Earth Day 2010: Eating As If The Earth Matters
Forty years have passed since the first Earth Day, and many people now realize that, if we’re serious about saving the planet, we have to do more than just recycle, carry cloth bags, take short showers, and use energy-efficient light bulbs. While these are all worthwhile measures, we must also work to control our population —and our appetite for flesh . There are currently 6.8 billion people in the world and experts predict that there will be at least 9 billion humans by 2050. Global meat consumption is projected to double by 2050. With meat-eaters putting such an enormous carbon footprint on the Earth already, it’s frightening to think what things will be like if global meat (and cheese) consumption doubles within 40 years. In fact, my head practically starts to spin when I think about all the water currently squandered on animal agriculture; all the forests that are being bulldozed to make more room for animals and the crops to feed them; all the manure that see