Neo Bites, a sustainable pet food startup founded to improve dog health and the pet food industry's relationship with the environment, announces that it has been certified by CIRCA as carbon negative. This achievement makes Neo Bites the first carbon-negative dog food company in the U.S. as it continues to accelerate the shift toward healthier and sustainable animal nutrition.

Legacy pet food's impact on the environment is devastating. America's dogs and cats consume more meat each year than the human population of China, contributing about 25-30% of the entire environmental impact of domestic meat production, which is responsible for 25% of global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).

"Given how destructive the pet food industry's environmental impact has become, we knew that carbon neutral wasn't enough," says Wesley Cooper, Co-Founder of Neo Bites. "We are proud to be building a company that removes greenhouse gases from the atmosphere through the production and sale of its products."

Neo Bites achieved this milestone largely due to its use of insect protein in its line of functional dog food toppers and treats. Cricket farming produces virtually no greenhouse gases, in contrast with traditional livestock rearing which produces more than one-third of total U.S. methane emissions (a GHG 10x stronger at warming the planet than CO2). Neo Bites offsets 150% of the GHGs released through production and shipping of its products through it's partnership with CIRCA - an offset percentage well beyond industry standards. 

CIRCA scours the world's climate solutions to identify the most impactful projects and combines them into no-cost carbon offset products. All of the offsets performed through CIRCA are highly vetted to ensure efficacy and ethical practices. Neo Bites' offsets purchased from CIRCA are sourced through two organizations:

• Clearloop provides offsets that directly fund the development of clean energy in regions where it has the greatest impact. Clearloop's offsets also account for CO2e, not just carbon dioxide, which is a more holistic approach to using offsets as a way of combating climate change. 
• Great Bear Rainforest, home to the largest intact coastal temperate rainforest remaining in the world, provides offsets that go towards creating jobs within the First Nations Communities in the project area. It is the first carbon project in North America on traditional territory with unextinguished Aboriginal rights and title.

To learn more about this important milestone, click here.