Carbon paw prints pack a punch

Lassie may be a lot more cute and cuddly on your front lawn than your neighbor’s giant yellow Hummer, but his carbon foot, or paw, print might be just as painful to the planet.

According to the book “Time to Eat the Dog? The Real Guide to Sustainable Living,” it takes 0.84 hectares of land to feed a medium-sized dog. That number is almost as disturbing as the book’s title when compared to the 0.76 hectares an average Vietnamese citizen needed in 2004 — or the 0.67 hectares an Ethiopian needed that same year.

So how is it that Fido is wagging his tail through more resources in a year than many humans?

The answer can largely be found in the food. For humans, buying locally produced, sustainable food is now easier than ever — but locally grown pet food is harder to come by.

Most pet food is produced in China, making transportation an obvious area of environmental concern. Then there’s the packaging, not to mention what’s actually going into your puppy’s stomach.

Most dog food is meat-based and tends to come from cattle or fish, which are much more damaging to farm than poultry.

The best solution is to feed your pets a home-cooked meal — not always a realistic option, especially for college students who wouldn’t be able to feed themselves without drive-thrus.

The next best thing is buying from pet food brands committed to using sustainable products, like Castor and Pollux and Karma Organic, which are both USDA Organic-certified, produced in the United States and sustainable in their manufacturing processes.

They’re more expensive, but they’re better for your pet and your planet.

Dog lovers aren’t the only environmental culprits. Domestic cats are technically considered an invasive species: They kill at least a hundred million birds in the U.S. every year. This exceeds all other causes of avian deaths, including wind turbines, power lines and vehicle collisions. At least 33 avian extinctions have been cat-induced worldwide.

So what’s a cat lady to do? Without giving up Fluffy (and his 19 brothers and sisters), feline owners can at least make sure cats stay inside, away from the opportunity to attack wildlife. As far as cat food, many of the same cautions (buying organic, minimizing travel) apply, especially since cat food tends to be even more processed than kibble.

As someone who was never allowed to own a furry friend (my mom was “allergic”, mostly to the thought of another thing she would have to clean up after), I thought I was in the clear. However, I then remembered my unobtrusive, seemingly harmless fish. Depending on the size and type of fish, tanks can use considerable energy. A large reef tank, for instance, could consume several thousand kilowatt hours in a year compared to the 1,000 a refrigerator uses.

New technologies like low-energy LED lights and lower energy pumps are emerging on the aquarium market, making “green” fish tanks a new option.

So, once again, a seemingly harmless activity has huge environmental consequences. But before you “eat the dog,” consider a few small changes to make man’s best friend’s carbon paw print softer than his bite.

Holly Beilin is a sophomore global studies major from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Contact her at:hbeilin@live.com.