{"id":1805,"date":"2021-09-28T14:52:31","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T12:52:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ecochain.com\/blogs\/a-sustainable-life-with-pets\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T08:22:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T08:22:44","slug":"a-sustainable-life-with-pets","status":"publish","type":"customers","link":"https:\/\/ecochain.com\/de\/customers\/a-sustainable-life-with-pets\/","title":{"rendered":"Happiness for animal, owner & planet \u2013 How Vadigran makes a sustainable life with your pet possible"},"content":{"rendered":"

People who love animals- love nature.<\/h2>\n

Family business Vadigran <\/a>has been producing and supplying pet products of the highest quality since 1955. Once started with the production of grain blends <\/em>for birds and small animals- Vadigran later expanded its activities to the distribution of accessories and various foods <\/em>for dogs, cats, small animals, birds, and wild birds.<\/p>\n

Vadigran thinks from the needs of both owner and animal. And recently they also combine this with the needs of the planet<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

With their mission; \u2018creating a more sustainable pet lifestyle\u2019, <\/em>Vadigran wants to ensure that caring for an animal equals giving back to our planet.<\/strong> Because people who love animals- also love nature.<\/p>\n

„We strongly believe that if you don\u2019t do this right, you will have no reason to exist in the long run. Or perhaps you will \u2013 but just for a very small group of people who keep closing their eyes.“<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013 Wanda Gordts, head of Marketing & Product Development at Vadigran
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Translating internal motivation into sustainable action<\/span><\/h2>\n

Vadigran wants to generate sustainable impact and shake up the pet sector. And to do so, they want to create complete transparency in the environmental footprint of all their products.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With large customers such as supermarkets and specialized pet shops, Vadigran believes that it \u00a0 can achieve a major positive impact. So, they started a new sustainability project. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The goal: <\/b> Within now and 10 years, Vadigran wants its entire range of products to <\/span>be CO\u2082-<\/span>negative.<\/span> All products in their range will be<\/span> replaced<\/span><\/i> with sustainable alternatives. At the moment, the focus is on the <\/span>learning process<\/i> of measuring their<\/span> environmental footprint<\/span> to implement continuous improvement. This is why Vadigran has chosen to first calculate and reduce the environmental footprint of 9 of their <\/span>own<\/span> Yana grain products for birds (5 products) and rodents (4 products). This will then be followed by the rest of their product range.<\/span><\/p>\n

With this goal in mind, they ended up at Ecochain.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

„We needed a user-friendly platform to be able to calculate the impact of our products ourselves. Ecochain has developed the perfect tools for us to investigate this impact. In addition to access to an extensive database, we also receive personalized advice from environmental specialists. It\u2019s exactly what we need to be able to continue learning about sustainability.“
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\u2013 Kobe Cobbaert, Junior Data analyst at Vadigran<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Methodology<\/h2>\n

The environmental footprints of Vadigran\u2019s 9 own Yana grain products have been calculated through Life Cycle Assessments<\/a> (LCA). These LCA\u2019s are executed in Ecochain\u2019s product LCA tool (also known as Mobius)<\/a>\u2013 with the main environmental database Ecoinvent 3.5.<\/p>\n

To calculate the individual footprints, the corresponding environmental impact values (Ecoinvent) are linked to each step <\/strong>in the entire life cycle of the 9 grain products. Meaning; from the production of the products until their waste phase- the impact is assessed of the obtaining of raw materials, the necessary transport, the energy consumption, etc.<\/p>\n

One of the grain mixtures was first modeled in Ecochain software<\/a> to show how the calculations of the products work. With support where necessary, Vadigran now performs all calculations itself. <\/strong><\/p>\n

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Figure 1. The different phases in a product lifecycle (LCA).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The result: from environmental data to strategic action points<\/h2>\n

In the end, the total emissions of the 9 grain products did not disappoint (figure 2). And that\u2019s because the grains are natural products without many processing processes \/ added ingredients. The LCA\u2019s did show that the biggest impact hotspots of the 9 products are located in:<\/p>\n