Tonight University of Cincinnati sustainability had a workshop about vegetarian and vegan eating. With Carrie's (another Sustainability Advocate) help as the other moderator, we started the conversation about why to become vegetarian or vegan with the group. This is a question that vegetarians and vegans have to deal with regularly. Two weeks ago, at a film showing for "The Cove" someone asked "if we're just going to destroy all of the fish anyways, why should we care?" Well, what is the reason that you do anything at all?
I had prepared a lengthy response to the question about why I'm a vegetarian. I tried to imagine an answer that could really encompass the many many reasons. My friend Page recently blogged about it. Quite frankly, it is of course a personal choice. I think that Kayla (thanks!) said it best in reference to one of the holiest men ever to live:
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” Gandhi (link to more gandi)
Basically, if you align your morality with your actions, you will find yourself quite happy. I have to say this is true for me, for example, when I have taken a great deal to find locally grown produce, prepare it in a carefully selective fashion, and come to enjoy something that is not only delicious and healthy but also (personally) morally sound and sustainable. To each their own.
This has obvious implications to many areas in each of our lives. To me, it is the reason that I recycle every last object, compost everything that I can, and attempt to reuse every last scrap of the rest. It is the reason that, in fact, why I write these blogs.
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According to footprintnetwork.org, the "ecological footprint" calculator used for wikipedia's Ecological footprint article, it would take 3.4 earths to sustain our current global population if everyone lived exactly like me. I require 15.3 global acres of productive land to produce 14.2 tons of carbon monoxide per year. That sounds like a lot, but compared to the average American at 8.00 (United Arab Emirates tops the list at 10.68), I make less than half the impact. What makes up most of that figure? Natural gas and electricity. It becomes evident in the discussion of global average (1.4) that highly industrialized, gas and coal burning countries like the US are the main source for the global climate shift. Tough pill to swallow.
Even harder to consider is what it would be like without gas or electric. I had initially planned to go for a week with no gas or electricity for a week in January, but for several reasons I have to wait. First, my landlord has made me aware that if I was to turn off my heat this week that I could potentially rupture plumbing by allowing the water in the pipes to freeze. This week the weather reports suggest average temperatures below freezing. But, I will be turning off for good the first week with average temps above freezing. Then once spring comes I will be turning it off for good. Maybe that's crazy, but just maybe, it might bring me a lot of happines...
(Have some more more enviromental quotes if you would like)
I had prepared a lengthy response to the question about why I'm a vegetarian. I tried to imagine an answer that could really encompass the many many reasons. My friend Page recently blogged about it. Quite frankly, it is of course a personal choice. I think that Kayla (thanks!) said it best in reference to one of the holiest men ever to live:
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” Gandhi (link to more gandi)
Basically, if you align your morality with your actions, you will find yourself quite happy. I have to say this is true for me, for example, when I have taken a great deal to find locally grown produce, prepare it in a carefully selective fashion, and come to enjoy something that is not only delicious and healthy but also (personally) morally sound and sustainable. To each their own.
This has obvious implications to many areas in each of our lives. To me, it is the reason that I recycle every last object, compost everything that I can, and attempt to reuse every last scrap of the rest. It is the reason that, in fact, why I write these blogs.
......................................................................................................................................................................
According to footprintnetwork.org, the "ecological footprint" calculator used for wikipedia's Ecological footprint article, it would take 3.4 earths to sustain our current global population if everyone lived exactly like me. I require 15.3 global acres of productive land to produce 14.2 tons of carbon monoxide per year. That sounds like a lot, but compared to the average American at 8.00 (United Arab Emirates tops the list at 10.68), I make less than half the impact. What makes up most of that figure? Natural gas and electricity. It becomes evident in the discussion of global average (1.4) that highly industrialized, gas and coal burning countries like the US are the main source for the global climate shift. Tough pill to swallow.
Even harder to consider is what it would be like without gas or electric. I had initially planned to go for a week with no gas or electricity for a week in January, but for several reasons I have to wait. First, my landlord has made me aware that if I was to turn off my heat this week that I could potentially rupture plumbing by allowing the water in the pipes to freeze. This week the weather reports suggest average temperatures below freezing. But, I will be turning off for good the first week with average temps above freezing. Then once spring comes I will be turning it off for good. Maybe that's crazy, but just maybe, it might bring me a lot of happines...
(Have some more more enviromental quotes if you would like)
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