In May, Vanity Fair magazine published their “Green Issue” — their first issue devoted to issues of eco-living and the environment. It was a great issue, featuring some of the more prominent individuals involved in saving the environment (the minds behind Treehugger and Ideal Bite among them), and laid out beautifully the case for living a more green life.
One of the really interesting articles in this issue was the piece entitled “Fifty Ways to Save the Planet,” describing different ways you can change your life to make a difference. Some require more commitment than others, but one that really stuck out for me was the suggestion of going vegetarian one day a week — for surprisingly non-animal-friendly reasons:
To produce one pound of beef requires 2,500 gallons of water-that’s 40 times more water than is used to produce a pound of potatoes.
I’ll admit, I’m a lapsed vegetarian — I gave up meat for about 8 years, on a dare, and fell off the wagon at a barbecue (it was a work-related event held in my honour, and felt I had to eat the food to avoid being rude. By the end of the meal, I had barbecue sauce all over my face, running down my arms…). Though I eat meat now, I also know how easy it is to give it up — having seafood, or going completely vegetarian for just one day is surprisingly simple. And now, with this new information (in addition to the fact that lowering your red meat intake has possible positive health implications), it’s sort of hard to argue against doing it.
Give a try — if only for one day of the entire year. Remember, you’re helping save the planet.
Author by Karen Walrond
