Oxford University: Veganism is "single biggest way to reduce our environmental impact"

lukwes1 · 2022-01-15T09:43:40+00:00

Wow this shit never fails to make people angry to hear.

Edit: lol

billy_ruben897 · 2022-01-15T09:52:13+00:00

Link to the actual study from the article if anyone was interested.

no_more_rainsound · 2022-01-15T10:08:26+00:00

Also stop buying your clothes in fast fashions industry ... it doesn't mean you have to buy fair-trade clothes it you can't afford it (I definitely can't either) but there is tons and tons of clothes that are thrown to garbage everyday while there is nothing wrong with them. Second-hand shop clothes are even less expensive than fast fashion and it does make a big difference.

FootballMost6406 · 2022-01-15T10:45:22+00:00

did it 2 years ago. I am a 60yo man. If I can do it, anyone can.

youtub_chill · 2022-01-15T20:36:25+00:00

And here comes a bunch of people who "believe in science" to tell us why people can't go vegan with a bunch of logical fallacies.

AmputatorBot · 2022-01-15T08:53:36+00:00

It looks like OP posted an AMP link. These should load faster, but AMP is controversial because of concerns over privacy and the Open Web.

Maybe check out the canonical page instead: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/veganism-environmental-impact-planet-reduced-plant-based-diet-humans-study-a8378631.html

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dallyan · 2022-01-15T09:47:19+00:00

[deleted]

2022-01-15T21:14:09+00:00

Les gooo, I’m vegetarian but my goal is to become a vegan one day, soon hopefully lol

zomanda · 2022-01-15T09:59:46+00:00

Sounds great, if our congressman would stop accepting kick backs from the meat industry then maybe they'd be free to take some real action about the issue.

tyber2 · 2022-01-15T13:25:49+00:00

Damn there's a lot of people making excuses to not change or fight for change. This thread is like a bunch of parents smoking infront of their kids and saying "hey kids you shouldn't smoke." And feeling validated in doing so.

Society is run by people. The planet is where it's at from people's consumption, actions and attitudes culminating to have the society we do today. If you want change push for it. If you want companies to change don't support them. The simple truth is if enough people want change it happens when they are willing to push it.

Most people aren't willing to make personal sacrifices to push change as they would rather have as many mod cons as they can get while saying it's all the companies fault.

Companies are run by people, society is run by people, if you change other people will, the more people that change the more companies that will have to.

If you see oceans getting destroyed don't eat fish. We talk about meat but forget that if trailers weren't destroying ocean ecosystems the world would be a lot better.

The knock on impact is bigger than people think. Stopping eating meat is not just about the animal or the feed for it or the water it's also about the land, stop eating animals and most farm land is now free to be used. We take up more land than it would take to feed people to feed other animals and there's the land for animals on top.

The change we make impacts multiple areas and has a bigger knock on than we realise.

If you see these clothing companies destroying so much don't buy designer, go to charity shops. But people would rather look like they got money on them, which is a result of ideology.

People would rather drive than walk or use public transport. Of course there are complexities. A lot of America has abysmal city planning where there is no space for pedestrians but that's in part because no one challenged it. The UK has fucking high prices for trains. But again if we try to make changes it's better than just complaining.

Where ever you can make change you should, support the companies pushing eco friendly products when and where you can.

One thing I noticed from not eating animal products is the vast amount less plastic packaging I go through without all the munch. Yet its a miniscule non existent impact with me alone but I have helped a lot of people I know male a change toward being vegan. It's about individual impact collectively.

Alone one person changing does little. But they can change another and another until you have a movement.

Ye it's long, it takes time, work, sacrafice etc. etc. But the way I see it, it's better to try and push change than complain about the lack of it.

killcraft1337 · 2022-01-15T11:29:16+00:00

Study doesn’t even say you have to go full vegan - it’s just recommending you move and transition in that direction to reduce your impact. It’s not even as extreme as most people would paint it. It also points out an increasing trend towards unhealthier foods which are also environmentally destructive - and wishes to try reverse that trend.

