Meat's Not Green

“If anyone wants to save the planet, all they have to do is stop eating meat.” - Paul McCartney.

For over three years I have been a dedicated vegetarian. Seeing the reality of animals suffering intensive confinement, painful mutilations and violent deaths was the driving force behind my lifestyle decision. However, I have recently become aware of a new and shocking fact; the meat industry is not only responsible for the horrificly inhumane treatment of animals but also for ravaging our environment.

According to the United Nations, raising animals for food causes more greenhouse gas emissions than all the vehicles, aeroplanes, ships and trains combined and is “one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems”. Every minute an area of rainforest equivalent to seven football fields is destroyed to accommodate grazing cattle, and in the USA, raising animals for food uses more than half of all the water consumed. Livestock production uses 30 percent of the earth's surface and is the leading cause of damage to scarce water sources.

Refusing to eat meat is the single most effective way of cutting down your carbon footprint. The earth is in her eleventh hour; we have to put greed and selfishness in the backseat and for once think about the good of our planet and her creations. Such a basic, inexpensive decision could not only save our earth, but precious lives too.

For more information have a look at http://www.meat.org/