Your dog has twice the carbon foot print of an SUV

[Jim Johnson]

Eat a Dog, Save the Earth

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,569124,00.html

Thursday, October 22, 2009

AP

What's the carbon pawprint of your pet?

SUVs owners are often castigated by treehuggers for their Earth-unfriendly lifestyle. A new book argues that pets are just as bad.

New Zealand authors Robert and Brenda Vale's book, "Time to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living" is an exhaustive analysis of the environmental impact of common pets such as cats and dogs. The authors studied the carbon emissions created by pets, including the ingredients in their food and the land required to grow it. And the results don't bode well for Fido, who compares poorly to that SUV.

The Values noted that a medium dog consumes 90 grams of meat and 156 grams of cereals daily in its recommended 300-gram portion of dried dog food. They then determined that Fido wolfs down about 164 kilograms of meat and 95 kilograms of cereals per year.

It takes 43.3 square meters of land to generate 1 kilogram of chicken per year — far more for beef and lamb — and 13.4 square meters to generate a kilogram of cereals. So that gives him a footprint of 0.84 hectares. For a big dog such as a German shepherd, the figure is 1.1 hectares.

Meanwhile, a Toyota Land Cruiser driven a modest 10,000 kilometers a year, uses 55.1 gigajoules, which includes the energy required both to fuel and to build it. One hectare of land can produce approximately 135 gigajoules of energy per year, so the Land Cruiser's eco-footprint is about 0.41 hectares — less than half that of a medium-sized dog.

The authors aren't really arguing that we should eat our pets of course, merely that we need to think more about the ecological impact of the things we do on a daily basis, and how we choose to use land.

"Owning a dog really is quite an extravagance, mainly because of the carbon footprint of meat," Vale told New Scientist magazine. So what's the "eco-pawprint" of your pet?

German shepherds: 1.1 hectares, compared with 0.41ha for a large SUV

Cats: 0.15ha (slightly less than a Volkswagen Golf).

Hamsters: 0.014ha (two of them equate to a medium-sized plasma TV).

Goldfish: 0.00034ha (an eco-finprint equal to two cellphones).

For more information, read the full article on New Scientist.

[dalebert]

Hamsters: 0.014ha (two of them equate to a medium-sized plasma TV).

Winks is probably about triple that and Lemmi is maybe four or five times that. He's a fatty.

[KBCraig]

Pass the poodle, with a side of shihtzu.

[FreelanceFreedomFighter]

Maybe true, but these types of studies simply don't give the bigger picture.
For example, even tho the cat/hamster/goldfish appear to be more "eco-friendly" pets and the SUV (or other vehicle) may seem to be more "useful" on the surface... With a properly and well-trained couple of "Fidos", you get so much MORE!

A couple of properly trained and well trained German Shepherds (or similar type doggies), you get:

1) an early warning system for intruders (of various types and Jackboots),
2) assistance in holding off any impending intruders,
3) keeping potential attackers away long enough for you to G.O.O.D.

All of which are MUCH more benefit than you get from any of the other "pets" mentioned. And, if you plan things right, Fido can help obtain more food rations and perhaps even partially feed him/herself.

I vote for Fido over the VW, the TV, or the cell-phone! 

[Jim Johnson]

I want to see the carbon foot print study where they compare having a government vs not having a government. 

I'll bet the UN would have to ban all government for the sake and safety of the planet.

[porcupine kate]

When are they going to tell us not to have children because of their carbon foot print.  I'm sure it will be on the same day they tell us we don't have enough people to keep the economy going.

[D Stewart]

News just in:  Obama's immediate family has seventeen times the carbon footprint of a cargo train.

[tracysaboe]

This just in.

"Environmentalists sued by PETA for murdering their dogs!"

I love it when liberals collide.

Tracy