HAVE YOU
GONE VEG YET?
When we talk about being sustainable, we
usually think about recycling, reducing plastic,
and riding the bike to lower our CO2 emissions.
Are cars really our biggest problem, though?
There is an industry that pollutes more than any
other, responsible for more than half of total
CO2 emissions, if counting transportation of the
livestock, deforestation, cow’s methane
respiration and considering that there are 50-70
billion animals in the industry (WorldWatch.org).
That industry is animal agriculture. Keep in mind
that CO2 emissions from electricity and heating
are responsible for around 25%, and all transports
combined are responsible for even less than that.
Moreover, it takes many resources to feed
livestock. For example, to grow big amounts
of grain used to be fed to the livestock; the
fertilizer applied to the soil generates nitrous
oxide (N2O) has 300 times the warming effect
of CO2. There are also great damages to
the natural environment in terms of polluting
waste that releases methane and N2O, which
ends up in our waters and air. This waste decomposes
and releases dust, toxic gases, such
as ammonia, which can be dangerous also for
the workers and the people living in the area.
Does this come as a surprise to you?
Let me give you an example: for each kilo of
lamb meat generates around 40 kg of CO2.
That includes all the emissions that were
created before the product left the farm, plus
processing, transportation, retail, cooking
and waste disposal. Cheese is not any better,
it generates the third higest amount:
13.7 kg per kilo.
In comparison, producing a kilo of potatoes
generates less than half of that amount.
Even lower emissions are generated for a kilo of
lentils, along with many other plants that we eat.
Apart from CO2 emissions, animal
agriculture is also the leading cause of species
extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution
and habitat destruction.
Forests are burnt down to make more space
for livestock and their food, while their natural
predators are hunted down as they represent
a threat. Take into consideration that
we could see fishless oceans by 2048, since
hundreds of tons of fish are pulled from the
oceans every year and for every pound of fish
caught, up to five times the amount of unintended
marine species are also caught and
killed.
It all sounds terrible, right?
So, what can you do?
A research from Oxford University shows that
a plant-based diet is the best way to be truly
sustainable. In fact, if society made this
transition, there would be the release of
billions of hectares of land, green-house
emissions cut in half, and a drastic reduction
in acidification, along with many other
benefits for the planet. Going plant-based
has also many benefits on your health,
reducing cardiovascular diseases risks, diabetes
prevention and a better weight management.
Our time is running out, in the last century alone
the global temperatures have risen by almost
1°C, and catastrophic consequences will happen
when 3°C are reached, mass wildfires, rise of sea
levels, land desertification and billions of climate
refugees. It’s time to act now!
What about you, BUas students?
We distributed a survey in the past weeks to
see how many students have decide to go veg
Vegan
16.2%
and these are the results:
Vegetarian
19.4%
Omnivore
54.8%
Flexitarian
6.4%
Lactose free
3.2%
“Animal
agriculture
is also the
leading cause
of species
extinction, ocean
dead zones,
water pollution
and habitat
destruction.”
Want more
information?
There are many documentaries you can
watch such as Cowspiracy, Dominion, Forks
over Knives, Dairy Is Scary,
Earthlings.
There are also sites such as
challenge22.com and
veganchallenge.nl that can help you
transition to a vegan diet in an
easy way.
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