Related Articles
Avoiding fast fashion
|
How to reduce the carbon you generate
|
How does tree planting help tackle the climate crisis ?
|
How going vegan helps our planet
“Veganism is a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose.”( TheVeganSociety.com , 2020).
Here are the main ways animal agriculture negatively impacts the planet.
Water - Over 70 percent of freshwater is used for agriculture in most areas of the world. It also takes 6x more water to produce a gram of protein from beef than a gram of protein from pulses. This means going vegan, or even choosing to eat less meat, will help lower water usage.
Land - livestock production takes up the majority of agricultural land. Reports show that 70 percent of deforestation in the Amazon basin can be attributed to cattle ranching. This shows that animal agriculture is playing a huge role in deforestation.
Gas Emissions - Livestock such as cattle produce large quantities of methane through their digestive processes. This gas is 25x more potent than Carbon Dioxide and traps heat in the atmosphere, making the gas extremely dangerous to our environment.
- Ethics - For many people, choosing to become vegan is due to ethical reasons. Farm animals have been found to experience great levels of consciousness and notions of self and therefore their suffering and premature death is a moral issue for many.
- Health benefits - Being vegan means following a plant based diet which excludes meat, dairy and other animal products. This diet has been associated with reduction of excess weight, improved cardio vascular health, lower blood sugar levels and may even help protect us against certain cancers! This is partly because plant based diets tend to include more fruit, vegetables and legumes than non vegan diets.
- Environment - Researchers found that following a plant based diet could reduce an individual's carbon footprint from food by up to 73%. This makes veganism one of the most effective lifestyle changes to reduce our environmental impact.
Here are the main ways animal agriculture negatively impacts the planet.
Water - Over 70 percent of freshwater is used for agriculture in most areas of the world. It also takes 6x more water to produce a gram of protein from beef than a gram of protein from pulses. This means going vegan, or even choosing to eat less meat, will help lower water usage.
Land - livestock production takes up the majority of agricultural land. Reports show that 70 percent of deforestation in the Amazon basin can be attributed to cattle ranching. This shows that animal agriculture is playing a huge role in deforestation.
Gas Emissions - Livestock such as cattle produce large quantities of methane through their digestive processes. This gas is 25x more potent than Carbon Dioxide and traps heat in the atmosphere, making the gas extremely dangerous to our environment.
Not ready to go vegan?
It’s understandable that going vegan is not always easy and accessible for everyone. Sometimes finding a starting point can be daunting. If you are looking to take a step towards lowering your footprint from food, why not try incorporating one plant based meal each week. It has been suggested that if everyone in the UK swapped just one red-meat meal to a plant-based alternative each week, it would cut the UK's greenhouse gases by 45 million tonnes! Many restaurants and supermarkets now offer plant based options and there are lots of great vegan recipes that are free to access online.
Here are some simple vegan alternatives to our everyday foods.
Cows Milk - Oat, Almond, Cashew Drink
Chicken - Tofu & Seitan
Parmesan Cheese - Nutritional Yeast
Pork - Jackfruit
Beef Mince - Lentils
Leather - Faux Leather
Honey - Agave Nectar
Milk Chocolate - Dark Chocolate
Climate change effects all of us and we can work together to decrease our Carbon Footprint. Becoming Vegan is just one of many ways we can do this. Why not join us in giving back to our environment and help us plant trees to offset your carbon emissions.
It’s understandable that going vegan is not always easy and accessible for everyone. Sometimes finding a starting point can be daunting. If you are looking to take a step towards lowering your footprint from food, why not try incorporating one plant based meal each week. It has been suggested that if everyone in the UK swapped just one red-meat meal to a plant-based alternative each week, it would cut the UK's greenhouse gases by 45 million tonnes! Many restaurants and supermarkets now offer plant based options and there are lots of great vegan recipes that are free to access online.
Here are some simple vegan alternatives to our everyday foods.
Cows Milk - Oat, Almond, Cashew Drink
Chicken - Tofu & Seitan
Parmesan Cheese - Nutritional Yeast
Pork - Jackfruit
Beef Mince - Lentils
Leather - Faux Leather
Honey - Agave Nectar
Milk Chocolate - Dark Chocolate
Climate change effects all of us and we can work together to decrease our Carbon Footprint. Becoming Vegan is just one of many ways we can do this. Why not join us in giving back to our environment and help us plant trees to offset your carbon emissions.
