[ad_1]
“It is one of the two or three most important contributors to the most serious environmental problems, on any scale, from local to global.” This was summed up by the UN report from 2006, assessing meat consumption around the world.
In North America, we love our meat – be it a lazy summer barbecue or a plain meat and potato meal. But if you’re looking for an idea of ??a green life with a big impact, you should consider eating less meat as this could have a greater impact on your carbon footprint (for good!) Than switching from a gas eater to a hybrid car.
As the greatest environmental threat of our time, climate change is something we cannot ignore, and your eating habits have an impact on this problem unmatched by almost all other sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate change, as you may have heard, is a serious environmental problem with many consequences, and it is people who cause it. If we do not slow down climate change, the consequences could be catastrophic:
- Air pollution, hotter-than-average weather and extreme weather events will have a negative impact on human health and may accelerate the spread of vector-borne diseases.
- The intensification of droughts, floods and severe storms will lead to crop failures and shortages of drinking water.
- Glaciers will melt faster, causing sea levels to rise, leading to land loss and the displacement of millions of people.
- Temperatures will rise faster than plants and animals can adapt, causing many species to become extinct.
These are worst-case scenarios, but they are real, and your diet may be part of the problem.
How eating less meat will slow climate change
Of all the green changes you can make in your life, eating less meat (and dairy) can have the biggest impact on your money – it’s more efficient than buying food locally, eating organic, or driving a hybrid car. But why is that so? Let me explain:
- Deforestation: Raising animals for meat results in the leveling of huge stretches of forests around the world. An estimated 55 acres of rainforest are needed to produce one meal of meat protein (John Robbins, author of The Food Revolution). Trees are a major carbon sink (not to mention many other environmental benefits), so cutting them down reduces the planet’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide.
- Greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture: Eighty percent of all grain products grown in the US are used to feed livestock. Conventional farming methods include high doses of petroleum chemicals (fertilizers and pesticides) and heavy machinery that burns proportionally large amounts of fuel, emitting large amounts of carbon dioxide.
- Intestinal fermentation: Because ruminants (cows, sheep, goats, and buffaloes) naturally digest their food, they produce a powerful greenhouse gas: methane, which is more than 20 times more effective at trapping heat in our atmosphere than carbon dioxide. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, eating meat accounts for 37% of methane, 9% of all carbon dioxide and 65% of nitrous oxide, all of which are greenhouse gases.
Of course, we like hybrid cars and ecological food and are happy to encourage them. However, a cheaper and more effective way to live an eco-friendly lifestyle and reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to simply eliminate meat from your diet at least once a week. It would be like driving a car 1,000 miles less a year. And remember: organic vegetarian recipes aren’t just that [http://www.organicauthority.com/organic-food-recipes/vegtables-side-dishes/] creative and tasty, they are also healthier than meat dishes!
[ad_2]
Source by Laura Klein