30 Day Vegan Challenge: Happy Earth Day!

When I was planning my vegan challenge for the month of April, I was pretty excited to see that Earth Day would be a part of it. A diet centered around meat, eggs, and dairy products is actually one of the greatest factors impacting our environment. We often hear about the huge impact our car usage has on the environment, have seen advertising on energy efficient light bulbs and appliances, and know we should try to reduce our water usage. However, if you cut back on your meat and dairy intake regularly, you would not only be helping your health but also helping the environment.

Over the past 50 years, world meat production has quadrupled and farmed animals now outnumber people by more than three to one (source). This trend will contribute to a number of problems for this planet, including global warming, pollution, deforestation, water scarcity, and even species extinction. More animals means more crops and water are needed to raise them. Let's take a look at how raising animals for food impacts the environment:

World Hunger

Diets centered around meat and dairy are a big contributor to depriving the world's poor of much needed food. Livestock simply consume much more protein, water, and calories than they produce. Most of the protein animals consume from the vegetable feed is used to sustain them and not converted to meat, eggs, or milk. The world's population continues to grow, and raising animals for food is not sustainable. The amount of land, food, and water required to raise animals for food will always vastly exceed what humans would require. To produce one pound of meat, it takes 16 pounds of grain. If people ate just 10% less meat - JUST 10% LESS - the amount of grain saved could feed the starving world. Do you mean to tell me you can't decrease your meat consumption by 10%?!

Land and Forests

Viable agricultural lands and forests are rapidly diminishing, and a large part of that is to clear land for raising farm animals. 35% of soil degredation and 30% of deforestation can be attributed to overgrazing. This creates a vicious cycle in which declining soil fertility pushes people to find new land to expand agriculture. That then leads to deforestation, which in turn causes soil degredation. Forests are being destroyed not only to provide wood, paper, and fuel but also to provide land for grazing cattle and for growing the crops to feed farmed animals. Switching to a vegan diet - even part time! - can help reduce the destruction of much needed land and forests.

Water

Although statistics vary, it is safe to say it takes at least three times the amount of water to feed a meat eater than it does to feed a vegan. This is largely due to the amount of water required to raise the crops to feed to livestock, along with the amount of water those animals require. Much water and land is wasted by growing feed crops for livestock instead of feeding those crops directly to people. Agriculture is also the number one water polluter. Waste from livestock pollutes groundwater, streams, and rivers.

Oceans

Ocean ecosystems are drastically affected by large scale fishing. Destructive fishing methods, such as nets which are dragged across the ocean floor and catch all sorts of marine life, destroy a multitude of fish and other creatures, along with coral and plant life. Much of the animals and plants caught in these nets is thrown back into the sea as waste. This in turn affects the quality of life for dolphins and whales, too. Fish farming is no better - farmed fish are fed on meal made from wild fish. More than three tons of wild fish are needed to produce one ton of farmed salmon. Then there is the amount of chemical treatments given to these fish which are later consumed by humans.

Climate

When carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide are released into the air, they blanket the Earth, trapping heat inside the atmosphere. This is known as the greenhouse effect, and it keeps our planet at a temperature at which life can thrive. However, the massive increase in the output of these and other greenhouse gases has caused the effect to intensify. Meat eating is responsible for at least one third of all methane emissions. Methane is produced by bacteria in the stomachs of sheep, cattle, and goats and is released through the animals' bodily functions. Methane is 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. Factory farming also uses massive amounts of fossil fuels to produce, transport, and process feed for the animals; as well as transport the animals to slaughterhouses. A University of Chicago study concluded it would be more environmentally effective to go vegan than to switch to an electric hybrid car! And again, let's not forget about the destruction of the forests to raise livestock - destroying forest land to grow food for cattle, pigs, and chickens results in fewer trees to absorb carbon dioxide. See how this is all connected?

Here are a few more fast facts for you:
Source

• Red meat and dairy are responsible for nearly half of all greenhouse gas emissions from food for an average U.S. household.
• Can't commit all the way? Replacing red meat and dairy with chicken, fish, or eggs in your diet for one day each week reduces emissions equal to 760 miles per year of driving.
• Switching to vegetables one day per week cuts the equivalent of driving 1,160 miles per year. 
• A single dairy cow produces about 120 pounds of wet manure per day, which is equivalent to the waste produced by 20-40 people. That means California's 1.4 million dairy cows produce as much waste as 28-56 million people.

I could go on and on and on. If you care about our Earth and how we are impacting it, doesn't reading this information inspire you to want to make some changes? You don't even have to go 100% vegan - the facts above show what a difference a vegan diet just one day per week can make. ONE DAY! We can all sacrifice meat and dairy products at least one day per week.

Please make a difference, for yourself and for future generations.