We’ve studied the environmental impact of cow flatulence, water source contaminations from livestock and myriad other environmental effects of animal production. Now a 2014 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has surfaced to expose the carbon paw-print from feeding meat to pets.
Source: Los Angeles Times, August 4, 2017.
In short, Gregory Okin concluded, American dogs and cats eat enough animal product to account for about 64 million tons of methane and nitrous oxide, two other powerful greenhouse gases. That’s about the same impact on our warming climate as driving 13.6 million cars for a year.
INSIGHTS: Okin also shared that pets produce about 30 percent of the amount of feces that humans do. Much of that gets thrown away in plastic bags, instead of treated the way that human waste is.