To the Editor:
I find it odd that during Live Earth when people were being urged to reduce their “carbon footprint” the largest contributor of methane emissions – which cause nearly half of the planet’s human-induced warming - was not mentioned.
Animal agriculture is the largest destroyer of our earth, spewing over 100 million tonnes of methane per year, and that number is rising. Approximately 85% of this methane is produced in the digestive processes of the hundreds of millions of livestock animals bred worldwide. An additional 15% of animal agricultural methane emissions are released from the massive “lagoons” used to store untreated farm animal waste. These lagoons are the number one source of water pollution in the U.S.
Animal agriculture is also the largest waster of our earth’s precious resources. A meat-based diet requires 6,000 gallons of water to be consumed each day. A plant-based diet requires only 300 gallons of water per day. Forests, rainforests and wetlands are being cleared and destroyed daily to make room for grazing cattle.
The most effective way we can save this earth is to adopt a plant-based diet. A true environmentalist does not eat meat. Do you really want to save this earth? Go vegan!
By Bridget Curran