Written by Erin Bell - Communitopia Board Vice President

It’s no secret that eating a vegetarian diet is better for our environment. In fact, reducing meat consumption is one of the most important lifestyle changes that individuals can make to help reduce global carbon emissions and fight climate change. Below are five environmental benefits of eating a plant-based diet--with climate change mitigation topping the list. 

1. Reduction in Greenhouse Gas Emissions. The farm-to-fork process accounts for over 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide and methane. Minimizing consumption and demand of these products will significantly reduce emissions throughout all activities associated with meat production.
   

2. Water conservation. It takes far less water to grow and harvest plant proteins as opposed to animal proteins. To source about one pound of beef takes approximately 2,500 gallons of water. Much of this water consumption can be traced back to growing foods (such as grains and soy) that livestock eat.

3. Land Conservation. Animal agriculture is a major contributor to global deforestation and desertification (when a plot of land is degraded by human activities to the point where it is no longer healthy, fertile or habitable.). About 40% of the world’s land is used for agriculture, with much of that land being used specifically to grow animal feed like soy and grain. This displaces and endangers animals and destroys forests (like the Amazon), which are one of the world’s most important means of removing carbon from the atmosphere. 

4. Air Quality Improvement. Farming requires many activities that contribute to air pollution, and animal agriculture, in particular, has been identified as having a major adverse impact on air quality. Animal farming occurs on a massive scale across the globe and is a very resource-intensive operation. Vegetable and plant crops, in contrast, require fewer resources (such as land, water, and energy), thus resulting in much less significant air pollution. A new study suggests that air pollution related to agriculture is responsible for nearly 18,000 deaths in the U.S. every year.

5. Increased Overall Sustainability. The environmental factors outlined above make it clear that meat-based diets are not sustainable for our world population. With meat production and consumption on the rise across the world, we risk exacerbating the impacts of climate change--increased heat, extreme weather, disease and insect outbreaks, rising sea levels, food scarcity, human and animal displacement, and the health and wellbeing of our population. Transitioning towards a plant-based diet is an important early step that we can take towards sustainable living that minimizes the demands we place on our planet.

Communitopia encourages you to research further into plant-based diets, the associated health benefits, and the positive environmental impacts of reducing meat consumption. If you’re curious about plant-based eating but aren’t sure how to get started, here are a few tips!