I have not researched climate change much. I read articles here and there and am generally aware of it but it never really was something I was passionate about. Since becoming vegan, it has been on my radar more. Learning about how the animal agriculture greatly affects climate change and other negative environmental impacts (such as the clearing of rain forests) has continued to validate my food choices. I definitely have areas of improvement, such as creating less food waste and using less plastic, but it makes me happy to know that I am (hopefully!) contributing to the longevity of our planet.
I was reading through an Eating Well magazine that Joe got for free and is delivered to our house. It is not a vegan magazine at all and there are numerous recipes for meat or dairy-based dishes. They do have recipes or articles periodically about veganism and I’m always interested to see what they say as in my mind they aren’t biased. There was an article about how our food choices affect climate change and I wanted to share the five main simple things we can do to lower our greenhouse-gas emissions.
- Eat less meat!! – This was the number one item on the list and they specifically called out making beans a go-to protein source as opposed to eating meat. According to the article, even occasionally eating beans instead of meat can greatly reduce greenhouse gases. Research published in the journal Climate Change, reported that if every American ate beans instead of conventionally raised meat once a week for a year, it would keep 75.3 million metric tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere. It’s the same as taking 16 million cars off the road annually!
- Compost – I have a goal to start composting by the end of the year. We have a lot of food waste, mostly fruit/veggie skins and other inedible parts of produce. The article stated that about 18% of all U.S. methane emissions come from food waste rotting in landfills. If Americans composted all of their food waste (250 pounds per person annually!!) it would save 24.3 million metric tons of greenhouse gases. It’s the same as taking 5.2 million cars off the road annually.
- Use refillable water bottles – This is something our family does on a continuous basis. Unless we have no other option for clean, filtered water, we avoid using disposable plastic water bottles. According to the article, the average American drinks 39 gallons of store-bought bottled water each year which equals 312 16-ounce bottles per person. If everyone chose to give up half of the bottles currently used, it would save 9,504,000 metric tons of CO2 a year according to University of Michigan researchers. It’s the same as taking 2 million cars off the road annually. Please consider buying a reusable water bottle and use it as much as possible. My favorite are the large stainless steel cups and silicone straws.
- Eat organic – This is something that we have done off and on depending on our budget. I would love to buy all organic all the time, but it doesn’t always work for us financially. Though I do want to make it more of an effort and priority. According to a Spanish study, organically grown crops like wheat and veggies have lower carbon footprints because they require fewer resources such as fertilizer. If all Americans ate 2.5 cups of organic veggies per day instead of conventional ones, we’d reduce carbon emissions by 3.3 million metric tons a year. It’s the same as taking 710,000 cars off the road annually.
- Garden your yard – Oh how I’ve tried! I’m so terrible at gardening but I keep trying. This year we have a tomato plant, pepper plant and basil. The tomato and basil are doing okay, but the pepper plant is pretty much dead. As my kiddos get older, I’d definitely like to try harder at this. According to the article, it takes 846 million gallons of gas to mow the 40.5 million acres of lawn in the U.S. By simply converting 10 percent of yards to mulched garden, 752,000 metric tons of CO2 can be saved according to Australian researchers. It’s the same as taking 161,000 cars off the road annually.
The bottom line: your choices make a difference! It’s easy to get into the mind set that you are only one person and your choices don’t matter, but they truly do. Please consider making some of these changes if you haven’t done so already. Your planet and the animals will thank you. 🙂