Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Haunting Me...

Ok the sentiment in this picture has been haunting me (click on it to read; the fine print says "Think you can be a meat eating environmentalist? Think again). I have been calculating my carbon footprint and since I am a heavy meat eater (on a low carb diet), about 75% of my carbon footprint is from diet. YIKES!!! My footprint is almost 5 tons and 3.6 of it is from diet.

I have been low carbing for a while and I always find it becomes less effective over time. I've basically stalled for now so I have been considering moving to a more plant based diet to reduce my carbon footprint. It will be gradually since we have a lot stocked up.

I've never really seen how fish stacks up in regards to our footprint. I know with raised meat they take a lot of water, food that could be used more effectively and they create a lot of waste (methane anyone?) as well as take up valuable land. Of course with inhumanely raised meat which is caged and not allowed to have any semblance of a natural life, I sadly know that's where most of what I consume probably comes from. This is something I also feel guilty about.

Also, does humanely raised local meat have less of a footprint than conventionally raised meat? So many questions, so few answers. Guess I need to do a little hunting....for information ;)

PS: Here is a link to roughly calculate what goes into the meat we eat: Eating Green Calculator

No comments: