Eco Trippin'
by Michael Alexander
I just read in the Sierra Club newsletter that the “biggest single step we can take to cut global warming pollution is to make our cars go farther on a gallon of gas.”
Are you kidding me??? My beloved Sierra Club, the ivory tower of the environmental movement, is still proclaiming that gas efficiency is the key to reversing global warming?
While improving gas efficiency standards is certainly a critical step necessary to reverse global warming, it is NOT the biggest single step we can take. The biggest single step we can take is to switch to a vegetarian diet. In fact, by switching to a vegetarian diet an individual can immediately reduce their carbon footprint by an average of 75%!!! This switch can clearly make a much greater impact on solving global warming than improving a car’s mpg. Unfortunately, most individuals and organizations in the environmental movement fail to address vegetarianism as a viable solution for global warming for one reason and one reason alone: they’re unwilling to give up consuming meat.
But why? Many argue that protein from meat is crucial for a healthy diet. This is simply not true. In fact, many other food groups are excellent sources for protein, including beans, grains, nuts, eggs, fake meats and even green leafy vegetables like broccoli. Moreover, though I have type O blood (which many doctors claim means I must eat meat to stay healthy), I have been a vegetarian since 2005 and since then, have consistently been able to maintain my ideal weight, have never felt better, and have had several doctors tell me that I’m the healthiest person they have ever seen.
More often than not, most meat-eaters-—many of whom are self-proclaimed environmentalists--are just not willing to give up the taste. But is the taste of a bloody burger fresh off the grill worth ruining our planet for future generations?
Since I no longer eat meat, I can’t answer that question. But one thing I do know: the next time I meet a Prius-driving, meat-eating, card-carrying environmentalist--I’ll be sure to ask them.
For more insights on sustainable living, watch www.ConsciousLivingTV.com.
posted by Conscious Living TV @ 7:53 PM
1 Comments:
Dear Michael -
I think your point about how diet is a huge part of how we can reduce our carbon footprint is really important. However, I am a card-carrying, meat-eating environmentalist, and here's why. I eat grass-fed meat. Grass-fed beef has a number of great benefits - its healthy (lots of minerals & vitamins), it goes great with wine (I live in Sonoma County) AND it is good for the planet. Grass-fed cattle, raised in the way mother earth intended them (their four stomachs evolved for grass, not grain) actually increase fertility in the soil, increasing organic matter, increasing the ability of the land to store carbon. And when they are herded as they self-herded while roaming the prairies (in tight clusters that moved when the grass was short), it is even better - they increase the fertility of the land even more. An org named Holistic Management Intl promotes these practices all over the world - and Christopher Peck, board member, recently calculated that if all the ranch land in all the world were raised according to these practices they could actually take care of not only the carbon footprint we are generating today, but also our Legacy footprint - the carbon we have been producing since the Industrial Revolution!! http://www.greenmoneyjournal.com/article.mpl?newsletterid=41&articleid=549How amazing is that! And, prettier places than these ranches you have never seen.
So, I eat meat to save the planet, and, well, cause it goes great with my wine. ;-)
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