When I was in elementary school, the cafeteria switched to disposable plastic trays because the paper ones hurt trees. Stupid, I know… but are today’s initiatives any better?

  • JasSmith@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    The average British person emits 76 times more CO2 than the offset of one person going vegan for life. Even if everyone on the planet went vegan today, forever, their sacrifice would be undone by the number of new babies born in a single year, globally. Veganism isn’t going to solve climate change. It’s not even going to make a dent. We should be focusing on practical, real measures to reduce global CO2 output. For example, the move from coal to LNG halves CO2 output. This transition alone is an order of magnitude more impactful than the entire world going vegan for life. If you care about climate change you’ll invest your limited time and energy where it counts.

      • JasSmith@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        You can easily be vegan while advocating for other change like less coal.

        Sorry, but major lifestyle changes are not “easy.” It’s “easy” to lose weight, and yet two thirds of Americans can’t do it. I like eating meat but would be willing to give it up if the juice were worth the squeeze. It’s not. Instead of spending your time telling people to make major lifestyle changes with almost zero impact to the climate, why aren’t you focusing on real, sustainable solutions?

        FYI the top four metrics in the image you linked are for agriculture, not meat production alone. Agriculture includes the production of plants, fruits, and grains. It’s all food production.

          • JasSmith@kbin.social
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            1 year ago

            I find it very difficult. It appears that what you find easy and what others find easy are not the same.

            • NotAPenguin@kbin.social
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              1 year ago

              What’s hard about choosing the plant based option in the grocery store or restaurant?
              It’s literally just buying a different product.

              • JasSmith@kbin.social
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                1 year ago

                I like meat a lot. Not eating meat will significantly degrade my standard of living.

                • NotAPenguin@kbin.social
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                  1 year ago

                  You’d be surprised how many vegans said that exact same thing… and then went vegan.

                  I used to eat meat too and know it’s tasty but you’re probably not as addicted to it as you think.

                  Plant based food can be just as tasty and knowing your food isn’t harming animals or the planet is great.

                  Are your tastebuds really more important than the lives of other animals and the health of our planet?

                  • JasSmith@kbin.social
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                    1 year ago

                    I appreciate the affirmations but I’ve spent enough years on this planet, and attempted various diets enough times, to know what I like and do not like. I like meat. Many people like meat.

                    My tastebuds are definitely more important than the almost zero impact I have explained such a diet has on the planet. You slipped up a bit there and fell into ethical concerns. Remember, this is a discussion about the impact meat has on the environment. Or is your argument not in fact about the environment at all?