10 Reasons Alpacas are the Most Eco-Friendly Animals
Aren't alpacas cute?
They are everywhere these days, they are trendy and popular, and a fan-favorite in zoos and animal parks. Many people say that alpacas are the most eco-friendly animals, but I never understood why.
A few years ago, I didn’t even know what these furry and cute creatures were. Then I went to an animal farm with my mom and we fell in love with them instantly.
After we left them, I had a little research, to find out more about them and to my surprise, they are indeed considered the greenest domestic animals. Why? Well, keep reading, you’ll find out soon enough.
Alpacas can live up to 20-30 years, and they have great memories. They really bond with each other, and their human friends, who take care of them. They are very neat, intelligent, altogether very tame, and social. Some people do yoga with them because they are spreading calmness, and positive energy.
They help reduce our environmental impact, which is very important these days, because our planet is in danger, and we should take all the help we get. So let’s find out why alpacas are considered to be the greenest domestic animals of the XXI century.
10 Reasons Alpacas are The Most Eco-Friendly Animals
# 1 - Alpacas don't ruin plants
These animals don’t have teeth at the top of their mouth, so they only nip the grass instead of pulling up by the roots. This means, the grass can grow right back, and the farmers don’t have to worry about replanting the lands.
#2 - They reduce environmental impact with their bare foot
Alpacas don’t have hooves, but small, soft, padded feet with two toes. These toes, which let them tread very gently and don’t damage plant life and soils really help reduce the environmental impact.
# 3 - We can save money on their forage
Compared to alpacas’ body weight, they need less food and water than other domestic farm animals. This also helps reduce the environmental impact of our planet.
One of alpaca’s favorite forage is lady phacelia, also known as honey plant, a beautiful purple flower, which is grown in flower fields. It’s a top pollen-producing plant.
There are many more flower fields that are produced for poultry and livestock animals, and they are also attractive to pollinators. See the list of the most colorful flower fields for pollinators here.
# 4 - They eat what other animals don't
Alpacas like the brush, fallen leaves, and vegetation that other animals just don’t eat under any circumstances. This helps the balance of nature since the more these greenest domestic animals eat of them, the less they eat other animals’ favorite food. So the reduction of the environmental impact is still on.
# 5 - Composting is easy with them
Since alpacas have a 3-stomach digestive system, the seeds that they eat completely vanish and won’t produce any more weeds in the garden. There for, we don’t have to pluck weeds, which saves us time and energy. This is unique because other farm animals like cows’ and horses’ manure do that. So we might say, alpacas are like living compost bins.
If you do regular composting, check out my 10+1 home composting tips, where you will find great tricks to produce the most nutritious soil every year.
And if you only dream about having a compost bin, but live in the city, I have an excellent way to hide it and make it possible, check it out.
# 6 - Alpacas give us less work
Since alpacas are the most eco-friendly animals, it’s not a surprise that they collectively start using the same place as a bathroom after settling down. They don’t change it around, which means less mess for the environment. Also, it’s less energy for the owners to pick up and collect those very nutritious droppings – Yes, you read that right.
# 7 - Alpaca manure is (of course!) recyclable
It is high in potassium and nitrogen, pH-balanced, and great for all plants as a natural fertilizer. It breaks down very quickly and doesn’t need any aging. Plus, it’s odorless, which makes the fertilizing a nicer activity.
The droppings improve the water holding capacity and the texture of the soils.
# 8 - Repurposing alpaca manure
When we use something for something else after its lifecycle, it’s good for the environment. That is why repurposing is my favorite way to help our planet. We don’t throw away things, we just give them a new purpose. Less junk for the wasteland, right?
And it’s so much fun as well! Check out my article on all kinds of household items that can be repurposed and given a new life as something totally different.
So alpacas are the most eco-friendly animals, because their pellet-like droppings may also be used as biofuel.
# 9 - Alpaca fiber is also eco-friendly
The alpacas’ fleece contains no lanolin, so it’s hypoallergenic.
It doesn’t need to go through any awful energy-intensive chemical process, which in other cases releases lung-damaging pollutants into the air and climate-warming carbon dioxide.
#10 - Clothes made of alpaca fiber are unique
Their fiber is softer than cashmere, warm, water repellent, and flame-resistant. Therefore it’s very durable, which means it’s an ideal option for earth-conscious consumers.
Alpaca fiber can be used to make clothes – scarves, sweaters, gloves, hats, even comfy pants, or it can become an awesome rug, or bedding even.
Since alpacas come in 22 different colors, the wool doesn’t necessarily need any dying, so if for any reason you want to say goodbye to the things that are made of alpaca fibers, they are biodegradable.
Are you convinced that alpacas are the most eco-friendly animals?
To reduce the environmental impact on our planet is high priority for everyone, so finding out that these cute alpacas are helping with this, is very satisfying in my opinion. Alpacas are indeed the greenest domestic animals of the XXI. century and so it’s a no brainer for me, alpacas are the most eco-friendly animals.
Of course, not everyone can have alpacas, plus, they don’t like to be alone, it’s recommended to have at least a couple of them. Having alpacas in the backyard is a huge decision, depending on the space and time you have, and let’s not forget the financial obligations. But once you have them, it’s impossible not to love them and take care of them for those 20-30 years.
If you don’t have the space for alpacas, you can maybe have a barnyard, with plenty of birds. Don’t worry, chickens are not the only kinds of barnyard birds you can have. Check out all kinds of poultry and their different kinds of eggs here.
Chickens produce delicious eggs, you eat the eggs, throw some eggshells on the compost or feed the birds with it, and the life cycle of birds and eggs is beautiful and complete.
If you don’t have barnyard birds, you probably eat eggs from time to time. Here are some ideas to repurpose eggshells after you crack those eggs.
Since alpacas are the most eco-friendly animals, it’s only fair to create decorations out of waste, to repurpose what we have instead of throwing them out.
I made this decoration a few years back. I love it so much, I have made tons since, and gave them away as gifts.
What is it made of? I got a gift once and it was wrapped in this tissue paper, with this cute alpaca and it has a whole pattern of them. So of course, I had to act on this immediately.
I always keep tissue papers because they can be repurposed in so many ways, we wouldn’t even think of. Check out how I made this cute and lovely low-budget fridge magnet.
I have also collected other household items that can be used in fun DIY repurposing projects.
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