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<DIV><FONT size=3D2 face=3DArial>I noted months ago an article about t --000e0cdfd9ecc558d10478052fc5 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Peter, I know a truck driver whose sole full-time non-stop job is to drive from Kansas City to Sacramento to carry dogfood for shipment to Asia; on the return run, they haul rice (shipped from Asia) to Kansas City to make into dogfood and horsefood. A semi tractor trailer gets about 4 or 5 miles to the gallon. It all adds up and I think Chris's post just points to how it's all interrelated and how we are often naive about how our lifestyle can harm others. On Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 10:11 AM, Peter & Lorraine Hope < peterhope@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote: > How can you compare a dog eating meat and cereals, which can be linked to > growth on an area of farmland, with a motor vehicle burning hydrocarbons > formed 300 million years ago and built in a modern plant using electricity ( > produced how?) plus plastics, etc.. > > Boy this argument doesn't make sense at all. > > I noted months ago an article about the Halifax market refurbishing a > building to be a green model. It cost millions. Where do people think money > like that is generated? Most does not come in green manner. > > So with respect Chris, I have a lot of problems with the calculations you > have provided and with other examples we see of greener living. > > I'm not a model of such myself - but I try in a modest way. > > Pete Hope - owner of 2 medium sized dogs and 2 largely housebound cats ( 3 > of the 4 are neutered - the other is very old) > PS I do believe the predation arguments made regarding pets > > ----- Original Message ----- > > *From:* Christopher Majka <c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca> > *To:* naturens@chebucto.ns.ca > *Sent:* Tuesday, November 10, 2009 9:47 AM > *Subject:* [NatureNS] How green is your pet? > > Hi folks, > > In an article published 23 October 2009 in NewScientist entitled "How green > is your pet?", Kate Ravilious looks at the ecological impact of pets. The > results of her research are fascinating. Part of the article is based on a > recent book by Robert and Brenda Vale at Victoria University of Wellington > in New Zealand, entitled "Time to Eat the Dog: The real guide to sustainable > living." > > The Vale's analyzed the ingredients of pet food and calculated the > ecological footprints of pets. For example, a medium-sized dog > consumes about 164 kilograms of meat and 95 kilograms of cereals a year. It > takes 0.84 hectares of farmland a year to generate that much food. For a > large dog such as a German shepherd, the ecological footprint is 1.1 > hectares. > > Meanwhile, an SUV (the Vales used a 4.6-litre Toyota Land Cruiser in their > comparison) driven a modest 10,000 kilometres 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. So, a large dog has about 2.5 times the environmental > impact of a gas-guzzling SUV! > > Similar calculations show that the ecological footprint of a cat is 0.15 > hectares (slightly less than that of a VW Golf); a hamster's is 0.014 > hectare; a canary 0.007 hectares; and even a goldfish has a fin-print > of 0.00034 hectares (3.4 square metres), about the same energy usage as two > cellphones. > > The United States, which tops the list for cat and dog ownership, is home > to over 76 million cats and 61 million dogs. Taking the estimated cat > population of the top 10 cat-owning countries, the Vales calculated that the > land required just to feed these cats is over 400,000 square kilometres. > That's equivalent to 1.5 times the area of New Zealand. A further five New > Zealands are required to feed the dogs found in the top 10 dog-owning > countries! > > Ravilious also examines other effects of pet ownership. For example, a > recent article (Mammal Review, 2002, volume 33, page 174) indicates that > cats annually kill 188 million wild animals in Great Britain, i.e., circa 25 > birds, mammals, and frogs per cat per year (and surveys in Australia and the > United States have shown similar numbers). Also, cat excrement is > particularly toxic. In California a decline in sea otters has been linked > to a brain disease caused by the parasite, *Toxoplasma gondii*. It is > found in cat faeces and ends up in rivers due to cat owners who flush their > cat litter down the toilet or allow their cats to defecate outside. Dolphins > and whales have also been affected [this is from a study by Gloeta Massie > and Michael Black presented in 2008 at the annual meeting of the American > Microbiology Society]. > > Dogs also cause problems by disturbing wildlife in wild areas where they > are allowed to run off-leash. In Australia Peter Banks and Jessica Bryant > of the University of New South Wales (Biology Letters, volume 3, page 611) > showed that areas frequented by dogs had 35 per cent less avian diversity > and 41 per cent fewer birds overall compared to areas where dogs were not > allowed. Studies in Great Britain link the decline of some species of birds, > such as European Nightjar (*Caprimulgus europaeus*), to disturbance by > dogs (The Ibis, volume 149, page 27). > > A quick calculation I did from some of the data in the article shows that > the ecological footprint of an average person in Great Britain is is ~ 7.5 > hectares/year. Thus, a large dog would comprises about 15% of that > value. David Mackay, the United Kingdom government's new energy adviser is > quoted as saying, "If a lifestyle choice uses more than 1 per cent of your > energy footprint, then it is worthwhile reflecting on that choice and seeing > what you can do about it." > > The full NewScientist story is available at: > > > http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427311.600-how-green-is-your-pet.html > > Cheers, > > Chris > > > Christopher Majka > 6252 Jubilee Rd., Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 2G5 > c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca > > *"The further backward you can look, the further forward you can see."** * > *- *Winston Churchill > > > --000e0cdfd9ecc558d10478052fc5 Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <div>Peter, I know a truck driver whose sole full-time non-stop job is to d= rive from Kansas City to Sacramento to carry dogfood for shipment to Asia; = on the return run, they haul rice (shipped from Asia) to Kansas City to mak= e into dogfood and horsefood. A semi tract