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Post by Mojo on Dec 21, 2009 22:38:35 GMT -5
PARIS (AFP) – Man's best friend could be one of the environment's worst enemies, according to a new study which says the carbon pawprint of a pet dog is more than double that of a gas-guzzling sports utility vehicle.
But the revelation in the book "Time to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living" by New Zealanders Robert and Brenda Vale has angered pet owners who feel they are being singled out as troublemakers.
The Vales, specialists in sustainable living at Victoria University of Wellington, analysed popular brands of pet food and calculated that a medium-sized dog eats around 164 kilos (360 pounds) of meat and 95 kilos of cereal a year.
Combine the land required to generate its food and a "medium" sized dog has an annual footprint of 0.84 hectares (2.07 acres) -- around twice the 0.41 hectares required by a 4x4 driving 10,000 kilometres (6,200 miles) a year, including energy to build the car.
To confirm the results, the New Scientist magazine asked John Barrett at the Stockholm Environment Institute in York, Britain, to calculate eco-pawprints based on his own data. The results were essentially the same.
"Owning a dog really is quite an extravagance, mainly because of the carbon footprint of meat," Barrett said. |
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Post by verbosity on Dec 22, 2009 6:29:30 GMT -5
I recently did a course in permaculture, and I'm currently working on my first couple of projects in this regards. One my first discoveries is that there is no 'right' answer in regards to climate change and the need to conserve biodiversity.
A classic example of this is the farm where I did the course, their major product was apples, which requires the grass around the trees to be cut, the most eco friendly solution? a petrol driven lawnmower!
The same applies to dogs ( and to an extent ourselves), Firstly we waste far too much food, and secondly we eat way to much meat. Simply put Dogs are scavengers, and would be happy to eat our scraps as the major part of their diet ( this is a simple fact - dogs domesticated themselves in this way ). It is not the dogs themselves, it's our obsession with keeping up with the jones' and feeding our dogs food thats socially acceptable.
Cars are another common target, ( I'm just going to get my licence ) one person in a car is not an environmental way to travel, yet a car full of people is one of the most environmental way to travel, combine that with using alternative ways to travel and no-one can rightly complain.
In the coming years you will hear a great many statements, and they will all be true, but their goal is not to make people stop driving or having dogs or eating meat , but to consider their actions and make wiser choices.
If I have to get on my soap box and bash anything it would be planes and lawns . Planes due to the gross fuel use ( though in fairness when peak oil hits this will be dealt with by simple economics). Lawns by simple fact that most houses with very little work couple grow a large amount of their food and actually have something beneficial rather than the resource consuming lawn, which serves no real practical purpose.
Sorry for the rant,
Verbosity
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Post by lesblues on Dec 22, 2009 8:34:58 GMT -5
I'm with Verbosity on this. I agree that we all have our part to do in "saving the planet" and we don't all have to be Eco-Warriors. We just have to make sure that we don't waste so much of everything. Recent stats tell us that in Britain about 50% of all food purchased is simply chucked out!
We live in a disposable society and I don't think that's right. We should think about what we buy and how to use our "leftovers" etc.
This of course is the main reason I spend so much time on Ebay trying to recycle the guitarts that other people no longer want. ;D Or something like that!
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Post by joeyb03 on Dec 22, 2009 12:37:28 GMT -5
Dont care about any report..........LOVE MY DOGS!!!! and find the title or quote of the report or whatever about time to eat dogs offensive.......
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Post by lesblues on Dec 22, 2009 13:48:06 GMT -5
Dont care about any report..........LOVE MY DOGS!!!! and find the title or quote of the report or whatever about time to eat dogs offensive....... I don't believe that anyone here thinks we should be eating our dogs. My guess is that Mojo posted this article to spark a debate on climate change/environmental issues and the different ways that statistics can be used to forward an argument. (correct me if I'm wrong Mojo). All I was trying to say was that we can all help the environment by doing little things differently in our own lives. Whether the environmental problems we face are caused by climate change or not is a whole debate on it's own and my reading of Verbosity's post is that he feels the same. It's not about banning cars or dogs it's about making small decisions in our day to day lives that can help us all. (Verbosity, correct me if I'm reading this wrong) |
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Post by joeyb03 on Dec 22, 2009 13:56:00 GMT -5
Yeah, i know that nobody thinks they should eat their dogs.....just that was in the title of the article or in the article or something and i thought it was stupid....i agree we can all do our part.....
Just the article (and i read it on yahoo earlier today) just didnt sit well with me.........my two yellow labs didnt like it either!!!! ;D
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Post by Happy Jack on Dec 22, 2009 14:33:53 GMT -5
I won't be getting rid of my dogs and as far as I am concerned the pleasure and companionship they give far out weigh any effects on climate change - if you believe in it any way Anyone who uses a title " time to eat the dog.." in a book title is being upsetting and offensive to dog owners - and as far as I am concerned their credibility has gone My dogs are main hobby www.highlanedtc.co.uk I thought it was because are a tight Scots Bugger ;D |
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Post by Mojo on Dec 22, 2009 15:02:33 GMT -5
I found it absurd, as I find absurd most of the "save the planet" stuff I read or hear. The planet is fine. we will be long gone, and the planet will continue to be just fine. We should try and save ourselves, not the dang planet.
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Post by Happy Jack on Dec 22, 2009 15:12:48 GMT -5
I found it absurd, as I find absurd most of the "save the planet" stuff I read or hear. The planet is fine. we will be long gone, and the planet will continue to be just fine. We should try and save ourselves, not the dang planet. At last the voice of reason - as I said "If you believe it anyway" I personally don't so I am keeping my dogs, my 3 liter Subaru and farting - last report I read it was cows farting that was doing all the damage The planet is just going through it's cycles |
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Post by Mojo on Dec 22, 2009 21:25:07 GMT -5
I like this quote, somewhat dog-related:
"Wag more - bark less."
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Post by verbosity on Dec 23, 2009 10:26:32 GMT -5
(Verbosity, correct me if I'm reading this wrong) Nope thats pretty much what I was getting at, I think a lot of people are scared that we need to make massive sweeping changes, when the strongest effect often comes from the smallest changes. Yup thats the general idea, most of this save the planet stuff is more "lets keep it in some sort of state that humanity can still Live there" , though there is a chance that is we don't make some changes that we could end up actually killing our planet ( from what I've read each century with greenhouse emissions similar to the 20th century add a 10% chance or our planet ending up like venus or mars.) Yup the cows are a REALLY big factor, it's not just the methane they burp ( and fart ), but the additional land thats used for feed, and the damage they do to an awful lot of ecosystems that cannot cope with their presence. You would do more good by cutting down on steak and burgers than by moving over to a hybrid car. But I think there is a general problem with the way the 'eco' side of the discussion, far to often statements ( like the dogs one above) are made that at heart have a valid point, but simply end up disillusioning their intended targets. The main point of the dogs article should have been the unsustainable way that premium dog food is made. |
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Post by Mojo on Dec 23, 2009 19:34:10 GMT -5
Just so we all agree: I ain't cuttin' down on meat for anything. Now that we got that out of the way, we shall proceed w/ this topic  |
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Post by pwfirst on Feb 11, 2010 13:04:59 GMT -5
I think we are all safe as long as the dogs don't drive the SUV's and take the farting cows for a ride. Phil
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