Going Vegan will Save the Planet
By Heather Faraid Drennan
If you're one of those people who need a deadline to take action, here's one for you: five years. That's how long analysts with the International Energy Agency give the world's governments to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and reverse climate change "before it's too late." Governments have their role, but there's an important lifestyle change that every individual can make to ensure that our planet doesn't become a giant sauna: Go vegan.
A plant-based diet is not only healthier for you but also better for the entire planet. Consider the following statistics:
-- Producing a single pound of meat emits the same amount of greenhouse gasses as driving 40 miles in an SUV.
-- It takes 10 times as much fossil fuel to produce one calorie from animal protein as it does to produce one calorie from plant protein.
-- If every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and opted for plant-based foods instead, the carbon-dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than a half-million cars off U.S. roads.
In addition, raising animals for food in the U.S. alone produces 89,000 pounds of waste per second. Much of that untreated waste ends up polluting our land and waterways.
There's no time to delay switching to a healthy, vegan diet. Check out PETA's vegetarian/vegan starter kit, and share it with friends and family. On behalf of everyone who's become rather fond of Earth's inhabitable qualities, thank you.
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Raise the bar a lot higher if you want to save the planet. Curb human population growth.
If we stop slaughtering food animals on a regular basis, their natural population growth is REALLY going to strangle the planet's resources.
You have to be kidding we breed our food animals. Lack of reality is what will kill our planet and i eat meat daily...
Super Expert
The number one source of green house gasses is the production of electricity. It overshadows every single source on the planet by orders of magnitude. Even if animal based agriculture ended tomorrow, green house gasses would continue to increase because of *ELECTRICITY* consumption followed by transportation. There are plenty of other arguments to make for becoming a vegan. "Saving the planet" is about as far from the truth as possible. http://epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/downloads11/US-GHG-Inventory-2011-Executive-Summary.pdf
To save the planet? I don't know, but it's actually cheaper to be a vegan than it is to be a meat eater. That's if you do the following:
- Grow you own food - Cook your own meals - Exercise while you're at it. Calories and calories.
Save the planet? The planet doesn't NEED saving, Chicken Little. It was here four billion years before our species arrived, and it will be here another four billion after we're gone. Incidentally, water, which covers nearly 75% of the planet, is the most potent "greenhouse gas" in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide and methane are so far down the list that the concentration of either or both could increase tenfold with little effect on the global climate. As soon as I see someone writing about "carbon footprints" and "greenhouse gases", I immediately know that they don't know what they're talking/writing about.
There are so many reasons to choose a vegan lifestyle. Here are two short videos to help everyone understand why so many are making this life-altering choice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKr4HZ7ukSE and http://www.veganvideo.org
Jim, you got me thinking. I looked you up. I don't like PETA but I like you and your wife's ideas to live with more awareness. I read more at Plant Peace Daily. I've started the first steps to learn more. It's humbling. I don't know why I didn't understand before. I lived a confused hateful life. I cheated others and myself of reality. I know I can't change everything in a day. It's not easy to get rid of lies I was brought up on and lies I was taught as a grown man, but I will. From now on I'll do my best to do only things that won't hurt someone and I won't support any person or company that believes it is all right to kill, be it other people or animals. Thanks for your honesty and words from the heart. “Smitty”
Thanks for your comment Smitty! It really made my day :) If there is anything I can do to help in your transition, please let me know! For health, sustainably and for the animals, JC