We've long said that cutting meat and dairy out of your diet, or at minimum cutting back deeply on their consumption, is one of the most powerful personal steps you can take towards mitigating climate change. But new analysis from Worldwatch Institute shows that the impact of raising livestock and poultry is much greater than previously thought and actually amounts to approximately 51% of global greenhouse gas emissions:(Treehugger article, by Matthew McDermott)
I don't drive, buy mostly organic food, local when possible. I also try to purchase other locally made products - luckily, there are a few Northern CA organic personal care manufacturers (Alba Organics, for one). I generally remember to buy carbon offsets for my flights. But really... I eat meat. And dairy. And eggs. (you know, except when I'm vegan once a week) And switching to vegetarian (well, actually vegan) eating would potentially be the most impactful change I could make in my life, wrt global warming.
Augh. The guilt.
It gets worse, people. I don't always buy organic meats. Eggs are probably, eh 60/40 (organic/not). Why? It's not generally an accessibility issue. Totally a $ thing. Organic, free-range, grazing... easily double the price of conventional.
Whine.Why is this so haaaaaard? End whine.
I may smell a vegetarian week/month/planned out X days a week coming up. With my current ninja training 2x a week, half marathon training and trying to lose weight... I don't think that full-time veg is the way to go for me. But could I do vegan 1x a week and planned vegetarian 2x a week? Probably. I mean, I'm on my way towards an unplanned vegetarian day right now...
2 comments:
I'll bet if you count how many days a week you eat vegetarian, you already are eating many days without meat. I think I probably only eat meat one to two days a week and it's not on purpose. But does make me feel a little less guilty for the insane amount of dairy I consume.
Don't feel guilty and don't try to overhaul your life overnight. I think by taking steps towards improving on your goals is fine... maybe do another vegan day a week or a couple vegetarian days. I think that's fair and reasonable.
(I'm thinking about instituting a "Vegan Monday" like you have. We'll see...).
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