Pet Carbon Footprint
Calculate your pet's annual diet footprint and discover lower-carbon feeding options.
Calculate your pet's annual diet footprint and discover lower-carbon feeding options.
A medium-sized dog eating a conventional meat-based diet produces roughly 770 kg CO₂e per year — comparable to a long-haul flight or 3,000 miles of driving. A cat eating conventional wet food produces around 310 kg CO₂e. These are significant fractions of a household’s total footprint, and a category often overlooked in personal carbon accounting.
The ECLA Pet Carbon Footprint Estimator calculates your pet’s annual CO₂e based on species, breed, and weight (which determines daily calorie requirement), diet composition (wet food, dry food, raw, or mixed), and protein source. Emission factors are sourced from peer-reviewed lifecycle assessment studies and the FAO’s GLEAM model.
Highest footprint: beef-based wet food. Beef has a carbon footprint of 27–60 kg CO₂e per kg of protein, and wet food has a higher meat content by weight than dry food.
Lowest footprint: insect-based dry food. Black soldier fly larvae and mealworm are increasingly available in UK pet food brands. Their footprint is approximately 2 kg CO₂e per kg of protein — more than 10× lower than beef. Plant-based dog food (not suitable for cats) is similarly low.
Cats are obligate carnivores and cannot safely eat a plant-based diet. For cats, the best footprint-reducing options are switching from wet to mixed (wet + dry) feeding, choosing chicken or fish over beef or lamb proteins, and buying in larger pack sizes to reduce packaging per meal.
The UK is a leader in insect-based pet food. Brands such as Yora, Wilder Harrier, and Tomojo offer veterinary-approved complete dry food for dogs made with black soldier fly larvae. These are stocked by independent pet shops and available online. If your dog is used to conventional kibble, transition gradually over 7–10 days to avoid digestive upset.
Related tools: Carbon Footprint Estimator · Eco Swap