THE MOST IMPORTANT NEW
YEAR’S RESOLUTION YOU WILL EVER MAKE
Every year
most of us make New Year’s resolutions like losing weight or eating healthier.
The top three resolutions people make each year are: Lose weight, get organized
and spend less. The most important resolution you can make this year will not
only make you a better, healthier person, it is necessary to save our planet.
Climate
scientists have been warning us about global warming for decades. Scientists
say a warming of two degrees will cause massive extinction and problems for
humans. At the rate of our current global warming we will be warming by four
degrees in just a few short years. They have stated 2017 is the point of no
return. If we do not start to reverse global warming by 2017, it will be too
late. It is estimated, at our current trend, by 2030 there will be a mass extinction
not seen since the dinosaurs.
So what can
we do to reverse global warming? Stop driving our cars? Turn off our lights?
None of these will be effective enough to start a reversing trend. The most
effective way to reverse global warming is to adopt a plant based diet—in other
words, go vegan.
The number
one cause of greenhouse gases is animal agriculture (dairy, meat, and eggs). According
to the World Bank Group, it is responsible for 51% of greenhouse gases.
Transportation total is responsible for 13%. Animal agriculture is the number
one cause of methane and nitrous oxide. Methane
is 25 times worse than carbon dioxide as far as creating global warming.
Nitrous oxide is 300 times worse than carbon dioxide. The following charts show
the growth in factory farms compared to the growth in greenhouse gases.
An
interesting note, researchers have discovered that the smog over many cities
was not caused by cars (like we are told) but by the smoke and fat from
thousands of restaurants grilling meat.
Animal
agriculture is the number one cause of rainforest destruction. 91% of
rainforests were destroyed for animal agriculture compared to 23 % for palm
oil. In the US alone, every minute 7 acres of trees are cleared for animal
agriculture. These lands are not only cleared to raise the animals, but also to
grow food to feed them. Trees are needed to clean our air and reduce greenhouse
gas build up. It takes 16 pounds of feed to make one pound of meat. Think about
it. If we all adapted a plant based diet, we could not only reverse global
warming, we could feed the world.
The majority
of our dwindling oil and natural gas supply is used by animal agriculture.
Animal agriculture uses 25 times more fossil fuels than our cars and other
transportation. We are going to run out of oil. The only question is when.
Animal
agriculture is number one in water usage and water pollution. 85% of the water
in the US goes to raising livestock.
Climate change will cause more and more drought conditions, making our
water even more precious. Our underground aquifers are being drained at a
tremendous rate, faster than they can be replenished. Add to that, the run-off
from animal farms pollute our precious waters. There is a 7000 square mile
“dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico that continues to grow. Our Great Lakes also
have dead zones caused by animal agriculture. One pig farm creates more sewage
than the entire city of New York and this waste is untreated. This waste winds
up in our lakes, rivers, and our groundwater we use for drinking. When the
waste lagoons get too large, some factory farms start to spray the waste water
into the air. We know conserving water is important and we want future
generations to have access to water. One pound of beef takes 5,200 gallons of
water. That is over a year’s worth of showers. Compare that to 24 gallons to
make a pound of potatoes or tomatoes. In the US, fracking uses 140 billion
gallons of water every year. Animal agriculture uses 340 TRILLION gallons every
year.
Overfishing
is destroying our oceans. Fish help to
keep the oceans healthy and reduce ocean warming. Many fish species have been
depleted to the point of extinction. 80% of the fish caught goes to feeding
livestock.
If you want
to give up your car, live in the dark, stop taking showers, go ahead, but none
of that will stop global warming and our inevitable destruction. We should be
mad as heck at the meat, dairy and egg industries. They are wasting our oil and
our water. They are poisoning our water and our air. They are destroying our
planet and our way of life. This year make it your resolution to do something
about it. Show the animal agriculture industry that they cannot get away with
making huge profits by destroying our children’s futures. Go vegan. Take away
their money, take away their power. Not
only will you be helping to save our planet, lose weight, and be healthier, you
will be helping to end the torture and slaughter of 96 billion animals and 3
trillion fish every year. It is amazing
how one simple small step can do so much.
I encourage everyone to read more and learn.
Knowledge is the key to making responsible food choices.
My Sources:
“The
Sustainability Secret” by Kip Anderson and Keegan Kuhn
“This
Changes Everything” by Naomi Klein
“World Peace
Diet” by Will Tuttle PhD
“The Food
Revolution” by John Robbins
“The
Conscious Planet” by Neil Pine
“Comfortably
Unaware” and “Food Choices and Sustainability” by Dr. Richard Oppenlander
You can
change for the better. I am here to help.
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