Recycling Cat Food Cans for a Good Cause

If you can get over the punny name “Together We Can” (Get it? Can?), Purina’s cat food can recycling campaign is actually a great idea. The campaign, which ended earlier this year, encouraged cat owners to pledge online or over the phone to recycle their Fancy Feast and Friskies cans. For each pledge received, Purina committed to donate $1 (or up to $100,000 total) to the litter and waste prevention nonprofit Keep America Beautiful.

This little guy creates a lot of waste. Purina's "Together We Can" campaign aimed to raise awareness of just that.

Even though the campaign has ended now, it’s worth remembering how important it is to recycle even the small things, because they sure add up. We always recycle the cat food cans in our house, but think about how much we’d be wasting if we didn’t: two cats, one can of food each per day, 365 days per year — that’s 730 cans of cat food we go through each year! One of our cats is 15 years old, so you can imagine how many cans the little guy has gone through so far. And, that’s not even taking into account all the cardboard cat litter boxes, dry food bags, treat containers and other cat-related stuff we bring into our house. Who says you need opposable thumbs to be a consumer?

All that other stuff aside, cans alone have a significant environmental impact. According to Keep America Beautiful, recycling a 3-ounce aluminum can saves enough energy to power a 60-watt bulb for more than two hours, while recycling a 5.5-ounce can saves enough energy to power a 30-inch television for more than two hours. That’s not nothing!

So, don’t be aloof about recycling your cat food cans, even if your cat is aloof about everything.