Meatless Monday: Eating Habits Matter!

Written by Dennis Liu

Between eating habits and transportation, the latter may deceive minds of the audience with the image of powerful fuel-running machineries that they pollute the earth far greater than the former. The truth is, by eating differently, we can contribute to a cleaner environment as much as by reducing transportation.

Many urbanites focus on greener transportation such as biking but have diets of a tiger's; what they do not see is the massive pollution behind the meat they eat. Let's think about the food pyramid. For humans, the lowest level is composed of crops and plants. These are the fundamental building blocks that give rise to the meat we eat on the top of the pyramid. In order to raise animals, much nutrient-input has to be done while, in the end, the meat does not even reward the equivalent output! Resources are, then, wasted. If we could get the essentials from the bottom directly, then why squander the wealth of resources raising animals to eat?

Not only are resources inefficiently used, animal wastes have also proven to be an enormous problem. A reportfrom University of Chicago states that in 2003, agriculture in U.S. alone produced an amount of methane equivalent of 182.8 million tons of carbon dioxide emission; hereinto, methane produced by livestock constitutes 94% of the total methane emission.

According to the website My Footprint.org, an average North American person who travels 20 kilometers everyday using a car can reduce his or her footprint by merely 3 global hectares if the person completely stops using a car. By contrast, if a carnivorous person chooses to be an omnivore, he or she can reduce the footprint by about 9 global hectares! Energy used into producing meat and animal waste products are reasons to account for this phenomenon. Becoming an omnivore from a carnivore can reduce one's eco-footprint drastically without the grief of abstaining from meat. It is beneficial for both the environment and health. Moreover, changing diets into a vegetarian or vegan can cause even greater positive changes.