Vegetarians Reduce Greenhouse Gases
Vegans and vegetarians have long know about the impact of meat production on the environment. But even this is new information:
A kilogram of beef is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution than driving for 3 hours while leaving all the lights on back home.
This is among the conclusions of a study by Akifumi Ogino of the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Tsukuba, Japan, and colleagues.
Knowing that, consider that even the above calculation may be low:
The calculations, which are based on standard industrial methods of meat production in Japan, did not include the impact of managing farm infrastructure and transporting the meat, so the total environmental load is higher than the study suggests.
According to other information, each vegetarian saves one acre of grassland a year by avoiding meat.
Going vegetarian is usually a personal decision informed by emotional, health or environmental reasons. Sometimes all three.
Maybe news like this will cause people to change their minds. Does it change yours?
