Climate change is affecting our planet now more than every, and people may have a bigger part in this worldwide issue than they realize. Different media outlets have tried to advertize easy, day to day choices we can make to help reduce our carbon footprints. Typically, these suggestions have been things like take shorter showers, turning the water off while brushing your teeth, or carpooling as much as possible. There could be a relatively easier change to implement; one that substantially helps. Studies have shown that one of the most dangerous and harmful industries to our planet is the meat industry. It contributes to almost half of the greenhouse gases, more than the entire transportation sector combined. One of the most advertised solutions to combat our carbon footprints is to limit our contributions to greenhouse gases, one the most harmful phenomenons facing our planet. As stated so in an article by Sharon Palmer, plant-based nutrition expert, “…the greenhouse gas emissions for a vegan diet are 41.7 percent lower compared with non-vegetarians…” (Sharon 2015). Making conscious decisions throughout our day to day lives regarding nutrition could be the easy solution many environmentalists are looking for.
Dear Heidi:
I am reality-checked from your post, “How do Our Dietary Choices Impact the Environment?,” because I now know the significant harms of eating meat. I still do, but I am thinking of trying vegetarianism in the future.
One sentence you wrote that stands out for me is: “It contributes to almost half of the greenhouse gases, more than the entire transportation sector combined.” I definitely agree with you that more vegetarianism or veganism would help mollify climate change, and that makes me guilty for eating meat. However, switching to any of the two would be so difficult, to get all the nutrients and everything. It is frustrating that the matter is so conflicting, which is probably why there is a lot of meat-eating in the world.
Thank you for talking about this, though! Vegan/vegetarian-ism is definitely a topic that needs more light.
Thank you for writing about this very important issue. It is so important to bring awareness to the negative impact the meat industry is having on our planet. I have done some research on this topic in the past and I also learned that if everyone switched to a vegan diet world hunger could be eliminated more easily.
Your topic is incredibly important in society today. Most people don’t take into account the harmful effects of meat on the environment. Here’s a fun fact: simply the land space it takes to feed the chickens in the USA takes up the entire square footage of Puerto Rico (twice). Not only jut meat, but choosing to buy product that are not local wastes tons of gallons of gasoline which releases so much fossil fuel into the environment. Great topic!
I never thought that wasteful and very horrifying practices in the meat industry actually was impacting our environment more than we thought! It reminds me of that one instance where people living next to a pork farm had to suffer through the stench of living next to a lake of pig waste and pig entrails that attracted bugs as well as caused sickness within the neighborhood.
Thank you for bringing this to light! I hope you keep documenting what you find out.
Your topic is extremely important. So many people don’t realize the harm they are doing to the environment by choosing to eat meat. It is truly one of the most terrible things we are doing to our plant. Human and earth sustainability does not include industrial meat farming. I don’t know if this would help or not but food that goes uneaten produces a lot of green house gas as it decomposes in land fills and we waste a lot of food. You could maybe that into your topic if your struggling to find anything.