As with anything, it's largely affected by how much you pay attention to it. Pets belonging to people who already have large carbon footprints probably have lar

As with anything, it's largely affected by how much you pay attention to it. Pets belonging to people who already have large carbon footprints probably have large carbon footprints. People who are conscientious of their carbon footprints probably have "greener" pets. With enough effort, a pet could have virtually no impact on a family's carbon footprint. For example, in the U.S., we typically throw away 30-40% of our food. If a family feeds their pet(s) with food that would otherwise wind up in a landfill, they'd actually come out ahead.