The-Tor via Getty Images Greenhouse gases — water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, nitrous oxide and chlorofluorocarbons — are causing the Earth to get warmer, thus leading to more natural disasters, health issues and food supply disruptions. To reduce humans’ carbon footprint (the average carbon footprint for a person in the United States is 16 tons per year, compared to the global average of 4), individuals and institutions can adopt a climate-friendly diet or a low-carbon diet, because what we eat matters. “If each and every person in the United States gave up meat and dairy products on one or more days of the week, ideally, all days of the week, we would save the environment from thousands of tons of carbon emissions,” wrote Dana Hunnes for UCLA Sustainability . “Similarly, by reducing our animal-based foods consumption, we would reduce our water use at least by half as animal husbandry utilizes more than 50% of fresh water.” Hunnes pointed out that though 1 pound of tofu has half the protein beef does, it only costs 6 gallons of water per gram of protein versus 20 to 80 gallons of water per gram of protein for beef. In 2018, Joseph […]
Reading Time: < 1 minute