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It's no secret that vegetarianism is associated closely with environmentalism-more like the opposite. If you're a vegetarian, you're assumed to be an environmentalist, and sometimes vice versa. But why? When asked, most people point to animal rights-and though that's a big part of the rationale, it's far from the whole story.
Vegetarianism is green on a whole slew of levels. Did you know, for example, that if everyone in the United States was to convert to vegetarianism, we could feed 1.3 billion people with the grain and soybeans we feed to livestock every year? One point three billion people every year—meaning we could feed our nation plus a billion other people. Every year. That's a pretty staggering figure.
There's more: the livestock in the US produce around 30 times more excrement that we humans do. Another unpleasantly staggering number—especially when you consider that while we (most often) have adequate sewage systems to properly dispose of the refuse, most livestock aren't so lucky. Their excrement is left to overwhelm the ecosystem it's dumped upon, leeching into water and degrading habitats.
Add those two facts to the following dire statistics: 101 million pigs, 35 million cattle, and 8.6 billion chickens were slaughtered in 2002 alone (over 9 billion animals total), and you have yourself one ironclad rationale for going the way of the vegetarian. And that way is green.
All figures taken from Vegetarian Statistics and Compassion Over Killing.
More on Vegetarianism:
Cut Global Warming by Becoming Vegetarian : TreeHugger
Green Your Brain: Why are So Many Eco-Activists Vegetarians?
Proven: Vegetarians Live Longer
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