We are told all the time we need to reduce our carbon footprint by recycling, switching off lights, driving/travelling less and walking more, not wasting water by leaving taps on, not taking long baths and instead taking short showers, keeping heating in the home low etc…
However, what we are never told about is the enormous effect of the carbon footprint caused by livestock in order to satisfy our overindulgence in eating meat and dairy products.
I never realised how bad this was until I watched “Cowspiracy” on Netflix.
“Cowspiracy” tells us that livestock create more greenhouse gases than the
entire transport sector of cars, trucks, trains, boats and aeroplanes!
Did you know that according to this documentary, Methane gas from livestock is
86x more destructive than carbon dioxide?
On the programme, the largest environmental organisations(Greenpeace, Sierra Club, Climate reality, Rainforest action network and 350.org) refused to talk about this issue but have since acknowledged this truth on their websites.
The WWF website is also great for their honesty about the livestock footprint, as well as all the other contributors and you can take your own footprint questionnaire on their website:
It is a shame it has taken so long for the true extent of this problem to come to light but now we know the true facts we can make an informed decision.
I care about the environment, BUT I have always enjoyed eating meat, dairy and eggs. However I was not aware of the disastrous effects that this is having on the environment.
Has this changed my mind about eating meat and dairy – YES!!
I might enjoy the taste but is it worth it – NO!
Will it be hard to become a vegan – yes I am sure it will take some adjusting – but nothing worth doing is ever completely easy…
“Life on earth is hanging in the balance on our actions; either live for something, or die for nothing”
(I will keep you up-to-date with how I start this new journey on my blog site!)
Thank you “Cowspiracy” for bringing this issue to the forefront and I hope the cosmetic, cleaning and food industry will follow suit…
If a product calls itself organic, why can’t they be 100% pure organic? This shouldn’t be able to mean that only a very small percentage of a product’s ingredients are organically farmed!
If you say you are sustainable, be sustainable….
If you market yourself as Paraben or sulphate free don’t replace those chemicals with other harmful chemicals …
If you market yourself as “Saving the Environment” be true to your name and let the public know exactly what we need to do to reduce our footprint and make us all step up to the mark.