The meat industry is something I could ramble on about for days. The more I learn about the truth behind how farm animals are treated, the lack of sustainable processes, and the overall environmental impact the meat industry has on our one and only planet. However, rather than focusing on all of the bad impacts the meat industry causes I've decided to take ~the highroad~ and focus on the small changes anyone can make to their daily life to have a positive impact on the environment!
You're Fighting CO2 Emissions
http://www.ecoclimax.com/2016/08/a-single-cow-bull-or-steer-produces.html
Think you should be breaking out your bike to get to work every day instead of hopping in your car? I mean I'd be super impressed, but would you believe actually passing on steak when ordering dinner would be a better move. By cutting back on beef and other meat and dairy products, you'd also be cutting down on the amount of harmful CO2 you indirectly generate!
Saving Nemo (& Friends)
https://blueocean.net/thousands-miles-away-not-far-enough-escape-plastic-pollution/
By not supporting the fishing industry, where unsustainable fishing practices and pollution are taking a detrimental toll on our planet, you can help to fight back against global warming! The highest percentage by weight of pollution found in the ocean is due to fishing net and traps that are abandoned and forgotten by fishermen. I read a really cool twitter thread you can check out here.
You're Saving Lives
Want to feel like a badass super hero? Skip bacon at breakfast. Studies have found that the vegetarian diet saves both lives and money. It was predicted that a meat-free diet could save 8 million lives by 2050! It's not only making people healthier and causing less illness, but also saving people money on hospital bills and medication!
"Changing dietary patterns could save $1 trillion annually by preventing health care costs and lost productivity. That figure balloons to as much as $30 trillion annually when also considering the economic value of lost life. And that doesn't even include the economic benefits of avoiding devastating extreme weather events that could result from climate change."-Time Magazine
Conserving Water
Clean water is very often taken for granted by those who are so accustomed to living so comfortably. The meat industry uses anywhere from 13,000 to 100,000 liters of water per kilo of beef produced compared to the 1,000 to 1,300 liters used to produced the same amount of grain. Peta has some astonishing facts about how wasteful the meat industry really is.
Breathing Becomes a Breeze
https://me.me/i/epas-scott-pruitts-clean-air-solution-voila-eazy-peazy-politicalcartoons-com-14031699
With cows being mass produced like clockwork, this also means their waste piles up and causes horrible air pollution right in the surrounding area. Factory farming causes an influx of air pollution and a variety of toxic chemicals have been found in the area surrounding farms tested.
All in all, while no one person can do it all (although I wish I could), saving the environment in a gradual incline. It may feel as if you changing your dietary habits will have no effect on anything, but change starts with individuals coming together to make it happen. Weather your interested in eating plant-based for the environment or your own personal health, as long as you are conscious about the vitamins and nutrients you need to replace that you used to get from meat, it is a healthy way to make a change starting with yourself. Maybe changing the way you eat will inspire you to be proactive and making changes to your life and the lives of others!
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