Although many consumers focus on their own carbon footprint, they often overlook that of their pets. A medium dog can consume around 360 pounds of meat and 200 pounds of grain every year, which is double the resources required to drive an SUV 7000 miles, according to the research of two professors advocating for climate change.

Marion Nestle, a nutrition and food studies professor at NYU, claims pets can live a balance vegetarian diet, but there’s no long-term studies. Although cats can’t live off a vegan diet, according to some vets, dogs can. This encourages the use of recipes for dog food made at home, which include food such as leftovers that might otherwise go to waste.

Even packaged meals differ substantially when comparing wet food and kibble. 90% of wet pet food calories come from animal sources, which is double that of dry food. It also uses more land, water, and releases more greenhouse gasses than kibble.

Not only can pet feed be important to consider, but also the details of the animals’ other ends. American dogs and cats make 10 million tons an excremental waste annually, which can be washed into storm drains and contaminate water, which is harmful for wildlife and streams lakes and rivers. Although pet excrement has many harmful aspects, methane digesters have been designed and been implemented in a dog park first in 2010.

In regards to cat litter, clumping litter is notably bad for the environment, containing a potential harmful pollutant for cats and requiring a destructive mining process for the clay it’s made out of. A great alternative is biodegradable litter, which is available made from pine, corn, and newspaper.

Although there are many aspects of pet necessities that cannot be controlled, keeping in mind choices that are more mindful of the environment can enable everyone to make better decisions for both their beloved animals and their future.

I wish I had been a little more thorough in my coverage, and gotten more information on each section that I covered. I wanted to know more about the claim that pets can survive on a vegetarian diet, but the articles I read did not delve further into the details, and I, as usual, did not have an excess of time to hunt down more articles on the subject. I have strayed from my default databases yet again in search for posts on this topic, as I found relatively little on it. Still, I did not get quite as much as I’d wanted about it.

Either way, I found this process quite informative! I’m glad that it’s gotten me thinking about my pets’ impact on the environment instead of just my own. I don’t know what the next synopsis holds, but stay turned to learn with me!

Paterson, Jim. “A Greener Pawprint.” E Magazine, May 2011, pp. 22-26. ProQuest; SIRS Issues Researcher, https://explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2262121426?accountid=163174.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/dry-cat-dog-food-environmentally-friendly-than-wet