Schrmin’s Recent Comments

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  This argument appears to me just another attempt to rationalize and justify meat-eating when it's clearly one of the most environmentally destructive practices humans engage in.  Moral animal welfare issues aside (and the issue of violently slaughtering billions of animals not out of necessity but just because we like the taste is itself a strong argument against meat eating for any compassionate individual), what the article fails to mention are the numerous additional eco-damaging side effects of livestock rearing that go far beyond the contribution to climate change including:

  * in the US alone, 100's of millions of acres of (mostly public-owned) rangeland degraded due to grazing (erosion, soil compaction, reduced water infiltration, denuding of vegetation and replacement with invasives, etc - btw, cattle and bison grazing differ tremendously including vegetation preferred, distances traveled, time spent grazing, elevations and slopes grazed, efficiency of forage use, grass height remaining above soil, etc., and so the two cannot be equated in any realistic sense),

  * the deleterious effects on native wildlife (grazing is said to be one of the single largest contributers to biodiversity loss due to habitat destruction, reduction of food, water, and cover - not to mention the purposeful eradication of wildlife considered to be "pests") -- the UNFAO report states "in 306 of the 825 terrestrial eco-regions identified by the Worldwide Fund for Nature, livestock are identified as 'a current threat', while 23 of Conservation International's 35 'global hotspots for biodiversity' - characterized by serious levels of habitat loss - are affected by livestock production," 

  * destruction and pollution of streams and associated riparian areas - cattle trample stream edges and alter stream shape, destroy riparian vegetation, pollute the water, stir up sediments, etc., all of which negatively affects the aquatic life and the organisms that rely on it,

  * deforestation, which, contrary to the authors suggestion, would undoubtedly continue since most is the result of grazing and not feed production.  The UNFAO report itself states "expansion of grazing land for livestock is a key factor in deforestation, especially in Latin America: some 70 percent of previously forested land in the Amazon is used as pasture, and feed crops cover a large part of the reminder. About 70 percent of all grazing land in dry areas is considered degraded, mostly because of overgrazing, compaction, and erosion attributable to livestock activity."

  * etc,

  The UNFAO report states that the livestock sector is one of the most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems at EVERY scale from local to global. The findings of the report suggest that it should be a major policy focus when dealing with problems of (not only) climate change, (but also) land degradation, air pollution, water shortage and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity.

  So for the sake of the planet, not to mention for health and for the animals, be veg...it's simple.

   

  On Debunking the meat/climate change myth posted 3 months ago 92 Responses

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  And possibly the best example may be Easter Island, for what better comparison is there to an earth floating in the vastness of space than a remote island floating in a vast empty sea?  You can read about the island’s history and its ecological and societal collapse (titled “Easter’s End,” also by Jared Diamond) here:

   

  http://dieoff.org/page145.htm

   

  http://www.eco-action.org/dt/eisland.html

  On Learning from past civilizations posted 3 months, 1 week ago 2 Responses

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  An easy and cheap way to dramatically reduce the amount of water used at your kitchen and bathroom sinks is to replace the faucet aerators with low flow versions.  Typical aerators use approximately 2.5 gallons per minute, but I found that 0.5 gpm aerators work great...even in the kitchen (and that's 1/5th the water usage...or 1/10th the amount of Umbra's example!)  Universal-fit low flow aerators cost only a few dollars (and make great eco gifts for family and friends).  You can find them at some hardware stores, or you can buy them online:

  http://www.nrgsavers.com/prodwater.htm

  http://usalandlord.stores.yahoo.net/05gpmprcospn.html

  http://www.conservationmart.com/p-293-whedon-05-gpm-ultra-saveraerator-ua1c.aspx

  On Umbra dishes on dishwashers vs washing by hand posted 6 months, 1 week ago 7 Responses

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  Replaceable head toothbrushes...

  Just like hoperu pointed out, there are also toothbrushes on the market that use replaceable heads, like this company:  

  http://www.eco-dent.com/terradent.htmOn Ask Umbra's video advice on reusing your toothbrush posted 8 months, 2 weeks ago 2 Responses

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  There're much worse things happening on our planet

  than some people eating meat?  That's debatable (and even if there are it doesn't mean we should dismiss the issue).

  According to the U.N. FAO report titled Livestock's Long Shadow, "the livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global," and "the livestock sector is...responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions measured in CO2 equivalent. This is a higher share than transport," (and this doesn't even touch on forest destruction, land degradation, manure, methane, water use, etc, nor on the seafood industry decimating the world's oceans).

  According to Environmental Defense, if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than a half-million cars off U.S. roads.

  Grist has touched on the meat topic before:

  http://www.grist.org/advice/ask/2007/09/17/
  http://www.grist.org/news/daily/2007/08/30/5/index.html

  Here are some other resources:
  http://www.earthsave.org
  http://www.themeatrix.com
  http://www.factoryfarmmap.org
  http://www.un.org/events/tenstories/06/story.asp?storyID= ...

  "nothing would benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet." - Albert EinsteinOn Cheap-chicken ad from KFC hides true cost of food; here's a tastier, low-cost alternative posted 9 months ago 17 Responses