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 |