day sprint, our participants will build habits that last a lifetime.”

Nearly 600 pet industry members participated in the PSC’s Earth Day Rally in 2023. Combined, these participants completed more than 17,000 actions. This was compared to 12,034 actions taken by participants in the 2022 Earth Day Rally, according to the PSC.

For this year’s Rally, the PSC has partnered with a mobile app, CO2 Hero, to stoke “friendly competition” between participants. The app calculates each user’s CO2 emissions and provides easy, everyday ways to reduce those emissions and earn points in the process. At the end of the month, CO2 Hero will share each participant’s CO2 savings as well as the overall impact of the Earth Day Rally.

Additionally, three industry organizations — the American Pet Products Association (APPA), the World Pet Association (WPA), and the National Animal Veterinary Community (NAVC) — have all pledged their support in this year’s Earth Day Rally by donating $1 for every action completed. All proceeds will serve as unrestricted funds to support sustainability programming and resources through the PSC’s Impact Fund.

Earth Animal has sponsored the 2024 Earth Day Rally, making participation free for all other industry members and companies.

“This is our third year of sponsoring and participating in the Earth Day Rally and we get more inspired every year. It is such a fun and easy way to engage and educate the entire Earth Animal team,” said Stephanie Volo, chief impact officer at Earth Animal.   “We love the internal drive to outdo our colleagues and track our progress against other companies. We are a proud sponsor, knowing that this makes it free for everyone across the industry to participate and that it supports the only such effort of action in the industry.”

Registration for the 2024 Earth Day Rally is now open. Learn more about the Rally, including how to get started with the CO2 Hero app, at www.petsustainability.org/earthday.

Read more about sustainability efforts across the pet food and treat industry.