Environmental Media Contacts

LAND AND WATER:

Ms Mary Mulcahy – Communications Manager Land and Water

Email: Mary.Mulcahy@csiro.au

SUSTAINABLE ECOSYSTEMS

Mr Ben Creagh: Communication Manager Ecosystem Sciences

Email: Ben.Creagh@csiro.au

OTHER MEDIA CONTACTS

NSW Vegan Voice Magazine

Email: veganvoice@aapt.net.au

Vegan Global Community Exchange

Join the Vegan Global Community Exchange to trade information with others. www.community-exchange.org/docs/join2.asp?group=vece

PETA – People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

http://www.peta.org/about/default.aspx

GREENPEACE

Take Action: work with Greenpeace, volunteer, donate or make a fundraising event

http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/take-action/

Where to from here? What are the realistic ways that I can help?

After education and information comes decision-making. Choosing to eat less meat has scientifically been proven to have massive ramifications on the environment, as said by the UN’s top climate scientist at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, ‘Eating less meat is a great way of combating global warming’ (BBC News, 2008). A Sydney university study calculated that if society “reduced [their] meat intake from the Australian average of 300gms per day to 150gms, this will save 1.4 tonnes of greenhouse emissions every year – about the same as reducing [the average] annual car travel by 4,700 Kilometres…the energy saving each year would power the average household for nearly a month” (Russel, G 2006, p.1).

Through research we can see that altering this daily behaviour proves to be a great way in minimising our harmful impact on the ecosystem. You do not need to start by cutting meat out completely from your life, remember every little thing counts and every time you choose not to eat meat, you are making a difference in benefiting the environment. Eating meat instead every second night, so it is only a few times a week, is a brilliant way to make a positive impact in combating climate change and global warming. You are a stakeholder when it comes to the environment; you hold the power for change!

Reference list

1. BBC News, 2008, Shun meats, says UN climate chief, <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7600005.stm>. 
2. Russel, G. 2006, Think you can be a meat-eating environmentalist? Think again!, Vegetarian/Vegan Society. Queensland

Publicity

There has been a lot of media attention given to the issue of saving the environment by cutting down on one’s weekly intake of meat. The 2009 Vegan Voice magazine states that in June 2009 Beatles legend and famous vegetarian Paul McCartney along with Yoko Ono launched an appeal in Britain for ‘Meat-Free Mondays.’ Paul McCartney told the reporters, “I thought this was a great idea, to just reduce your meat intake maybe by one day a week. This would seriously benefit the planet…as research suggests it will cut out greenhouse gas emissions from the world’s livestock population”(Vegan Voice Magazine sep-nov. 2009, p.40)

Click here to watch a video of Paul McCartney’s message...

Click here to learn more about the Sydney City Council supporting ‘Meat-Free Mondays’

Reference list

1. Sienna. 2009, ‘Earth News’, Vegan Voice Magazine, September-November, p. 40

Damaging the Atmosphere

Over 30% of the greenhouse emissions produced in Australia can be attributed to the meat industry (Foran, B. Manfred, L. Dey, C. 2005). Methane produced by animals is a substantial contributor to climate change as Methane holds far more global warming danger potential then carbon dioxide. In fact over the next 20 years methane has a warming potential of at least 72 times that of carbon dioxide (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007). In 2006 The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations released a report called Livestock Long Shadow. This report states that animal industries are one of the “most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global”. (Stenfield et al, H. 2006 p.2). The report further highlights that “the meat industry manufactures more greenhouse gases than all the SUV’s, cars, trucks, planes, and ships combined in the world.” (Stenfield et al, H. 2006, p5). “Eating 1 pound (450 grams) of meat emits the same amount of greenhouse gasses as driving an SUV 40 miles”. (PETA 2008, para4) 

Animal agriculture is believed to be the leading source of methane and nitrous oxide emissions, which are main contributors for Global warming. Methane is 20 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere and Nitrous Oxide is a staggering 300 times more potent as a global warming gas then carbon dioxide. (PETA 2008, para8)

In 2008 the head speaker at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, pleaded with the world: 

‘Please eat less meat – meat is a very carbon intensive commodity.’

(BBC News, 2008)

Reference list

1. Foran, B. Manfred, L. Dey, C. 2005, Balancing Act: A triple bottom line analysis of the 135sectors of the Australian economy, CSIRO, Australia
2. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, working group 1, 2007, The Physical Basis of Climate Change, AR4 Final Report
3. Steinfeld et al, H. 2006, Livestock's Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome. 
4. PETA. 2008, Meat and the Environment, viewed 1 September 2010, <http://www.goveg.com/environment.asp>.
5. PETA. 2008, Fight Climate Change with Diet Change, viewed 1 September 2010, <http://www.goveg.com/environment-globalwarming.asp>.
6. BBC News, 2008, Shun meats, says UN climate chief, <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7600005.stm>.

The Energy Wasting Process of Meat

Every stage of the process of producing meat requires immense amounts of energy that produces plenty of greenhouse gases, resulting in heavy pollution. The energy-intensive process starts with growing the massive quantities of crops to feed the animals, then transporting the crops to the manufacturers, operating the feed mills, transporting the feed to the factory farms, placing the animals on trucks to travel the long distance to slaughter, operating the slaughter houses and livestock facilities (including lighting, heating, cooling and slaughter), transporting the meat to processing plants, operating the meat-processing plants, transporting the meat to grocery stores and finally constant refrigeration until cooking

 According to the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), “the run-off of faeces from the animal product factory farms pollutes our waterways more than all other industrial sources combined.” (PETA 2008, para1). The run-offs pollute the soil and water, killing fish and other wildlife. Animal excrements produced by these factory farms, “emit toxic gasses such as hydrogen sulphide and ammonia into the air”. (PETA 2008, para1). This occurs when the cesspools holding the excrements reaches its capacity, “factory farms will frequently get around water pollution limits by spraying liquid manure into the air”. (PETA 2008, para2). It is very common for those people who live close to animal producing factory farms to become sick simply because they are forced to inhale the toxins from the sprayed manure.  

