Trapped indoors as Earth Day approaches, it may feel difficult to deeply care about issues like climate change. A lot of us have had our lives turned upside down by having to stay isolated, and others have suffered terribly because they or their loved ones have been infected with this disease. This, at least, was my immediate feeling when I was asked to write this article. And yet, as I thought about it more, I realized this might not be such a bad time to talk about the environment — specifically, to talk about our choices every day that could help prevent a global catastrophe, one that will eventually be even worse than the one we face today.
Through this difficult time, I have found a silver lining, surges of empathy and love, as people reach out to one another, care for one another, and sacrifice for one another. And it is this display of selflessness that leaves me with hope for the future of the environment.
In order to slow the spread of COVID-19, billions of humans around the world have self-isolated. As hard as it has been, we have cut the majority of our human interactions for the sake of the collective good. Sure, there are people who have disregarded social distancing norms. But the majority of us who have been able to make the sacrifice have stayed inside for each other.
We have done so in spite of knowing that, at any given moment, there may be many who continue to leave their homes for non-essential purposes. But we have stayed inside because we know that if everyone acted this way, the probable impact would be very grave. The struggles of climate change are not completely unlike this viral pandemic. In actuality, the principles that have guided our sacrifice for each other during this hard time carry over.
By now, we are all aware of the dangers of climate change and how devastating their long-term effects can be. Many of us have taken some initiatives to start reducing our environmental footprints. When considering environmental issues, there is much that feels out of our control and beyond our help. But there are measures each of us can take. One of the biggest things we can do to contribute to a healthier world is to take into account the food we consume. And the reality is that our consumption of animal-derived foods takes a heavy toll on the environment.
While things like using more efficient home appliances, taking shorter showers, and being really mindful about recycling are good ways to contribute to a healthier planet, perhaps the single most impactful measure we can take is to dramatically reduce our consumption of animal-derived foods.
In high school, I was shocked to learn that approximately 2,500 gallons of water are required to produce a pound of beef, roughly 477 gallons of water for a pound of eggs, and about 1,000 gallons of water for a gallon of milk. Or that animal agriculture takes up an astonishing 30-40% of the land in the lower 48 states. This is terribly inefficient, and it makes our practices of growing animals for food unsustainable. Including feed crops, animal agriculture consumes the majority of the freshwater in the United States, while simultaneously being a heavy polluter. Ocean dead zones, deforestation, land desertification, and species extinction are all real consequences of animal agriculture. And despite all this, animal agriculture around the world still thrives, with projections of meat consumption set to increase in the coming years.
It is easy to put the impact of our actions out of sight and out of mind whenever it is not close to us. Yet, if this pandemic has proven anything, it is that we have the propensity to help one another and to do what is right for the collective good. Although in the grand scheme of things, one person’s choice to reduce their consumption of animal-derived food might not change much, if everyone thinks this way, we will continue to hurt the environment. It will be no one person’s fault. The fault will lie in all of us.
What happens in the coming years will largely depend on our own convictions. Although various pressures may influence us, I have faith that in the long run more people will choose sustainable foods. And as shocked as I was to learn about how much water and land it takes to produce a pound of beef, I was equally shocked to learn the impact a single day of reducing meat consumption can have. Each day, we have the opportunity to eat plants instead of animals in order to save 1,100 gallons of water, 45 pounds of grain, 30 square feet of forested land, 20 pounds of carbon dioxide, and the life of an animal. So as Earth Day approaches, it may serve us and future generations well to more deliberately consider what we consume every day so that we may save ourselves from catastrophe.
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