Domesticated rabbits are naturally green even though they come in many
colors and 45 different breeds. In fact, rabbits create less greenhouse
gases than cats or dogs*.
Why rabbits are a natural choice:
Rabbits Love Local
Rabbits create less food miles (distance between
production and consumption). A domesticated rabbit will eat garden
vegetables and even dandelion leaves. Hay is the mainstay of a healthy
rabbit diet and is locally grown in most states. These buck toothed
bunnies also enjoy eating parts of vegetables humans don’t want to
consume like carrot tops, radish tops and beet tops – greens.
Litter Bunanza
Rabbit waste is prized by most gardeners and can be used
in its dry form or made into an organic tea as a natural fertilizer.
House rabbits can be litter box trained and a good litter
box set-up consists of timothy hay in a newspaper lined cat litter box.
Empty the litter box into your compost pile with plenty to spare for
gardening neighbors. Recycled newspaper litters are also a safe litter
for bunnies and to add to a compost bin. Be sure to neuter or spay a
pet rabbit so you don’t end up with a real poopalooza.
Vegetarian Pet
Cattle are major emitters of greenhouse gases and a
source of protein in pet foods. Since rabbits are grass grazing animals
like cows, they don’t contribute to the high carbon creating perils of
producing meat based pet foods.
Recycled Toys
Rabbits enjoy simple toys made out of cardboard items
like the inner core of a paper towel roll by tossing and chewing on
them. They also love tearing into old phone books, too, making even
more fertilizer.
Small Paw Print
Rabbits don’t need a big backyard and are excellent house
pets even for apartment dwellers.
Bunny Bonuses
Rabbits don’t bark or meow and that means less noise
pollution. Plus, they have a unique soft purr by gently grinding their
teeth and enjoy being petted on their foreheads. They are entertaining
house pets.
* Back in 2007 I
came upon an article by Lucy Teloar about the greenhouse gases cats and
dogs cause and started this web page on rabbits as green pets. It
is more relevant than ever now. I still have four cats in the
house even though they are not as "green" as my rabbits. Here is
the reference for the article: The carbon-trading company Easy
Being Green estimates an average cat causes almost half a ton of
greenhouse gas emissions per year, and a dog produces 1.75 tons. Sidney
Morning Herald, 11-25-07, Eco-friendly Pets by Lucy Treloar
Here are links to the flyers I have made up
from this web page to promote rabbits as green pets. A poster size
11" x 17" will also be available on a CD soon along with several other
posters by Hopperhome.
Rabbits - The Green Pet Color Flyer
Black and White version of Flyer
