While going vegan is the root of several memes and criticisms, it might actually be a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, food production makes up one quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, meat and dairy products make up 14.5% of global greenhouse gasses.
However, it is totally understandable that switching diets to this extreme would feel uncomfortable. But, research has been pointing to this diet in particular as one of the most individual effective ways to reduce those greenhouse gasses. In fact, according to Carbon Beef, a diet shift is actually necessary to limit global warming to “well below ” 2 degrees Celsius.
Below is a graph that illustrates how each diet would effectively cut into greenhouse gas emissions.
- Food distribution and World Hunger
Furthermore, going vegan would aid in world hunger as most of the food grown in the world is not distributed in a way that everyone can eat. But that’s a different issue in and of itself. In fact, research gathered has shown that 700 million tons of food that could be consumed by humans actually goes to livestock instead. The land used to raise the livestock could be used to grow more plant based food that would be just as nutritiously diverse as eating meat.
2. Water Conservation
It is no surprise that a vegan diet would conserve water. The amount of water used by plants pales in comparison to how much water we use for livestock. In fact, 93% of the world’s water supply is used for livestock. Now, this might surprise you but, but it’s been proven that one person adopting a vegan diet alone can save 200,000 gallons of water!
3. Deforestation
The meat and dairy industry is one of the biggest driving forces behind habitat loss. Cattle ranching in particular is damaging to the world’s tropical forests as trees are required to be cut down to create pastures. In fact, it has been estimated that by 2050, Asian and African countries will need a 30%-50% increase in land to support the growing meat industry.
4. Reducing Energy Consumption
There are several activities within the meat industry that use an unnecessary amount of fossil energy. These things include producing feed, breeding, electricity use, producing and spreading fertilizer, etc. However, converting to a plant based diet uses 8 times less energy than a meat based diet.
5. Cleaning Waterways
While other industrial pollutants contribute to the pollution of our water, animal agriculture makes up most of the pollution. What happens is the surrounding waterways are polluted with high doses of chemicals that create “dead zones”– primarily from livestock feeding. Unfortunately, going vegan won’t eliminate the issue, but it will help to make great strides.