No, I’m not here to go on some self-righteous rant. I’m not here to attack anyone that eats meat or isn’t vegan or vegetarian because everyone should be allowed to make their own decisions without judgment (... to an extent). But I’ve decided recently I’m going to slowly ease into a more vegetarian based lifestyle.

It’s not because I don’t think humans should eat meat. I’m not naive; there is a food chain and humans stand on top, it’s just an inevitable part of nature, but I also don’t think humans should necessarily be enacting the harm to the extent we currently do. We should do our best to preserve wildlife and our environment. And that brings me to the main reason why I am working to be vegetarian: the environment.

The amount of emissions produced via meat consumption is mind-blowing. I was a little taken aback by the statistics because it had never crossed my mind how much of an impact meat consumption could have in regards to emissions and ultimately our environment. And often that’s the case; we do and proceed with a lot of aspects of life and don’t stop to consider factors past the surface because either they aren’t openly presented or it’s just easier to continue with life the way it is. But once we do see some startling news, we often are prompted to make a change, and that’s important and that’s good.

The New York Times reported in 2006 (our emissions have certainly skyrocketed since then with meat consumption and growing population) the emissions via meat production and food consumption, showing how meats and animal products have significantly (at the lowest 5x and highest 100x more) higher emissions than natural foods like vegetables.

CO2 emissions are a significant impactor in our world’s deteriorating environments and a leading factor in the rise of global warming, and that’s why this “news” really hit me hard. Something so minuscule in my everyday life I didn’t even consider having such a large impact was really hurting the environment.

So I’m trying to make a change because why shouldn’t we be as environmentally conscious as we can be? It’s not a ridiculously hard change to make (especially if done over time), and I think every effort matters no matter how small when compared to the grander scale of things. If we all made small changes in our everyday lives to better the world, those actions would add up and make a significant impact in the world we see.

But most importantly, I want this to hit more nerves than just the environmentally conscious one. We truly are overwhelmed by our busy lifestyles that we often don’t take time to look beyond the surface with our everyday actions and practices, so I urge you to consider trying that. We might just aid ourselves and our world if we do that in the different aspects of our lives.