Celebrated since 1970, when Senator Gaylord Nelson conceived it, Earth Day on April 22 is so called to remind us of our home, to take care of it and to participate in activities that nurture it.
Since beef is a super punishing food for the environment the least we can do is to have a beef-free day. Better still one can make it vegetarian, substituting it with legumes saving 70 kg of polluting gases, leaving just 2 kg of gas emissions per kilogram of food.
“If cows were a country, they would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gasses”, said Bill Gates. As it is, the worst emitters are China (14 million tons of CO2 released), the US (6 million tons) and India (3.5 million tons). One brief note, cows actually release both methane and CO2, and it is released not from where one would assume but from their breath when they are chewing their cud. So it is both dairy cows and cattle raised for beef that are responsible. However, the butchering process and transporting the meat greatly increases the carbon footprint of beef over dairy cattle.
Since lamb and mutton are also quite damaging for the environment, a plant-based diet is the most environmentally friendly. However, the meat eaters of Europe and the Americas would find it almost impossible to give up their traditional foods. Pork, poultry and fish can be substitutes as these pollute only 10 to 14 percent of beef herds.
How much of a sacrifice would it be to cut down beef to a couple times a week and replace it with substitutes, both animal and plant-based? It would appear to be a realistic alternative, and easier on one’s pocket book as beef is expensive.
Another way one can help the planet is to reduce our reliance on single-use plastics. Bringing reusable bags to the grocery and other stores can make a difference. Plastics end up in the stomachs of whales and other sea creatures, and in our drinking water and food as microplastics. Dining in at a restaurant rather than getting takeout can help reduce takeout container waste. Alternatively, bringing one’s own tupperware could also help. Carrying one’s own mug to a cafe each morning on the way to work could over the course of a year reduce a person’s coffee cup waste by hundreds. Small changes in habits can collectively have a significant positive impact.
At this point, someone is bound to ask: aside from reducing waste and becoming vegetarians, what else can one do? If the objective is to reduce carbon emissions, transport comes to mind. Airplanes are a significant source and a terrible waste when flying nearly empty — as on weekends when business travelers are absent. Hence, all the cheap flights then.
Rail pollutes much less although the sad fact remains that the US, unlike Europe, has not invested much in high-speed rail. Most holiday travel in the US is by automobile, and one or two people driving somewhere, while a frequent sight, remains a heavy source of pollution. Any alternative lacks the flexibility of personal transport, particularly in areas like national parks which are almost impossible to reach or tour on public transport. Of course, large tour groups can hire buses.
One might ask what Joe Biden is doing to make public transport more accessible, and the short answer has to be … it is a difficult situation. A month ago the administration announced $4 billion in support of transit construction projects. But if the US is to have a network of modern rail as in Europe, one would have to add several more zeroes. This administration, which tends to coast in neutral, sadly lacks the dynamism for anything really ambitious to change travel habits.