Eating Less Meat: A Powerful Way to Help the Earth
Most modern societies have a love affair with meat. In a post-war world, being able to buy and consume meat, and lots of it, was a sign that you were living a prosperous life and that the economy was back on its feet. Meat has a dirty secret, however: it’s incredibly bad for the earth, when compared to a plant-based diet. Even if you can’t imagine going vegetarian, cutting down your meat consumption even a little is still one of the most effective way to reduce greenhouse gases.
Energy Intensive
What makes meat so bad for mother earth? It’s incredibly energy intensive to produce. Think about it: To get the cuts of meat from one cow, you have to provide the cow with grazing land and barrels of grain. That cow’s energy footprint contains all the energy that went into raising the grain—and it takes a lot of grain to feed a cow. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture’s 2006 report, 18 percent of humans’ greenhouse gas emissions comes from raising livestock.
How does this translate to your personal carbon footprint? If you cut out just one meal of chicken per week and replaced it with vegetarian food, over the course of a year the carbon dioxide savings would be equivalent to taking half a million cars off the road. Half a million.
Start Small
If you’re the type of person who cringes at the thought of tofu, consider starting small when it comes to reducing your meat consumption. As stated above, just cutting out one meat meal per week is a very good start to lowering your personal carbon dioxide footprint. Or, if you’re feeling more ambitious, consider cutting out meat from one meal per day—leave out that bacon at breakfast or give up your usual ham sandwich at lunch. If you’re worried about thinking of creative new meal ideas, check out these websites for some easy veggie recipes.
Making the Change
If you’re ready to go the whole way, good for you! You’ll be saving about 100 animals and an acre of trees every year, not to mention producing tons less greenhouse gases. And, scientific studies have shown that balanced vegetarian and vegan diets can be just as healthful and nutritious as an omnivorous one, so there’s nothing holding you back.
Radically changing your diet will take a little planning and time, however. First, you’ll want to get informed, by reading various veggie starter kits offered by vegetarian organizations. Swing by your local library and see what books they have on vegetarian living and cooking. Read the facts about staying healthy and getting all your vital nutrients from vegetarian sources. Getting informed is the first step toward enjoying and sticking with your new diet.
The next step is to stock up on veggie essentials. Many individuals have done this before and can offer their favorite shopping lists to give you an idea of what you’ll be subsisting on. If you’re living with roommates or a partner, tell them that you’re trying out a new diet, so they’ll know to support you and not to tempt you with any meaty meals they may be preparing.
And lastly, don’t be concerned if you “slip up” and eat meat now and then, as you’re getting used to your diet. Just remember to get back on the wagon, and don’t punish yourself—your contributions to the environment by going veg aren’t all or nothing. As you get better at preparing vegetarian meals and become more comfortable in your diet, it will only become easier to continue this great life choice.
Sources:
Fighting Global Warming By Going Vegetarian. (2011) PETA.