We can also not ignore the huge impact of animal agriculture on ecology. 51% of all greenhouse gas emissions are caused by meat production. To produce 1 kg of protein from kidney beans required approximately 18 times less land, 10 times less water, 9 times less fuel, 12 times less fertilizer and 10 times less pesticide in comparison to producing 1 kg of protein from beef. This all ties in to global warming, a topic which is closely connected to the importance of a Zero Waste lifestyle. Therefore, looking at Zero Waste and veganism as lifestyles, there are a lot of similarities, as the basic idea behind both revolves around improving our environment. Animal agriculture requires plenty of resources, which are rapidly running out. Consequently, a plant-based diet is far more sustainable and eco-friendly. The concept of Zero Waste is incomplete without veganism. Research says that our planet will be irreversibly damaged within 12 years, and that is why we must act now. 7
Food waste at home Anna Tsukanova, Anna Ćaleta
We live in a world where we don’t need to go hunting or gathering. Sometimes it might seem that our food appears on our plates by magic. But it isn’t so. We spend resources such as water, land, time and money in order to grow our
7 Resources: Humans raise a lot of animals for food: www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QA That’s 26% of earth's total land area: www.science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987 Livestock accounts for 27% of global freshwater consumption: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22331890 Only a fraction of the nutrients from fodder end up in the meat: www.iopscience.iop.org/ article/10.1088/1748-9326/11/10/105002 1 kg of steak needs up to 25 kgof grain and 15 000 l of water: www.waterfootprint.org/media/downloads/Report48-WaterFootprint-AnimalProducts-Vol1_1.pdf Meat just makes up 18% of the calories humans eat: www.science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987 We could nourish an additional 3.5 billion people: www.iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/034015 How many people are hungry in the world: www.worldhunger.org/hunger-quiz/how-many-people-are-hungry-inthe-world/ 51% of all greenhouse gas emissions are created by the meat industry: www.independent.co.uk/environment/ climate-change/study-claims-meat-creates-half-of-all-greenhouse-gases-1812909.html Production of beans and beef: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25374332 12 years until the climate changes: www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/08/global-warming-must-notexceed-15c-warns-landmark-un-report
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