Dogs are bad for the environment. Other than increasing my weekly expenditure, my new dog has also increased my carbon emissions by at least a third. Suddenly, the supply of toilet paper has to be replenished more sooner than expected (or in some cases, unexpectedly, the realisation occurring seated mid-business). The soft double-ply Kleenex is used with extravagant layering to gently cover and deliver doggy-poos into the toilet and then flushed down into our sewerage system with consumption-grade water from Sydney’s dwindling water supply. On a walk, however, a whole plastic bag is used to package a 50 gram poo to a council bin. Previously, I would place individual lemons, carrots and bananas unfettered onto the cashier’s conveyor belt to be weighed and checked out but now I find myself enthusiastically packing my fruits and vegetables in the grocery bags at the supermarket as to maintain a surplus of these for Rufus’ daily walks. And talk about food miles! His kibble is made in America, his beef jerky is made in New Zealand, not to mention the harness made in Korea and the jumper made in China. I have to keep the warm water running when I bathe him or he yelps even though he remains firmly under my armpit rather than under the running tap. The amount of water that goes straight from faucet to drain pipe, is as bad as letting the water run, not only while you brush your teeth but floss and shave as well. In the re-settling period of his first two weeks in the home, the washing machine was on a daily hot and cold water cycle, to wash little rugs and bathmats that he had peed on. You can’t just hang a soiled rug out to dry because dogs with the hyper-olfactory senses will sniff it out and pee on the same spot again. I have even widened the circumference of the hole in the ozone layer by pumping CFCs into the air with the purchase of an aerosol can of deodorizer, ‘No-More-Pet-Smells’, which is in fact, No-More-than a rather cunningly marketed candy-scented air freshener, (with a less distinct reference to lavender, pine glades or potpourri). A morning walk, has on occasion made me too late to take the 30 minute journey on public transport to work and instead, I have had to take my car for the precious 15 minutes it saves me (that’s right, I’m blaming the dog and not my increasing inability to leave the house in a timely fashion due to other past-times such as blogging or gardening.)
There’s nothing for it, than to offset my carbon emissions by giving my bank account details to a carbon trading program and in time Rufus and I will be completely carbon-neutral on the promise that someone, somewhere has planted a tree for us with the cash. (Click here, for Adrian’s more articulate criticisms)
I’ve always felt domestic pets to be a strange extravagance in a world where starvation still exists. It’s an obscene paradox that people still die of hunger and the people who have money would rather spend it on an animal. My conscience is frequently plagued by weird conundrums like this although I’m learning to live with them more and more, resigned to give up my cynicism and disbelief for a wholehearted engagement with modern life (in a first world country).
Rufus runs a frenzied marathon around the house while Max does his TKD stretches.
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