My sister and I decided to become vegetarian for the rest of this year because of a bill that this guy in her delegation thing for her YMCA CONA trip proposed. He proposed that we should have labels on GM foods and such and also because we all have the right to know what goes into our foods. For all we know, we could be eating poison. How many re-calls on meat have you heard about recently? Did you know that tilapia is a fish that is farmed? They are fed genetically modified things along with more than half the other animals that we as rich human beings eat. RICH people, aka rich nations consume MORE meat on average compared to the World. The more rich we become, the more income we make as a family, community, etc. there will be more meat devoured, increasing the demand causing us to feed our animals MORE. There comes a point where feeding them means giving them genetically modified foods to help them get fatter making our meat juicer.
Eating less meat will allow for us to live sustainably, be healthy and contribute less of a carbon footprint thus contributing to the solution of global warming. You all should take a global warming class, the shit you learn is mind boggling and it really does inspire you to make a change. The class is not as literal as it sounds because you learn more than why the Earth is warming and that humans contribute to it. But you learn things such as why it is so hard to predict rain (for all you Washingtonians and Seattleites, quit scrutinizing the weather men, they're doing a fine job). You learn about the different eco-systems, the different parts of the Earth, and I could go on and on, but I won't because YOU ALL really should take a class. It is morally rewarding, and very interesting topics arise out from it. These are one of those multi-diciplinary classes meaning politics, laws, writing and all of that will come in handy. The environmental classes help open your eyes to what a beautiful BUT VULNERABLE planet we live on and it really makes you want to do something to sustain it. Trust me, our planet is the most beautiful thing ever, and if you live in Washington and have been out in the nature at all, you will understand my concern on global warming and how we as humans can be so indifferent and careless about this beautiful planet we are slowly destroying. Keep in mind, WE ONLY HAVE ONE EARTH. We might not be affected by global warming now, but it will all come and bite us in the ass when your children or grandchildren or their grandchildren can no longer live a peaceful life on this planet. It would be such a shame if they cannot see how beautiful this planet is because all the beautiful places are destroyed.To start off, click this link and read about the meat in hot pockets, I swear it is not spam. That is disgusting and scary right? What if you had eaten this and then heard about the recall? Remember when I talked about how they are recalling meat and how most of it is QUITE POSSIBLY due to the fact we are feeing our animals POISON?! "Nestle says the products may have been affected by a meat recall… Rancho is recalling more than 8.7 million pounds of beef products after it's regulators said that it processed diseased and unhealthy animals without a full inspection… the products were unfit for human consumption." 8.7 million pounds of beef products. I'll admit chicken and pork is not too bad, but beef is the absolute worst because of all the genetically modified foods. How do you think the meat product became diseased? Because we are feeding them diseased/poisoned things just to get enough beef to meet our demands. It's a lot healthier to just NOT eat it.
After my environmental classes the past two quarters, I’ve learned that eating meat contributes to global warming because of all the crops that they feed the cows and such to get them to become FAT ENOUGH to slaughter and turn into food for us. All the plowing, fertilizers, the mass planting, and everything leads to emissions of CO2, and the CO2 goes into the atmosphere and contributes to the warming of this planet. It is proven that as a family, or a nation, becomes richer, they will start eating more meat. Because we need more meat, they try to grow crops faster to feed the many cows in order to meet the demands. More than 2/3’s of the crops go to feeding animals. Crazy insane. A lot of these foods fed to cows are genetically modified too. It is a far stretch to stop eating meat just to help lessen the demand, but me and my sister are only two people out of the billions.
I really want to make this planet a better place besides just saving energy, saving water, saving electricity and recycling. I want to live sustainably. I want there to be a planet, a bearable planet for my children and grandchildren and their children to live on. I don’t want to fuck this planet up anymore than it already is. So, in order to do so, I need to contribute to helping the world become more sustainable. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not an extreme, tree hugging, eco-facist. But I do care for being green and eco-friendly. I’m beyond thankful I live in such an environmentally friendly state and that I go to such an eco-friendly school. I want to be able to preserve all the beautiful landscapes, and hiking trails, and all the national parks so the people in the future can see how beautiful Washington is.
Washington, according to the EPA’s new CO2 bill announced on Monday June 2nd, is expected to cut CO2 emissions WAY MORE than the rest of the nation. Washington is expected to cut 72% of their emissions because of how well we are doing right now anyway. 8% of the nation uses hydro-electricity, while in Washington, 68% of our power is generated through it.
This image shows the CO2 emissions of each state through the emissions per megawatt-hour of power in the United States in the year 2012. Note that Washington emits 400 or less.
According to EPA's new bill passed for lowering CO2 emissions, Washington is expected to cut over 60% of it's emissions, WAY higher than the nations average, (mostly because we are awesome, most likely can do it, and are so eco-friendly) and if you read the bill specifically, 72% cut in emissions.
A lot of people cringe at the mere thought of becoming vegetarian. They question why and do not understand the reason as to why. Besides the positive impact on the Earth it is just straight up, plainly HEALTHIER. I guess one of the things I should clear up about being vegetarian is that there are a lot of misconceptions. It is not JUST salads, greens, tofu and fruits. I mean look at this burger…
made 100% from plants. Veggie Grill serves food that we can feel good about, they are proudly committed to serving 100% plant based food, anything they serve has no meat, dairy, eggs, cholesterol, animal fat or trans fat. I’m sure there are other great vegetarian places, but this is definitely one of them on the list for me and my sister. I’m so stoked to go the rest of this year and possibly go into next year without eating meat knowing there are such wonderful eating options in Washington.
I know, I’m a tad bit weird for making this post, but it’s just something I had to post. It's a thought that has been lingering in my mind and here it is out for all of you guys to read and understand why I decide to do the things I do.
Normally, I always think things through before I act. I am a over thinker, and I try to see the positive and the negative consequences of my actions before I do something. I've put a lot of thought into this, and the pros certainly outweigh the cons. It impacts the planet and my health in a very positive way, so why not do it? I do not do things on impulse, and this vegetarian thing is definitely not an impulse act. I have decided this is what I want to do, and the reason as to why is because I cannot see the negative.
Get out there, take a global warming or environmental class, it will open your eyes. It will help you see how beautiful yet vulnerable this planet is. Now, to end this post, I will say thanks for reading why I decided to become vegetarian and thanks for reading my concerns about the planet's future. And please consider being vegetarian (;
