Environmental Tip of The Week

Equals






ie. Eating meat consumes a lot of oil. Thus this weeks tip is to reduced the meat in your diet.


With a friend, record how many meals with meat (beef, chicken, pork, etc.) you eat per week. Then both of you pledge to eat one less meat meal a week.

From fossil fuels, to forest and rainforest deforestation, to water pollution, usage, and the destruction of the ocean, the amount of meat we consume negatively affects the environment. Here is some detailed information.

And of course, the facts:

It now takes the equivalent of a gallon of gasoline to produce a pound of grainfed beef in the United States. The annual beef consumption of an average American family of four requires more than 260 gallons of fuel and releases 2.5 tons of CO₂ into the atmosphere, as much as the average car over a six month period.

Supplying the world with a typical American meat-based diet would deplete all world oil reserves in just a few years.

Nearly half of the total amount of water used annually in the U. S. goes to grow feed and provide drinking water for cattle and other livestock. Producing a pound of grain-fed steak requires the use of hundreds of gallons of water. Producing a pound of beef protein often requires up to fifteen times more water than producing an equivalent amount of plant protein.