WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT DROUGHT

WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT DROUGHT

Wildfires, drought, and water shortages have been in the news lately. Now parts of California are sinking because of water use.  Most parts of the USA are getting belong average rain. Here in Wisconsin, our rainfall is 7 inches below normal.

We know we need to do something to save water. So we wash our cars less, stop watering our grass, and take shorter showers. All good measures, but the single, most effective way to save water, is simple:  Switch to a plant based diet. 

Water usage

1 pound of lettuce   23 gallons

1 pound of tomatoes  23 gallons

1 pound of potatoes 24 gallons        

1 pound of wheat 25 gallons

1 pound of carrots  33 gallons          

1 pound of apples  49 gallons

1 pound of chicken  815 gallons       

1 pound of pork 1630 gallons

1 pound of beef  5214 gallons

Taking an average length shower every day for a year  5200 gallons

These figures are from the University of California agricultural extension.

Underneath our land are water reservoirs, called aquifers that hold our ground water. We are pumping more water out of these aquifers then can be replaced. We pump more than 13 trillion gallons out of the Ogallala aquifer alone, with over half of that going to livestock. When we over pump aquifers, the land over the aquifer starts to give way, which is what is happening in California.

Besides using up our water, animal agriculture is polluting it at an alarming rate. Years ago, most farms were small and widely scattered. Now, the majority of farms are factory farms, where up to 23,000 animals are confined in small areas. You can just imagine the water they must use for that many animals.  And you can imagine the waste 23,000 animals must make.  Farming has become a multi-billion dollar a year industry. It is the largest lobbyist in state and federal governments. The EPA is usually powerless against them. Millions of gallons of animal waste is washed untreated into our rivers and lakes.  There is a 7000 square mile area dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, where the Mississippi River flows into it in Louisiana.  Nothing can live in these dead zones. Smaller dead zones are popping up around the Great Lakes, around factory farm zones.  Green Bay, Wisconsin has one in Lake Michigan.

Local communities usually have to bear the cost of cleaning up after these factory farms.  Some try to file lawsuits, but that can take years. Meanwhile, factory farm owners continue to make money, use water, destroy land, and pollute our rivers and lakes.

We need to think about future generations and what type of world they will inherit from us. Do we want to give them a dry desert type planet like Mars, or a vibrant, full of life planet?

The only true solution to the water crisis, is Go Vegan.

Not only will you be saving our planet, but you will be saving billions of animals every year.