This week's question of the week is not one I can pass up! "What things could we do differently to reduce climate change?", it's a question many of us ask ourselves and/or our governments. Today, I want to talk about a quick and easy step to take that no one likes to talk about. Not even our governments.
Climate change is very real and if left unchecked, it'll cause us a lot of problems and let's just say I'll be glad I don't have children who have to live in such a world. Because it isn't something for a far away future. We are already seeing plenty of signs.
Climate change will hit everyone differently, but even the rich, western countries will not be spared. Which is fitting, because we did cause most of it. Extreme weather, sea water rising, food shortages, rising prices, and to those who think immigration is a problem now? Just wait and see what a huge stream of climate immigrants you'll get if you refuse to act now.
We can point fingers at big corporations, forgetting that WE are the ones buying their products. We can point fingers at governments which WE ourselves put in place. We can point fingers at neighbours, so WE don't have to do anything, but guess what? That won't give your kids and grandkids a hospitable earth in the future.
Lead by example and take responsibility.
Isolating homes is an options, which is something that is happening a lot in our country right now. Due to crazy rises in gas prices, everyone suddenly becomes 'eco friendly', trying to cut back on their gas usage. Problem is though, we don't have enough handy people to do the jobs, which means people have to wait up to a year before their house can get isolated.
The thing no one wants to talk about
There is one thing you can do today to cut back on your and your family's carbon footprint: Switch to a plant-based diet.
I know, I know, you could never give up bacon / cheese / steak / ribs / whatever. I know, our anchestors also ate meat. I also know lions eat meat. And yes, you have beautiful teeth, but no, they really look nothing like a lion's.
Thing is, meat is proven to produce bigger emissions than plant-based foods. You might like it, or you might not. It does not change the reality:
Getting your protein from plant-based sources instead of meat will make a huge impact. As a bonus, it's healthier aswell.
And let's not forget about milk:
Why would we stick with cow's milk, when there is a huge choice in plant-based alternatives?
Taking it in strides
Now, something I do not like to support, but I'm not blind to our current world and the humans currently living in it: The very least you could do is cut back on your meat and dairy consumption.
Don't want to give up your glass of cow's milk (and puss, yum) in the morning? Atleast when using milk as an ingredient, you could go for a plant-based version. You will not notice a difference, but the climate will.
Addicted to cheese or bacon? Keep your one guilty pleasure, but don't use it as an excuse not to give up the rest. If you want the 'idea of meat', you can look at replacements. Using fake meat in something like a pasta really makes no difference in taste, but it makes a huge difference for our climate.
I know, if one person changes things, we won't really notice. But if that one person talks about it, or helps others make a change, it'll spread. If we show the industry we'd like beans instead of beings, less beings will be brought into existence and we will be doing the world a huge favor.
Bonus
If we do decide to switch to a plant-based diet, with the people afraid of change atleast cutting back significantly on thier meat and dairy consumption, we would not only reduce direct emissions. We would also save a lot of space:
Feeding a huge amount of animals, to then kill them and eat their dead bodies is not an efficient way of feeding the world. We need a lot of land to grow all of their food, which has already had a devastating effect on the rainforest. If we were to grow plant-based food to eat it ourselves directly, we'd need a lot less land. We could feed more people and give land back to nature aswell.
Taking responsibility
I cannot speak for every single person in this world and I know not every person is able to switch to a plant-based diet, because of lack of resources. This mostly holds true for remote tribes and such though, so don't go throwing around your excuses just yet.
In modern, western society, with fully stocked grocery stores, you can make a choice. So then it comes down to taking your responsibility for a better tomorrow, instead of finding excuses and pointing fingers to avoid change.
You can start today. It really isn't hard.
| Foodblog | Redbubble shop | Vida shop |
Connect with me on:
| Pinterest | Twitter | Twitch | Steam |
Whilst I would disagree with you that climate change is very real, I am 100% on board that it makes sense to switch to a plant-based diet. Let's stop the genocide of animals. Imagine being born as an animal in this world. Nothing gets more horrific.
I feel the climate is doomed, or better said: Humanity is dooming itself. If we go down, it's our own fault and I really don't care. Better for the planet in the long run. I do care about all of the animals we are hurting in the process and so yes, that's why I wrote this blog. Changing our diets is a very undervalued way to reduce out emissions and people should at the very least be aware of it. I could tell everyone how horribly we treat animals (and I do), but plenty still don't care. Hopefully some will care about their children enough to maybe make some changes in their diet for the climate. Whatever it takes to get people away from animal agriculture.
I think Joey Carbstrong and Earthling Ed do a great job of spreading the message. I do wonder though, who would create such a world with so much animal suffering.
I don't feel the same way regarding climate or humanity. They say, where your focus goes, energy flows. If you are looking for doom and gloom, you will find it. If you move your focus towards abundance, you will also find it.
I wish you well on your journey and hope you overcome the argumentum ab auctoritate that is often used in Science. We are all scientists and can read the data.
I'm curious to get your clarification on this point.. Are you saying that the climate is not changing at all, or that changes in climate are due to natural changes and not related to human action? Im very open to the latter point, and that is something that is very possible.. although as you have mentioned in another comment does not address the pretty shoddy use of our resources and the way we pollute with our waste..
thanks!
I'm curious to get your clarification on this point.. Are you saying that the climate is not changing at all, or that changes in climate are due to natural changes and not related to human action? Im very open to the latter point, and that is something that is very possible.. although as you have mentioned in another comment does not address the pretty shoddy use of our resources and the way we pollute with our waste..
thanks!
Hi Alex,
If I remember, the propaganda promoted was first global cooling, then global warming and now climate change.
I only remember the fraud around the hockey stick research confirmed the fraud.
All I know is that we have different weather each year loosely based on the seasons.
That isn't to say we shouldn't use resources in a smart way etc.
sounds about right.. yes global warming was a pretty terrible way to describe things..
if you are interested.. when i refer to climate change i speak not of annual seasons but much bigger seasons .. like we have over the ages.. such as the ice age, and what not.. over 10000s of years the climate changes regardless of us humans.. so that was what i was referring to..
thanks for clarifying anyways!
Thanks for clarifying your position. There is no way to verify that claim, so I personally would not hold onto it myself.
This is quite interesting. To know the fat that consuming meat can also affect the problem we are facing on earth, I only thought eating meat at old age isn't ideal enough. Though if I may ask, how do one get milk gotten from plant based? It's like my first time hearing of it as we believe milk gotten from cows are also best nutrient.
For things like almond milk and oat milk, it's basically just chopping up the nuts or oats with water, maybe soak them a little and then straining out the pulp, so you get a nice, milky liquid. Some producers add things like protein, vitamin D or B12, to increase the nutritional value and match it with cows milk. Some add sugar, but ofcourse sugarless is beter, especially when using it as an ingredient, so you don't even notice the difference.
I make my own oat milk sometimes and simply blend oats and water together and then strain it. it's really simple and cheap, although you do need a blender for it.
Meat is very bad for the environment and the amount we eat in rich, western countries is waaaaaay too high and very unhealthy. If you skip eating animal products alltogether, you have to make sure to get your protein from things like beans, nuts and tofu (although there's a bit of protein in most plant-based products). You should also be sure to eat leafy greens for the iron and take a B12 supplement. If not available, animal products a few times a week is good enough for the nutrition values.
HOLY MOLY! We always talk about Wheat being what keeps the world alive, BUT LOOK AT THOSE TOMATOES!
Save earth🌍