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act locally
April 2008 
I'm a little bothered...
Posted on Sep 12th, 2007
by 
Risto
Risto
Recently I viewed Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth and Leonardo DiCaprio's The 11th Hour. Good films that I'll definitely recommend, however I just need to express something that seemed to be lacking in both films. It is the diet of humans that also has a significant contribution to the decline of our Earth's environment.
I lean towards being vegetarian, and I do try to avoid red meat (beef), but I do occasionally get off track, which I do admit I am part of the problem.
The large herds of cattle raised for human consumption is a major contributor to the demise of our environment. Nearly half of all the water used in the United States goes to raising animals for food.
It takes 5,000 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of meat, while growing 1 pound of wheat only requires 25 gallons.
A totally vegetarian diet requires only 300 gallons of water per day, while a meat-eating diet requires more than 4,000 gallons of water per day. You save more water by not eating a pound of beef than you do by not showering for an entire year. --from goveg.com
A recent report by the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization reckons that at least eighteen per cent of the global-warming effect comes from livestock production.
So with these glaring facts, I am puzzled of how & why the two films named atop this blog entry neglected to even touch upon these points of water misuse.
Me being part of the solution::: • curtailing my consumption of beef; • using my skateboard or walking as my means of local transportation; • using public transportation for longer distances; • conserving water when showering, shaving, brushing my teeth, and washing dishes.
I just needed to share these points because it's been on my mind since I'd seen those films. Thanks for listening =)
Access: Public
I heard today on the radio that a 10% reduction in the consumption of red meat would make a big difference, just by the reduction of gas produced by the animals.
I have a garden in my back yard with all kinds of Autumn and Winter varieties. I'm looking forward to walking back there and harvesting fresh veggies to complement my dinner. I am not an vegetarian and I'm not a big beef eater.
Al Gore might have been in fear of the Cattlem's Association or any other big business that the film might potentially offend. You might recall the Cattleman's Association went after Oprah years ago for her comments on the subject. She hired Dr. Phil to help her prepare for her day in court and that's how he got so famous.
Al Gore is a politician and an environmentalist and as a politician, you can't bite the hand that feeds you.
My contribution was to change every light in my house to CF. I added an Energy Star refrigerator and my home office is 100% solar powered. I am currently building a wind generator that will sit on the roof top quite nicely. I cut my electric bil in half, just by changing the light bulbs and fridge. The savings will allow the fridge to pay for itself in about 18 months.
CF lamps use 15 - 20 watts each. An LED lamp uses 2 -3 watts. I'm bringing in more LED lamps and making my own all the time.
Good habits are not hard to adopt.
Great point, Risto! It's especially scary to see how as China's economy grows their meat consumption does too. It would be a wonderful thing if somehow “the good life” could be better decoupled from consumption of meat along with other resource-intensive habits. And as Jeff says above, it's just not that hard to change habits. I don't eat much meat anymore, use way less energy, have chosen to stay at a job with virtually no commute. No commute, for example, is a great change that has been life-enhancing AND is the green thing to do. Before I get on top of a soapbox, however, I acknowledge that I lead a very developed-country resource hungry lifestyle still. I'm typing away on a new-ish computer listening to an Ipod… I fervently hope that when my children grow up that they won't live to regret my incremental steps…
I haven't seen 11th hour as yet, but I think the main point of An Inconvenient Truth is to let people know about the dire consequences of global warming, along with the knowledge that we have what it takes to stop it.
Vegetarianism is not a mainstream thing in Canada or the U.S. (think the percentages may be around the 3-4% mark).
Some climate change people will become vegetarians. I had started, but unfortunately under stress I regress to bad eating habits (my “meds” are being rejigged). And when I go back to better habits, I am also going to have to learn more about what I should eat as a vegetarian to be healthy. My husband, on the other hand, will never become a vegetarian,. However, he does occasionally eat vegetarian food because he likes all kind of ethnic food, some of which are vegetarian. But that normally doesn't happen more than one every week or two.
If you polled Zaadsters, I think there would be a higher percentage of Vegetarians and Vegans that there is among the general public (Canada or the United States - not sure about other countries). At work, only one person I know is vegetarian (used to be two but one left). The vegetarian is now becoming a vegan.
There are endless ways for people to make green changes in their lives and I don't believe sufficient people will convert to vegetarianism to make a large impact.
However, there are numerous ways we can help stop climate change and I don't think any one thing is going to do it. The David Suzuki Foundation website and the Union of Concerned Scientists websites (one Canadian, one American) have great suggestions.