People & Animal Welfare Society
Environmental issues and especially climate change have finally entered the mainstream, with everyone from Sunrise to Peter Costello having something to say. People are being told to take all kinds of actions to reduce climate change, such as replacing regular light globes with fluorescent ones and "taking a stand against stand-by power" by turning appliances off at the wall. While it is great that people are taking these steps to address The Inconvenient Truth of climate change, what has not yet been exposed on a wide scale is what Captain Paul Watson of the conservation organisation Sea Shepherd describes as A Very Inconvenient Truth - which is, that "the meat industry is one of the most destructive ecological industries on the planet."1
This fact has recently received greater attention mainly due to the report Livestock's Long Shadow by The Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations. This report explains that "the livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global."2 This report demonstrates exactly how raising animals for food is a major contributor to environmental problems including: climate change, land clearing, acid rain, deforestation, diminishing water reserves, and the ruining of the marine environment. 3
Livestock's Long Shadow: The UN Report that exposes the devastating effect animal products have on the environment 3
Specifically regarding climate change, which is claimed by many to be the biggest challenge facing the world, this report points out that livestock is responsible for 18 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions - a higher share than all forms of land and air transport combined.2 Gidon Eshel and Pamela Martin of the University of Chicago explain that going vegan actually saves more greenhouse gas emissions than switching from a standard to a hybrid car.4 In fact, animal products involve such a high level of emissions that "a vegan driving a hummer would be contributing less greenhouse gas carbon emissions than a meat eater riding a bicycle."1 A standard American (or Australian!) diet generates the equivalent of nearly 1.5 tonnes (1,500 kilograms) more carbon dioxide per person per year than a vegan diet with the same number of calories.'4
The Humane Society reveals an important fact from the recent UN report 5
Climate change isn't the only environmental issue we have to be concerned about - the related problem of dwindling water reserves is an extremely significant issue, especially in this dry continent of Australia. Measures such as taking shorter showers and changing to more efficient shower heads go some way to addressing water problems; however, the water used in the shower is totally dwarfed by the staggering amount of water required in the production of animal products. A meat-eating diet requires more than 15,000 litres of water per day, compared to less than 1,200 litres for a totally vegetarian diet.6 To produce just one litre of milk it takes 990 litres of water,3 while only 450 grams of beef is equal to over 3,700 litres of water.1 All of this water can be wasted in just one single meal, and certainly far exceeds all of the other measures people are being asked to take. In fact, "you save more water by not eating a pound of beef than you do by not showering for an entire year."6
It is not just our drinking water that is being hugely affected by our desire for animal products, but also the marine environment. If current trends continue, there will be virtually no fish left in the sea by the middle of this century (according to a major scientific study).7 Again, it is animal products that play a big role - and not just humans' appetite for fish, but also livestock. Ridiculously, it is actually cows who are the largest marine predator, with over half of the fish taken from the sea being fed to domestic livestock.8 So strange as it may seem, for anyone concerned with the disappearing of fish and marine ecosystems, an important way to address this problem is by avoiding the consumption of livestock.
The biggest marine predator
What is significant about the key findings revealing the environmental effect of animal products is that they are not coming from animal rights organisations. The most significant findings have come out of a report from the United Nations (hardly an animal rights organisation!), and everyone from the UK Government,9 to the University of Chicago, to New Scientist,4 to the Business section of the International Herald Tribune,10 have recognised that the fewer animal products you consume, the better for the environment.
Vegetarianism and veganism can no longer be seen as purely animal rights issues, but also as legitimate environmental issues. The facts given in this article are just a glimpse of the overwhelming evidence, but it is absolutely clear that a vegan diet walks most lightly on the earth. Just do a test on your ecological or carbon footprint and you'll find that the less animal products you consume, the lighter your footprint. For anyone concerned about the environment, reducing (or, even better, eliminating!) their consumption of animal products should be right at the top of the priority list.
For further information, check out any of the references I have sighted, or, here are a few articles I would particularly recommend:
http://www.permaworld.org/members/permaworld/weblog/ a_very_inconvenient_truth_-.html
http://www.celsias.com/2006/12/11/the-cow-public-enemy-number-one/
http://www.goveg.com/environment.asp
References
- A Very Inconvenient Truth - by Paul Watson (2007)
http://www.permaworld.org/members/permaworld/weblog/ a_very_inconvenient_truth_-.html - UN Report: Livestock's Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options (2006)
http://www.virtualcentre.org/en/library/key_pub/longshad/A0701E00.htm - Livestock - Public Enemy Number One? - by Craig Mackintosh (2006)
http://www.celsias.com/2006/12/11/the-cow-public-enemy-number-one/ - It's Better to Change your Diet than your Car - New Scientist (2005)
http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/ mg18825304.800-its-better-to-green-your-diet-than-your-car.html - Image from the article: Trying to Connect the Dinner Plate to Climate Change - by Claudia Deutsch (2007)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/29/business/media/29adco.html - Meat and the Environment - PETA (2006)
http://www.goveg.com/environment.asp - Only 50 Years Left for Sea Fish - Richard Black (2006)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6108414.stm - Earth Day Report - by Paul Watson (2007)
http://www.pacificfreepress.com/content/view/1175/81/ - Go Vegan to Help Climate, Says Government - Charles Clover (2007)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/05/30/eavegan30.xml - A vegetarian diet reduces the diner's carbon footprint - James Kanter (2007)
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/06/business/greencol07.php