Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumIf you really want to be green for Earth Hour, go vegan
On Saturday 19 March many of us will be turning off the lights for Earth Hour. While this will make for a nice romantic meal, if you truly want to combat climate change, cross off meat, eggs and dairy foods from your shopping list. Foods derived from animals, whether eaten by candlelight or not, require more resources and cause more greenhouse gas emissions than plant-based foods do. Each year, humans kill 60 billion land animals for food thats about 7 million animals every hour. All these animals produce massive amounts of waste, which releases powerful greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. The livestock sector is the single largest source of both methane and nitrous oxide, greenhouses gases that are 25 and 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide, respectively. A person who follows a vegan lifestyle produces the equivalent of 50% less carbon dioxide than a meat-eater and uses 1/11th of the oil, 1/13th of the water and 1/18th of the land, which is why the United Nations has stated that a global shift towards a vegan diet is essential to combat the worst effects of climate change. So blow out the candle, turn on the lights and get into the kitchen and cook a vegan meal this Earth Hour. Its the best thing any of us can do for the environment as well as for animals.
Jennifer White
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/mar/18/if-you-really-want-to-be-green-for-earth-hour-go-vegan
danimich1
(175 posts)It's too bad so many environmental groups are afraid to say this.
femmedem
(8,197 posts)But that is still substantial, and for most of us is the single step we can most easily take to reduce CO2 emissions.
More info on carbon foodprint here and excerpted below:
"...Even since the FAO announced that 18% of global emission result from livestock people have talked about the climate benefits of reducing meat consumption...
"...A Vegetarians foodprint is about two thirds of the average American and almost half that of a meat lover. For a Vegan it is even lower. But perhaps most interestingly, eating chicken instead of beef cuts a quarter of emissions in one simple step.
An Average Americans diet has a foodprint of around 2.5 t CO2e per person each year. For a Meat Lover this rises to 3.3 t CO2e, for the No Beef diet it is 1.9 t t CO2e, for the Vegetarian its 1.7 t CO2e and for the Vegan it is 1.5 t CO2e. Each of these estimates includes emissions from food that is eaten, wasted by consumers and lost in the supply chain..."
Im sure I can make it an hour without meat.
sue4e3
(731 posts)GliderGuider
(21,088 posts)Perhaps for Earth hour, we could take an hour and get sterilized. That will do the planet far more good than just fiddling with your diet by cutting out a food that we evolved to eat.