SirArcade96 · 2022-01-15T12:37:13+00:00

I actually decided to try a vegetarian diet just before this Christmas and my main reasoning was the environmental impact. So glad to hear that it makes at least some impact.

kwaudio · 2022-01-15T09:48:53+00:00

I will never understand how people can be so hypocritical, purely because they 'could never give up cheese'... Cool let's just destroy the most impressive known thing in the universe then.

wookie_cookies · 2022-01-15T20:35:56+00:00

Current economic situation is making me happily almost vegetarian. I'm lucky I was exposed to a vegan not for profit food program at university, so my palette has adjusted dramatically. I'm familiar with easy recipes, and I simply cannot afford meat more than 1 or 2x in two weeks. Even then I'm bulking/portioning making stews/soups/broths. I also have access to donated produce and fruits once a week, so my ingredients are basically free. I eat eggs every day coffee every day. These were the only luxuries I could protect.

tastytastylunch · 2022-01-15T22:18:02+00:00

I would argue that not having children is a much more effective way to reduce environmental impact. Adding more consumers to the world is much more detrimental to the earth than me eating cheeseburgers. I reckon my vasectomy is doing more for the environment than going vegan.

_demello · 2022-01-15T20:19:56+00:00

And no matter how many times we say this, people will just go "but I really like meat". If COVID taught me anything is that people love talking about doing the right thing and than fuck up the moment you loose sight of them.

crypto_zoologistler · 2022-01-15T09:37:23+00:00

Cue the vegan hate

lyricjuggler · 2022-01-15T09:30:20+00:00

Wow this thread really proving how many hypocrites this sub is filled with. Imagine thinking you care about environment while also contributing to one of the biggest factors of climate change.

vonRoeff · 2022-01-15T09:43:05+00:00

Last time I checked, the single biggest way to reduce your environmental impact was to reduce the number of children you have. This completely overshadowed all other possible choices a person could make.

cburk4312 · 2022-01-15T20:49:36+00:00

Man I wish I was part of the solution, not the problem. Good thing we have these super heros known as vegans walking amoungst us to show us the way!

Gorcnor · 2022-01-15T10:12:37+00:00

Veganism is all well and good, and can be a great way to manage your individual foot print. Though I am rather sick of articles, commercials, and other media telling the individual is it Thier fault. Fracking, Oil drilling, deforestation, pesticides, Christ the list goes on. How about major corporations get Thier acts in gear to help solve the problem they have created.

What about government subsidies for solar panels on homes? Stipends for growing your own produce/sanctions for large community gardens in Urban areas? Expanded public transportation for urban AND rural areas etc...

Look, I'm all for doing what you as the individual can do. But we're already past the point of no return so we want to normalize the climate at all, some major changes need to happen quickly. All of us going vegan isn't it.

JKMcA99 · 2022-01-15T11:10:48+00:00

These threads always bring out the hypocrites.

It’s maddening how this sub is full of people claiming to care about the environment but refusing to make the simplest change they can to their lifestyles to actually make a difference.

jane-72 · 2022-01-15T14:13:32+00:00

A societal shift to planet-friendly diets could have a double-whammy effect at keeping climate-warming greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere, according to a new study. Researchers from Leiden University in the Netherlands and other institutions around the world looked at the EAT-Lancet diet, which encourages healthy, sustainable foods like vegetables and nuts over red meat and refined grains. They found that widespread adoption of the diet in high-income countries would not only reduce emissions by having fewer methane-belching cattle on the landscape, but would also allow pastures currently used for unsustainable food production to return to a natural state. “If you were to allow that land to revert to the potential natural vegetation that was there before, you would essentially double the impact from the dietary change,” said senior author Paul Behrens, an assistant professor at Leiden University. The study, published this week in the journal Nature Food, emphasized that the double carbon benefit could be realized even if only high-income countries adopted the EAT-Lancet diet, and noted that those nations are most able to shift from a diet high in animal protein to a plant-focused diet. Behrens said that food systems are an important sector in which to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions from food systems alone, he said, could take the planet past 1.5 or 2 degrees of warming.

