My Eco-Friendly Pet- Gold Standard

One of the reasons I created the Green ABC's for Kids was so kids and others would find ways to naturally '˜go green'. Since C- is for Carbon Footprint it would be natural that I would want to find the most eco-friendly pet around. And, I did. It is my goldfish in a bowl- Gold Standard. I believe he is the pet with the least amount of carbon footprint, fin for fin.

A goldfish in a clear glass bowl leaves an nth of a carbon footprint. You need to clean out the water at least once a week, for cleanliness sake. So, you could say you are using up a little bit of your carbon that way. A clean goldfish bowl probably will use up about a half a gallon a week, a lot less than any other pet you might want to own.

Gold Standard also only eats goldfish food flakes which are pretty fluffy and light. And, he doesn't eat too much of this, keeping the carbon cost of shipping his food and producing his food, low, and friendly to the environment. And, guess what? Gold Standard has never snuggled up to me, suggesting he might be cold.

What does that mean?

It tends to make me think that he does not need any kind of heating mechanism except the one his human uses to keep him warm. Another step in the right direction when it comes to saving energy, thus saving those dirty fossil fuels!

I also wanted to go one step further with Gold Standard, so I invested in natural and organic fish food made out of oats, barley, brown rice and carrots. It's easy to purchase this type of food online and to make sure it is organic. The only drawback in going this way with how you feed your fish is the shipping and production costs.

I guess it is true that there is the word '˜cuddly' for a hamster, another eco-friendly pet. Or I might add '˜wild and throaty' for a bird, another pet that some think of as eco-friendly. I am not real fond of caging birds so that is no-brainer for me.

And, it is pretty obvious that having a dog or a cat is not really eco-friendly at all, because dogs require a good amount of food and care, all of which adds to their paw print. Cats? A cat might be a little more eco-friendly than a dog. However, when you consider cat litter, cat food, and water- and all the shipping and production costs inherent in these- these two pets are not eco-friendly at all.

Me? I will stick with Gold Standard- and just keep the water in the bowl clear as a mountain stream.