Many people cite environmental benefits as their reason for going vegan. With the environmental issues that have been arisen over the past decade it is very understandable, and very necessary, that people change how they live to better look after the earth. There are many life style changes people make and for some this change is veganism.
The main environmental benefits of veganism involve saving water, reducing your carbon footprint and protecting natural areas.
Saving Water: It takes 2,400 gallons of water to produce a pound of wheat versus the 25 gallons it takes to produce a pound of wheat. While these two products do have different nutrient compositions and caloric values it shows how much more taxing on the environment to produce different foods. Water is crucial to our lives and we need to be conscious about how much of it we use.
Reducing Your Carbon Footprint: A study by the University of Oxford found that not eating animal products could reduce an individuals carbon footprint by 73%. As an collective population, our raising of livestock accounts for 18% of our carbon footprint meaning that consuming animals significantly contributes to our environmental issues.
Protecting Natural Areas: Farming of course uses land, but how much land does farming really use? Land for raising livestock takes up 30% of earths landmass with seven football fields worth of forest being bulldozed every minute to create more space. Raising livestock compared to agriculture also damages the land more as the heavy weight and movement of the animals degrades the soil.
Overall all signs point to a vegan diet being a way to help alleviate many environmental issues. Lead researcher Joseph Poore of Oxford University explains that “A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use and water use.” This quote itself summarizes how this issue can be If you would like to explore deeper into this topic there are many documentaries available on Netflix such as Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret.
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