Why Vegan? ~ The Environment (3/3)

The longer I am vegan the more I believe that this is the most ethical and compassionate choice I could make. There are three main reasons I live the way I do: The Animals, The People and The Environment.

This is such an old photo! I was around 14 years old, I think

I confess I never really cared about the environment until quite recently. Not that I could be blamed though - I was never taught about exactly what is happening to our planet because of our actions. Growing up, pretty much all I was told was that I should recycle because of global warming (not surprising that I didn't take recycling that seriously, to be honest...) I knew that in the future,  people would suffer because of the choices we are making today, and for me, that meant that before that time, scientists would have to find out a way to fix this problem. Now, I know that the people that told me about the harms to the environment didn't really know what they were talking about - nor did they really care.

Even after I went vegan, I cared about animals and the people, not the environment. It was only after I educated myself that I realized - the environment is the animals and the people.  

 Pollution isn't a problem to our future - it is a problem now. There are already people dying because of our consumer choices - ironically, these people are also those with the smallest environmental footprint in the world. Going vegan is one of the most powerful ways of protecting them.

Life near CAFOs

 Most animal products are a result of Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), which are incredibly wasteful. Going straight to the point, animals poop. And when there are a lot of animals pooping in such a small space, you can imagine living nearby isn't a pleasant situation - it stinks, literally. But it isn't just the odor - these wastes are also full of toxins that contaminate the air and drinking water, so people living in these areas are more likely to suffer from headaches, cough, diarrhea, respiratory problems, eye irritation, nausea, spontaneous abortions, birth defects, infant death, and mental disorders. 

 

Animal products are a waste of resources

It is studied in biology and thermodynamics how energy is lost at each stage of a food chain. It is called energy flow, and that means that it is more efficient to get energy from the first stages of the chain - since we can't perform photosynthesis yet, that means getting calories from plants - than from animals who eat plants. In other words, by eating meat you are feeding an animal plants that you could be eating yourself, and wasting precious energy. 

Think about it: you can eat a full plate of beans and be full for a few hours (Just as an example, vegan food is much more than just a plate of beans, I promise). Instead, you can have a plate full of chicken, which had to grow for around 5 weeks before the slaughter, and therefore, was fed a lot more than a plate of beans. You will probably still only be full for a couple of hours though, so the amount of food that is wasted by that process is concerning, not to mention that most people don't eat the whole animal, so there are always bones, beaks, eyes and claws ending up in landfills.

As if that wasn't enough, animal farming is also wasting ridiculous amounts of water and is the lead cause of deforestation. It's funny that I've heard the argument that soy is really bad for the environment and people shouldn't go vegan because soy is destructing the rainforest, when actually most of the soy grown is meant to feed cattle, so they're actually consuming much more soy than I am. 

People don't care though, most of us live in auto-pilot and don't even think about what we're eating. It is hard to change our habits, even more when everyone around us makes it seem that it's okay. So it's easier to just close our eyes, pretend nothing is wrong and change nothing. But I don't want to live in auto-pilot, or with my eyes closed. I don't want to cause unnecessary suffering, especially when it's so easy to avoid it. I want to do the least harm possible in this planet. And therefore, I'm vegan. And I promise it's one of the best, most rewarding choices I've ever made in my life. Not because of the benefits of the diet or anything like that, but because I've never felt more alive - like all this time I was just a puppet and I finally set myself free. I know that what I'm doing the right thing, and even when I have an especially hard day because of my veganism, at the end of the day, it is all worth it, and there is nothing more rewarding than that.

Resources
There is a lot more to be said in this topic, so here are a few resources:

Websites:
http://www.chooseveg.com/environment
https://www.vegansociety.com/go-vegan/environment
https://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/environment.html 
 
Documentary:
Cowspiracy - it is really light and easy to watch, so even if you're not into documentaries you should try watching this one

Books:
Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer
Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs and Wear Cows by Melanie Joy 

Don't forget to check my other 2 reasons for being vegan: The Animals and The People


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