Try a Vegetarian or Vegan Diet... or Cut Back on the Meat

One of the most dramatic changes that humans can make to lower their personal carbon footprint is to change their diet to minimize the consumption of meat, dairy and other animal products. While a vegetarian or vegan diet is the most effective (and dramatic) method for accomplishing this, it is not necessary to cut out meat and dairy entirely to make a positive impact on the environment. Cutting back on meat and dairy can help to reduce water use, carbon and methane emissions and pollutants in the environment and can also provide for a healthier diet. Reducing meat and dairy can also save you money!

So what are the issues with consumption of meat, dairy and other animal products? Well, we all hear about CO2 emissions and usually think of vehicles, coal plants and other emitters as the largest contributors to global warming. With meat and dairy, there is a lot of CO2 produced by the transport, the processing and/or cooking, the refrigeration and so on. This is not minor by any means, but equally as important (if not more so) is the methane gas that animal agriculture produces. Methane is 21 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than CO2 and methane concentrations have more than doubled in the atmosphere since pre-industrial times. In fact, it is estimated that nearly one half of all human induced global warming comes from methane gas. While methane is produced by multiple human sources, the single largest is animal agriculture. Most comes from the digestive processes of livestock, with most of the remaining coming from man made lagoons of animal wastes.

To further compound the problem, human consumption of meat has increased by as much a five-fold over the past 50 years and is expected to increase into the future. In order to produce this massive increase in meat, huge areas of rainforest are being cleared for use as pasture land. So not only do we add more farm animals, we also remove trees that can help to remove CO2 from the atmosphere.

In addition, the use of water and the pollution of water sources is greatly increased with the consumption of meat and dairy. Water is needed for production of feed for animals, plus water is consumed and used in the raising of animals. Animal wastes also pollute water sources, creating water issues all around animal agriculture areas.

So with all of the negative impacts of meat consumption, what can be done to start solving the problem? Switching to a full vegan diet or vegetarian diet is the best option, but simply reducing the amount of meat and dairy consumed can have a dramatic impact on our planet. Try some alternatives to meat and dairy such as a veggie burger instead of a hamburger. Experiment with tofu, or try veggie "chicken" and veggie "beef". Switch from milk to soymilk, or my favorite almond milk. Switch out meat in dishes where you can use fresh veggies instead. Or maybe even cut down portion sizes when you do eat meat. Do you really need a 16oz steak, when a smaller 6oz steak with some extra veggies might do the trick?

You may be surprised at how good many of the vegetarian alternatives are. Many people think they will be bland and tasteless, and instead find that they are full of fresh flavors that you cannot get in meat. Vegetarian food is also typically healthier and less expensive that the animal based alternatives. So give it a try and you might find you like the change.

For more information on reduction of greenhouse gasses and global warming by lowering consumption of meat and dairy products, see the Earth Save International website. For some more info on vegan and vegetarian diets, check out the Vegetarian Times website.