Halve your greenhouse gas emissions.
Halve your greenhouse gas emissions.
Let’s cut the bull. No really – cow burps and farts are generating serious emissions that are heating up the planet. Raising animals for food contributes more to global warming than all of the world’s planes, trains and automobiles combined.1 2 The methane produced by flatulent cows and sheep is a whopping 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2).3 That means we can drive cleaner cars and switch to renewable energy, but unless we reduce our appetite for meat and dairy, experts are warning that climate change will continue to worsen.4 Cutting out or cutting back on animal products like meat and dairy can slash your food’s greenhouse gas emissions by as much as half.5
Stop soil and water pollution.
Stop soil and water pollution.
It’s more than hot air that’s coming out of the livestock industry. To give you an idea, a factory farm with 5,000 pigs can produce as much effluent as a town of 20,000 people.6 But unlike the sewage treatment in most towns, pig factory farms usually leave their effluent in large outdoor ‘lagoons’. Experts have warned that this can pollute soil, contaminate underground drinking water and run off into rivers and oceans,7 contributing to significant ocean ‘dead zones’.8
Save thousands of litres of water.
Save thousands of litres of water.
For most of us, it’s hard to imagine living a day without access to clean water. Unfortunately, for more than one billion people around the world, gaining access to safe water is a constant struggle.9 And yet, up to one-third of fresh water globally is diverted to meat, egg and dairy production.10 By contrast, fruits and vegetables require dramatically less water to produce. In fact, by opting for plant-based foods for one week, you can save as much water as if you’d stopped showering for almost six months!11
Halt habitat destruction.
Halt habitat destruction.
Our appetite for meat, dairy and eggs is quite literally eating up the planet. Farming animals already uses 30% of the earth’s entire land surface and every year vast swathes of forest are bulldozed or burned to graze cattle or grow crops to feed animals in factory farms. Nearly 80% of former forests in the Amazon are now used to graze cattle.12 Habitat loss is one of the top two leading causes of extinction of plant and animal life. The World Wildlife Fund has reported that we have already wiped out 60% of wildlife in the past 50 years,13 with this trend set to continue unless we turn it around, fast. Eating meat-free can significantly reduce the amount of land needed to produce your food and, in the process, protect natural habitats and the animals who live there.
Protect ocean ecosystems.
Protect ocean ecosystems.
The UN has warned that if we don’t reduce current fishing rates, the oceans’ fish populations may collapse by 2050.14 When huge trawling nets drag through the ocean they sweep up just about everything and everyone in their path. This ‘bycatch’ can include dolphins, sharks, turtles and other threatened species. Prawn trawling is considered the worst culprit. The average prawn trawler tosses back – dead or dying – 80-90% of the sea animals they catch.15 Fish farming is having a similarly devastating impact. To fatten up animals for slaughter, fish farms actually use more fish than they produce – and collecting these ‘feeder’ fish means even more ocean trawling.16 By replacing the fish and prawns on your plate with plant-based foods you can help allow marine ecosystems to recover, and protect the animals who call them home.
Tackle world hunger.
Tackle world hunger.
The World Health Organization estimates that more than 820 million people globally go hungry.17 While many people face a daily struggle to put food on the table, one-third of the world’s cereal harvest is being fed to farmed animals.18 That would be enough grain to feed about 3 billion people. According to Oxfam, “increased demand for grains to feed livestock … is likely to push future food prices further beyond the limits of affordability for the world’s poorest people.”19
Global warming
Loss of fresh water
Rainforest destruction
Spreading deserts
Air and water pollution
Acid rain
Soil erosion
Loss of habitat