7 Reasons Why I Am Vegan: 7. For The Planet

Simply EcoNomads
Jan 9, 2018
4 min read

Welcome to the last blog of my series 7 Reasons Why I Am Vegan (and so could you)! In honour of Veganuary I have published everyday on the first week of January 2018, to explore all the motives that compelled me to choose this lifestyle. As I mentioned before, I believe in the power of information and even if you feel like this is not for you, you might end up discovering something you didn’t know and make a more informed choice going forward.

And here we are discussing the last point on my list, but definitely not for importance, because one of the main reasons why I am vegan is especially to save our Planet!

In the previous posts of this series I have abundantly talked about how "industrial agriculture is one of the most unsustainable practices of modern civilization: from start to finish, factory farming is responsible for the abuse of land, animals, natural resources; it is responsible for one-third of global greenhouse emissions, and it completely depends on fossil fuels for transportation and synthetic fertilizers and pesticides".

Over 37 percent of methane emissions result from factory farming! "Methane has a global warming potential 20 times higher than carbon dioxide. But that doesn’t make the carbon dioxide emissions any less staggering…the fossil fuels used in energy, transportation, and synthetic pesticides/fertilizers emits 90 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. On a lesser note, factory farming also releases harmful compounds like hydrogen sulfide and ammonia that can cause immediate negative health effects in humans".

Since agriculture represents the single largest human use of land and water it has a greater potential impact on our planet than any other human endeavour: "By some estimates, agriculture currently uses 60% of the arable land on planet Earth. It also uses 70% of our fresh water".

So, not only animal farming is slaughtering billions of animals each year, it is also polluting and wasting our water, it is stealing the land from the people who need it the most and wasting food to feed animals condemned to die an awful death instead of helping the millions of people who starve each day! It is the main reason behind deforestation, the main cause of habitat loss and therefore the endangerment of thousands of species. The products that derive from this horrific picture, the very same we buy, consume, love and "cannot live without" are also literally killing us!

"The diversity of life on Earth is not simply something to marvel over - it's also vital for our own health and livelihoods. Plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms form a complex, interconnected web of ecosystems and habitats that provides our life support system. They give us clean water, breatheable air, food, medicine, energy, and much more. We simply cannot survive without them".

This enormous list of terrifying facts is having catastrophic repercussions on our planet; which will soon get rid of us like an unwanted virus if we don't start treating mother nature with respect and making choices that aid restoring a balance. Climate change is real, it is happening, it is a FACT, and we caused it! We are all responsible, we all need to do our part to fix this.

"We are using nearly 30% more natural resources than the Earth can replenish and our activities are drastically changing the planet’s climate. As a result the life support system is starting to break down. Millions of people are already feeling the consequences. And things will get much worse if we keep going the same way".

Quoting the CNN: what keeps us from following a plant-based diet? It requires overcoming our habits and our tastes, learning new ways to cook, planning during travel, and navigating the social aspects of eating and meal sharing. However, when seen through the lens of the fate of Earth's climate and resources, don't these challenges all of a sudden seem minuscule? If you want to know more about climate change you can look here.

Choosing plant-based diets can promote environmental sustainability. It is rare that a single choice of ours can have a broad and decisive impact on the climate crisis. We have a moral imperative to choose and advocate for plant-based diets for the health of our planet and the well being and survival of generations to come.

Has this opened your eyes?

You can look into the below resources and change your life today!

Websites:

Vegan Society

Vegan Kit

I Love Vegan

Documentaries (all on Netflix):

What The Health

Forks Over Knives

Earthlings

Cowspiracy

YouTube: