Most people want to be environmentally conscious. They separate rubbish, reduce their waste and waste of electricity and fuel. What many don't realise, however, is that a true environmentalist can make a significant contribution to preserving the planet by simply being less meat.

 

The meat consumption of today's population is a burden on the environment. In fact, according to the United Nations, the number one greenhouse gas emitter is neither aeroplanes nor cars, but meat production. The meat industry produces more greenhouse gases than aeroplanes, cars, ships and trains put together.

For the majority of meat production, animals are bred for slaughter, which consume drinking water, contaminate farmland and pollute the air. Animals raised for slaughter in the USA produce 130 times more faeces than the human population. The urine from the slaughtered animals seeps into the ground and contaminates the groundwater. On a normal farm, excrement production is low enough for nature to compensate for the pollution. In a large-scale slaughterhouse, however, thousands of animals are housed in a confined space, so that the concentration of ammonia becomes immeasurable. Billions of faeces are discharged into the groundwater every year.

The faeces of slaughtered animals release toxic gases such as methane, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen sulphide and ammonia, which are the main causes of the greenhouse effect and global warming.

The enormous consumption of drinking water in factory farming causes water shortages.

Forests are cut down to make room for animals for slaughter and to produce feed for the animals. Deforestation causes soil erosion and contributes to the destruction of various species that lose their natural habitat. Meat production is many times less economical than the production of plant-based foods. 16 kg of green fodder is needed to bring a single kilo of meat to the table. Raising animals for slaughter consumes 70% of the grain grown in the US and a third of the raw materials and fossil fuels consumed.

In short: the enormous meat consumption of the world's population is destroying our planet.

What can you do to preserve our planet? Reduce your meat consumption. Environmental protection is not just about separating waste and saving fuel, but also about environmentally conscious eating. Inform your friends that meat consumption is harmful to the environment.