In all honesty, we didn’t choose to be vegan because of the animal rights or affects on the environment, it was a health-based choice. BUT. Since choosing to stop eating meat or dairy, both Brian and I have started to realize how our diet choices have positive impacts on the environment that we never knew about. There are a lot of hidden negative impacts that our lifestyles have on the environment, like the amount of water it takes to make our clothing, but it turns out one of the worst things you can do for our environment is eat meat. It is absolutely INCREDIBLE how much water is required to produce a single pound of beef. Just think logically about what it takes to keep a cow alive, let alone millions of cows to support our meat intake.

Read this.

It’s one thing to vote for a candidate who will make decisions in favor of our environment, but it’s even better to live a lifestyle that makes an actual impact. Even “meatless mondays” make a difference, and it’s a good place to start. Honestly, you won’t miss meat after awhile. There’s plenty of other delicious food in the world.

Other stuff you can do:

• stop using ziplocs. instead, use mason jars, tupperware, or reusable bags
• no more paper towels. get some cheap cotton towels and toss the dirty towels in with your laundry when you do a load.
• compost. even if you don’t have a composting service, start a bin on the counter and you’ll be amazed how much waste you have each week. seeing it add up will help you subconsciously be better about not wasting food.
• get a tiny trash can and a giant recycling bin. use compost bags for your tiny trash can to reduce plastic in the landfill, and paper bags for recycling.
• use bar soap instead of liquid. bar soap requires far far less packaging and doesn’t use as much water or produce CO2 like the processing of liquid soap.
• watch documentaries. maybe one of them will have enough of an impact to change your mind and inspire you to make a lifestyle shift. the more you know, ya know?