Environmental Footprint of Domestic Dogs and Cats

Herrera-Camacho, José; Baltierra-Trejo, Eduardo; Taboada-González, Paul; Gonzalez, Luisa Fernanda; Márquez-Benavides, Liliana

doi:10.20944/preprints201707.0004.v1

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 22 publications

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“…Quantification of environmental impacts was performed for four impact categories (global warming potential, land use, water footprint and energy demand). Calculations were based on average values from numerous LCA studies performed for food waste treatment with anaerobic digestion [38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50] , composting [45,49,[51][52][53][54][55][56][57], incineration [38,45,47,48,50], wastewater treatment [58][59][60][61], feeding to pets [62][63][64] and other methods which represent average impact values of all other waste treatment methods. Calculated average LCA impacts were multiplied by the relevant mass flows of avoidable food waste at household level to determine the overall effect of avoidable food waste treatment with current technologies.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Waste Food not Eat: Food Waste Treatment or Obesity - Selection of Sustainable Strategies for Dealing with Food Waste and Obesity

Smetana¹,

Profeta²,

Bhatia³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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This theoretical model-based study is aimed to answer an applied but system-related question, relevant to multiple current studies and general audience: Is it better for human health and the environment to consume extra portion of food or throw it in the garbage (for further treatment)? The question has deep conceptual roots and requires a holistic approach to assessing a few complex systems: food production, food waste treatment and medical treatment activities. According to estimations, there are around 3.05-7.2 Mtonnes of avoidable food waste generated by German consumers at the household level. Simultaneously, high levels of food overconsumption are also observed at the household level. Thus, more than half of all Germans are overweight and obese and a high share of them require additional medical treatment resources. The study compared the environmental impact of treating potentially avoidable food waste with current waste management system in Germany to the hypothetical scenario of consuming such amount of food by the existing population. The results indicated that current waste management system is more beneficial for the environment than consuming excessive food by German population and requesting related medical services in categories of global warming potential (0.128 versus 0.6-2.4 Mtonnes CO 2 eq.), energy demand (-21 versus 16-66 PJ) and water footprint (-1607 versus 13.2-53 million m 3).However, land use impact allocated to other healthcare due to food consumed by humans is 13-80% lower than current waste treatment. Another danger of consuming excessive food relates to accumulated risks and further increased demand for health services. Following years would worsen the situation, making a choice for “food waste avoided” diet unfeasible. The results received do not allow for a simple Sergiy Smetana 1 et al. answer on selecting more sustainable strategies of dealing with an excessive amount of food in every specific case. However, they allow to indicate preferable conditions for dealing with excessive food in model conditions, which account for health status of household members or group of people (population), nutrient density and amount of food, and time frame. Time factor is one of the key factors defining preferences for food-wasting or consumption.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Waste Food not Eat: Food Waste Treatment or Obesity - Selection of Sustainable Strategies for Dealing with Food Waste and Obesity

Smetana¹,

Profeta²,

Bhatia³

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Concerned about Climate Change and Ready to Take Action? An Analysis of the Pro-Climate Actions Individuals Are Motivated to Take to Lower Their Carbon Footprints

Olson,

Szafraniec,

Heinonen

et al. 2024

Sustainability

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Lifestyle changes are recognized as an important part of climate change mitigation. The influence of climate concern on taking individual actions for climate mitigation is well studied; however, the impact that climate concern has on consumption-based carbon footprints (CBCFs) is less studied. We aim to address this gap by examining the relationship of pro-climate actions, climate motivation, and CBCFs. We utilize data from a carbon footprint calculator with around 8000 responses from residents of the Nordic region. Respondents reported their personal consumption over the past year and answered questions about their participation in pro-climate actions and whether they were motivated by reducing their CBCF. We found that the high-impact actions of avoiding meat and flying had the most impact on CBCFs and had the highest correlation with climate motivation; however, the engagement levels were low. Conversely, the actions with the most participation had a lower impact on CBCFs and correlated less with climate motivation. Although respondents who reported a higher engagement with pro-climate actions and a higher climate motivation generally had lower CBCFs, their footprints were still not compatible with 1.5-degree limits. This study highlights the gap between climate motivation and the level of engagement in high-impact actions necessary for climate-sustainable lifestyles.

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Environmental Footprint of Domestic Dogs and Cats

Cited by 2 publications

References 22 publications

Waste Food not Eat: Food Waste Treatment or Obesity - Selection of Sustainable Strategies for Dealing with Food Waste and Obesity

Waste Food not Eat: Food Waste Treatment or Obesity - Selection of Sustainable Strategies for Dealing with Food Waste and Obesity

Concerned about Climate Change and Ready to Take Action? An Analysis of the Pro-Climate Actions Individuals Are Motivated to Take to Lower Their Carbon Footprints

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