Green Options

Cutting back on animal products in your diet is one simple step that can have a huge environmental impact.

A recent report from Greenpeace Brazil attributed 80% of the amazon’s deforestation to cattle production. Cincinnati is even encouraging residents to eat less meat to help combat climate change! Switching to a vegan or vegetarian diet is a tremendous way to help reduce your impact on the planet. If cutting out animal products all together seems a little extreme for you, even just reducing the amount of animal products in your diet can make a difference. Here are ten delicious ways to eat lower on the food chain!

The UN’s top Climate Scientist, Rajendra Pachuari, will speak in London at a meeting organized by Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), urging people to fight global warming by taking meat off their menu.

This is a guest post by Meg Hamill who works at LandPaths, in Partnership with The Open Space District of Sonoma County, California

Monday evening, the UN’s top Climate Scientist, Rajendra Pachuari, will speak in London at a meeting organized by Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), urging people to fight global warming by taking meat off their menu.

Dr. Pachuari has recently been re-appointed to his second, six-year term as chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC collects and evaluates climate data for governments around the world, and was the recipient of the Nobel Prize in 2007, along with Al Gore. Dr. Pachuari told the BBC: “I want to highlight the fact that among options for mitigating climate change, changing diets is something one should consider.”

UN data says that meat production accounts for about 18% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, topping even transportation, which accounts for 13% of worldwide emissions. The UN included all aspects of meat production, when arriving at the 18% figure: clearing land, creation and transportation of fertilizers, burning fuels in farm vehicles, and the emissions coming directly from cows and sheep.