Click here to view this short YouTube clip which briefly outlines the impact of meat on the environment

Reference list

1. PETA. 2008, Wasted Resources: Energy, viewed 1 September 2010, <http://www.goveg.com/environment-wastedResources-energy.asp>. 
2. PETA. 2008, Wasted Resources: Pollution, viewed 1 September 2010, <http://www.goveg.com/environment-pollution.asp>.
3. PETA. 2008, The Air We Breath, viewed 1 September 2010, <http://www.goveg.com/environment-airwebreathe.asp>.

I WANT TO BE EDUCATED - Land, Deforestation and Water Strains...

All over the world ecosystems are constantly being destroyed simply to make more room to feed and prepare the animals for slaughter. Nearly 50% of the Australian continent is grazed just to raise the animals for human consumption (Foran, B. Manfred, L. Dey, C. 2005). Scientists at the Smithsonian Institute believe that “the equivalent of seven football fields of land is bulldozed every minute” due to the worlds constant demand for more meat (PETA 2008, para1).

Enabling the immense amount of overgrazing often leads to:

1. The extinction of indigenous plants and animal species
2. The removal of vegetative cover, which is the most critical factor in preventing soil erosion and desertification of large areas of otherwise arable land.

Within the year 2000, in Australia “8,000 square kilometres of land was used to grow livestock animal feed” to give those animals, destined to be killed and consumed. (Russel, G 2006, p.2). Therefore a reduction in animal industries will lead to increase in land available for native vegetation and sustainable forestry.

The meat producing industry also places severe stress on our water supply.  An immense amount of the world’s water supply is constantly being diverted to animal agriculture for the purpose of cleaning away the filth in the factory farms, washing out the transporting animal trucks and of course in cleaning the slaughterhouses (PETA 2010). Statistics have shown that, “you save more water by not eating a pound of beef than you do by not showering for an entire

year” (Robbins J 2001, p.236). This is because it takes between 50, 000 and 100,000 litres of water to produce 1 kilogram of beef compared to only 1,550 litres to produce 1 kilogram of rice, and much less for most fruit and vegetables (Swan 2009, para.4). 

Reference list

1. Foran, B. Manfred, L. Dey, C. 2005, Balancing Act: A triple bottom line analysis of the 135sectors of the Australian economy, CSIRO, Australia 
2. PETA. 2008, Wasted Resources: Land, viewed 1 September 2010, <http://www.goveg.com/environment-wastedResources.asp#land>. 
3. Russel, G. 2006, Think you can be a meat-eating environmentalist? Think again!, Vegetarian/Vegan Society. Queensland
4. PETA, 2010, Meat Production Wastes Natural Resources: Water, viewed 23 September 2010 <http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/meat-wastes-natural-resources.aspx>. 
5. Robbins, J. 2001, The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and Our World, Random House, California 
6. Swan, G. 2009, Water For Food: How much water is needed to produce food? CSIRO Australia, viewed 22 September 2010 <http://www.clw.csiro.au/issues/water/water_for_food.html>.

Stand up for the Environment

In recent years there has been a strong lobby advocating to the youth culture through music, as stated in the official handbook for the Live Earth Concerts, “refusing meat [is the] single most effective thing you can do to reduce your carbon footprint”. (Rothschild 2007, p.66). This message is reinforced to the public by such high profile figures including Paul McCartney, in an interview with PETA, McCartney was asked what he thought was the biggest change a person could make to help the environment, to which he answered, "I think the biggest change anyone could make in their own lifestyle would be to become vegetarian.” (PETA April 2008, para. 3)

Click here to read the complete interview with Paul McCartney... 

I personally am a vegetarian however I don’t think it is necessarily right to advocate that everyone else should be. I feel that change can only occur when society is informed enough to know the relative impact on the environment when it comes to eating meat versus eating vegetables.

The process of climate change can start with the individual. Once one becomes more educated about the impact of eating meat, then one can educate others.  No one should advocate that the world must be vegetarian unless that person is prepared to first educate the world!

Reference list 

1. Rothschild, D.d. 2007, The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook: 77 Essential Skills to Stop Climate Change, Rodale Books, New York. 
2. PETA. 2008, The PETA Files, viewed 1 September 2010, <http://blog.peta.org/archives/2008/04/an_interview_wi_2.php>.

Climate Change and the role we play...

Climate change is often seen as the mother of all environmental problems in today’s world. Global warming, deforestation, overexploited natural resources, wasted land as well as water and air pollution all contribute to expanding the mammoth environmental problem of climate change. The fact that environmental problems are on such a large world scale, it is all too common to believe that on an individual level, climate change is beyond our control. It is of course true that if every single person on the planet changed their lifestyles completely for the benefit of the planet, then environmental problems will most likely cease to exist, but that surely seems like a ridiculous fantasy. We can’t expect the whole world to change but we can start by working on ourselves.

We’ve all heard that on a personal level we can do the ‘little’ things; use energy saving light bulbs, use less water, drive less and walk more yet I would like to discuss another daily behaviour that is probably one of the best kept secrets of what an individual can do and have enormous impact potential, in battling the massive issue of climate change.  I believe the best way to combat climate change on a personal level is to make changes in our diet, by consuming less meat…