Animal products make up for 53% of all agricultural greenhouse gas emissions!

Eating meat is considered the second-largest environmental hazard facing the planet, as stated by the Union of Concerned Scientists. Animal agriculture emits more greenhouse gases than the entire global transportation systems combined. A pound of vegetables on average requires about 25 gallons of water to produce, whereas a pound of meat requires a whopping 2,500 gallons of water to produce. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), livestock is the largest source of water pollution. Livestock alone requires the caloric intake of about 9 billion humans, merely to produce products for consumption, and about 90% of the world’s crops are dedicated toward feeding livestock.

According to current estimations of environmental impacts by a report from The Guardian, animal product agriculture is responsible for: 58% of agricultural greenhouse emissions, 57% of agricultural water pollution, 56% of agricultural air pollution, and 83% of agricultural land use. On the other hand, 18% of calories and 37% of proteins are globally consumed by humans from animal products. While overpopulation of humans is a common theme in the resource depletion rhetoric, humans only account for 36% of mammal biomass, wild animals are 4%, and livestock (mainly cattle and pigs) account for 60% of mammal biomass. The overpopulation of livestock is detrimental to the environment.

At this very moment, the US imports 90% of its seafood, and overfishing practices are destroying oceanic ecosystems. Many species of marine life are facing extinction, if not extinct already, due to overfishing and the demand for seafood products. Demand for fish around the world is at an all time high, and when fish stocks are plummeting, the livelihoods and economies dependent on oceanic ecosystems will plummet as well. By reducing or eliminating seafood from your diet, you will be protecting marine life, supporting coastal communities livelihoods, and reducing the overexploitation of marine life.