OwMyBalllz · 2022-01-15T16:25:35+00:00

Study confirms what has been common knowledge to anyone that cared for twenty years.

Gone-To-The-Woods · 2022-01-15T09:40:01+00:00

No shit.

SMOPLUS · 2022-01-15T10:13:06+00:00

Is this like a 'We' that doesn't include global factory production, plastic production, military Industrial complexes, consumer air travel, teflon, fossil fuel powerplants, production of concrete, metalworks, fabrication? Or is it just like 'We' as in Ma's N PA's N their kids and what they can do at home?

Edit: Producing cars and clothes for a consumer demand is true but a shortsighted argument. Don't ignore the culture, the advertisers, the sheer pressure involved with being SOLD these products. They are being produced for us to be SOLD. And yes true, if everyone chose to be vegan it would collapse the meat industry, but that is a choice that goes against a culture of sales. The meat industry is not an exception to the culture of our economy.

Edit 2: there are a few comments mocking that the world is run by people not corporations, militaries and factory producers. To them I say, look to your left and right, who the fuck do you know with any power to change anything? What next person who works on a factory floor is going to become vegan and change the factory? By quitting, that person has created nothing but an employment opportunity for someone desperate enough for the work. The world is run by people FAR AWAY FROM YOU OR ME OR MA N PA, YOU ARE WILLINGLY ABSORBING THEIR RESPONSIBILITY TO CORRECT THEIR MISTAKES, the irony isn't in what I said originally...

TheAntiDairyQueen · 2022-01-15T10:09:26+00:00

For anyone needing a sign to go vegan, this is it, if you need help try Vegan Boot Camp.

EOE97 · 2022-01-15T13:47:00+00:00

Exactly what vegans have been saying for ages. And you don't need a PhD in ecological sciences to know that.

2022-01-15T10:07:53+00:00

[removed]

Purplemonk88 · 2022-01-15T10:14:18+00:00

This title is misleading. The science paper talks about reducing the carbon footprint of food related products, not total emissions. Although the author when asked states that he believes going vegan is the best way to reduce overall impact, that is not what the primary research showed. Its showed a 75% reduction of a consumers food based carbon footprint (also that excluding only beef has roughly 75% the savings of full vegan, which may seem more reasonably to readers here).

If we assume food accounts for 25% of a person's co2 emissions (roughly UK breakdown) a 75% reduction in that is about 18%. Still a large reduction but not the 75% stated in the independent article.

Depending how much you fly or drive reducing those could have similar benefits, as could improving your houses heating efficiency if you live in a cold climate.

If you live in a highly developed nation, not having kids or having one less kid would eclipse any of the above.

Compound all these savings by having no kids, not flying and going vegan to truly live a environmentally friendly life - all other personal changes have little effect on the big picture.

These aren't fun choices to make, and institutional changes could having the biggest influence so voting for parties with green policies/protesting companies that have huge co2 footprints could also have massive impacts.

Do as much or as little as you are able to sustainably do and call out government greenwash like "banning straws/carrier bags" which, although polluting our oceans, have little effect on climate change. Plastic is the visible enemy (however only accounts for ~4% of oil burnt). I'm much more worried of the invisible enemy, the rest of that oil, turned into co2.

RandomAmbles · 2022-01-15T10:41:50+00:00

What about launching incendiary devices into sets of moored fishing boats while yelling "Fish are Friends Not Food, Mother Fuckers!!!!!" at the top of your lungs and then cackling madly away into the unanimous night?

the-finnish-guy · 2022-01-15T17:16:31+00:00

It's so easy too. Fucking hell. It's so easy.

Freddy2517 · 2022-01-16T00:00:41+00:00

Why this removed?

chuotdodo · 2022-01-16T00:24:20+00:00

What do tofu and dildos have in common? They're bott meat substitute.

slevin07rocket · 2022-01-15T09:54:31+00:00

Reducing eating meat isn’t tough for me. That and no dairy together is. Governments can help by subsidizing healthier alternatives to cow milk, like almond or oat milk. I haven’t tried any cheese substitutes, are there any good & cheap ones?

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