But what difference can one person make? Environment edition

One frequent question I get when asked about why I transitioned to veganism, is "what difference do you really think one person is going to make?"  Lots of people agree that what we're doing to animals in this country is an abomination - factory farming is pure cruelty, but I'm only one person, if I stop eating animal products, what's going to happen?
I'll tell you what - WAY more than you think!

This was a concern I had as well when I started delving into the world of "ethical veganism."  I've mentioned before that my husband and I started our journey with health as our primary motivator.  But the more research I did, the more I learned about the treatment of animals and the more that became an equal contributor in my decision to stop eating them.  I've come across quite a few incredible infographics on this topic and will include them here so you can see as well, but let's break it up a bit - today I'll just talk about our diet's impact on the environment.

Everyone loves the environment - right?  We're all taught to conserve water in school, and I challenge you to find someone who isn't familiar with the "reduce, reuse recycle" motto.  But no one really ever mentions how much the livestock industry contributes to the destruction of the earth... til now of course!
  If you get a chance, here's a fascinating article about the use of freshwater resources in the livestock industry: http://www.forksoverknives.com/freshwater-abuse-and-loss-where-is-it-all-going/
Fresh water is like the one thing everyone agrees is a pretty hot commodity, and is insanely important.  There are laws about when and how often we can water our lawns, water-saving toilets, showers, and other appliances are hugely popular, and everyone knows not to leave the water running while you brush your teeth!  But we don't learn facts in school like this: 2500 gallons of water are used in the production of each pound of beef.  Almost half of all the water used in our country is used by the livestock industry, while less than one percent is used by humans for drinking. 
It's not just the water these animals drink - it's also the water required to grow their feed.  We're essentially using water twice for a single source of human food.  Because of this, and other factors, the production of one pound of meat requires 50 times as much water as the production of a pound of vegetables.  That means that my personal water usage is 50 times smaller than that of a meat-eater, simply by being vegan.
Here's an example from that article I mentioned that really puts it in perspective: "One of the more common actions people tend to take in an effort to reduce their freshwater footprint is to reduce their shower time by a minute or two each day. The average shower requires 8 minutes and twenty gallons of water. Cutting off two minutes of shower time would conserve five gallons of water daily. This is all good … however, forgoing a single burger or steak at lunch that same day would save 500 to 1,000 gallons of water. Cutting out a turkey sandwich or a chicken salad would save 200 gallons of water. Herein lies the real opportunity for individual activism... Between 1,700 and 4,000 gallons of water are needed to produce one pound of beef, 880 gallons to produce one gallon of milk, and over 100 gallons to produce a single egg!
Many of the commercial vegetable and fruit farms I’ve interviewed grow their products without any irrigation, yielding 2,000 to 20,000 pounds of annual produce per acre, grown simply with rainwater."

Anyone else feeling different about their personal contribution to the environment? I know I am!

While we're on the topic of the environment, let's talk about our carbon footprint.  Carbon Dioxide, Methane, and Nitrous Oxide are the big three gases that contribute to climate change.  If you don't believe in climate change or "global warming" please click the red "X" in the corner of this page - I won't be offended.
 Everyone would agree that driving a hybrid car will cut down on CO2 and help the environment, right?  What if I told you that you can reduce your carbon footprint by 50% more by going vegan for a year?  Crazy, right?  If every American simply went vegan for one meal a week, it would reduce the same amount of CO2 emissions as 500,000 cars.  WHAT??!! 
Now, while everyone is aware of CO2 emissions, Methane and Nitrous Oxide are also huge contributors to the problem, and livestock and dairy industries are the largest contributor of both emissions.  Methane is 20 times as powerful as CO2, and Nitrous Oxide is 300 times more powerful!
Simply by living a vegan lifestyle, I have cut my contribution to greenhouse emissions down to 1/7.  That just has to make you feel good!

Last topic: deforestation.
Wait, deforestation?  I thought this was a vegan blog...
When we think of the livestock industry, we don't usually think of the rainforest.  But here's a scary fact: for each hamburger we eat, we're contributing to the destruction of rainforest.  We're a growing society, and overcrowding is an issue we've all heard about.  So if we're overcrowded, but our consumption of meat keeps increasing, what are we to do?  One solution is to find new land, uninhabited by humans, to build new farms!  One infographic I've included below suggests that for each pound of beef produced on these farms on cleared out rainforest land, 660 pounds of living matter (plant species, insect species, birds, reptiles, mammals) is destroyed.  Now I like insects just about as much as the average American female, but I also recognize that they have a function.  Cockroaches and spiders are disgusting, but I know that they eat other bugs.  Any kid whose seen the movie Fern Gully knows that the rainforest is a delicate ecosystem and every creature serves a purpose to keep the community strong.  If we're bulldozing these creatures, we're destroying an entire ecosystem that took centuries to develop, and possibly killing off whole species we haven't even discovered yet!  Who thinks that's a good idea?  Not me.
Another source suggests that 30% of the earth's land mass (that's the equivalent of Asia, and more than the moon) is used for raising animals for food.  Wait, didn't we just mention overcrowding?  If 30% of the land is being used by livestock, then wouldn't cutting that back a little open up new land for us to live on? 

Okay, I'll shut up for now, and let you digest some of this.  I know it took me a while to comprehend some of these facts.  I still can't totally comprehend why more people aren't aware of this stuff! Everyone wants to save the environment and do good things for Mother Earth... until it means they can't eat a damn hamburger.