As we watch the news, we see that our environment is crumbling. Researchers predict that there will be irreversible and incredible permanent changes to our earth's environment by the year 2030 due to climate change, and yet some of us refuse to even acknowledge this issue. It's true, a lot of these changes are not due to human contribution, but now it's in our hands to make changes in our daily lives to slow down these life-altering damages.
I've been vegetarian my whole life with the sole belief that I was saving animals' lives. I've had arguments with non-vegetarians who tell me that I must be unhealthy or that my life must suck or that I'm nutrient deficient because I just live off of leaves. I've had people ask me what I eat every day and how I survive. Though I've given my reasons for why being vegetarian does more good than non-vegetarianism, I just recently started bringing up a larger factor: the environment.
It's a waste of water
Livestock requires water. Gallons and gallons of water: around 15,000 liters of water per cow, for example. This is the same water that could be given to the less fortunate, the poor, the thousands of people that die every day due to dehydration.
The industry contributes to pollution
Farming, in general, contributes to a fifth of the environments gas emissions. The chemicals from manure and the factories contribute to air pollution as well as water pollution, threatening ocean animals.
It takes up a lot of land
Farming for livestock takes up 30% of our land. Because the meat industry has taken over a large mass of the land, there is less land for plant and dairy farmers. Our earth already has a land shortage; imagine the amount of land the could be regained if we switched to dairy farming only.
The meat industry is essentially killing our environment. I know it's "hard" to quit cheeseburgers but think about the repercussions on this world's environment. Is the meat really worth it?