Within the past few years, conversations about global warming have become the center of many people’s fears and concerns. Tensions have risen higher in recent years, as seen when scientists proclaimed in 2019 that humans have until 2030 to make some environmental shifts, or climate change will continue to threaten our world. Although that doomsday prediction may seem too big to handle, there are still some ways everyday people can help affect climate change. There are simple changes we can make, like taking shorter showers, buying shampoo bars instead of bottles, driving less, carrying a reusable water bottle, or buying second-hand clothing. But there’s one form of individual action that may have more of an effect than those other changes combined: eating less meat.
As noted by John Vidal in an article for The Guardian, in 2006, it was calculated that the livestock industry was responsible for 18% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, which is more than all forms of transportation combined — and what’s worse, the US is the primary peddler of the meat industry. In fact, the US consumes three times more meat than any other country, which means that we are contributing to a global issue that pollutes up to 30% of the world’s fresh water supply, which is scary given that only 1% of the water on earth is drinkable. If it’s hard to imagine that number, try comprehending these stats from BuzzFeed’s “The Truth About Hamburgers”: eating a ¼ lb of hamburger meat is the equivalent of driving six miles. This may not seem like a lot, but when you take a step back and realize just how much meat we consume daily, it’s alarming. If a person eats meat for two of their meals, that’s 12 miles per day — the equivalent of driving 4380 miles per year. Every year, over 10,000 miles of forests are destroyed to make space to raise cattle; livestock farms are the number one cause for deforestation. A solid 80% of deforestation occurring in the Amazon Rainforest is a direct result of the beef industry’s rapid increase worldwide.
Despite all of the damaging byproducts that this industry has created, there is thankfully a simple solution: limiting meat consumption in whatever ways we can. Not everyone is ready or able to go vegetarian or vegan. However, smaller changes like eating less red meat, drinking oat milk in your lattes, or participating in meatless Mondays are easy ways to transition to a lower carbon footprint and lower our meat consumption. Just by eating one less beef-filled meal a week, we can reduce the number of greenhouse gasses we produce over time.
In spite of all of my arguments in favor of eating less meat, my numerous attempts to go vegan have not been sustainable. The first time I tried was as a sophomore in high school. I tried it again at college, and I loved it. Sure, it made social events hard, and the vegan/vegetarian options at Pepperdine were staggeringly low; it was, however, a choice that I don’t regret. It’s easier nowadays to go vegan, as excellent replacements for meat and dairy options like oat milk and the Beyond Burger have become increasingly popular and accessible over the last few years.
Since being sent back home almost a year ago because of COVID-19, I’ve switched back to a non-plant based diet because that was easier for me when at home. Even with this diet I can still make individual choices and rules for myself — for example, only eat meat for one meal of the day and only eat dairy-free ice cream. Over the course of this year, I’ve learned that we can make simple choices that do have a long-term impact on the planet — an article from The Independent reported that researchers at the University of Oxford claim you can reduce 73% of your carbon footprint by eating a more plant-based or entirely vegan diet.
It’s also essential to put each of our carbon footprints into context. Although individual changes like eating fewer animal products and buying second-hand clothing have long-term effects on climate change, The Guardian reported on Climate Accountability Institute analysis that revealed that 20 companies are responsible for ⅓ of the world’s growing carbon emissions. So, while skipping that burger for lunch might help people, we should also be focusing more on holding larger companies more accountable. Still, it is also vital to know that you cannot do all the good the world needs, but the world needs all the good you can do, and any small change made can still have a long-term impact.