Happy Earth Day!

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

WHAT’S THAT LEE?
It’s an annual, global celebration and an opportunity to raise awareness and advocate for change, around the issues most impacting our planet - and to celebrate the beauty of Mother Earth!

SO WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH ME?
Well you live here too don’t you? This is a friendly reminder that whilst doing things like cutting down on plastic waste, reducing pollution by walking instead of driving and buying second-hand or from ethical clothing brands that use organic fabrics are all fantastic things to do, they're not going to undo, or help reverse the climate crisis we're undergoing right now. Basically, we need to up our game a bit.

SUCH AS?
The SINGLE BIGGEST WAY to reduce our impact on the environment is to go plant-based.

REALLY?
Yes, and we're not just talking greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use
and water use.

INTERESTING FACT 1: Did you know that you could cut your carbon footprint IN HALF by giving up meat, dairy and eggs? Switching to a vegan diet can reduce your carbon footprint by up to 900 KILOGRAMS of CO2 per year! Producing plant-based foods results in fewer greenhouse gas emissions and requires less energy, land, and water.

INTERESTING FACT 2:  If every family in the UK swapped out 1 red meat-based meal for a plant-based meal just  once a week, the environmental impact would be the equivalent of taking 16 million cars off the road. - (Oxford University)

DID YOU KNOW? Each person who adopts a vegan diet spares 4,700m2 of land, capable of absorbing 150 tonnes of CO2 and providing habitats for five birds, 15 mammals, 20 reptiles and 100 amphibians?

Animal agriculture is the leading cause of climate change and if we continue farming, breeding, buying and consuming animals' bodies when we no longer need to, then we're adding to the problem rather
than helping to solve it.

The science is there, the peer-reviewed studies are there, the proof is already here.
​Our purchasing animals to exploit, consume and wear is the leading cause of:

* DEFORESTATION: If we all went plant-based, we'd need only HALF the land we use at the moment and shifting to a plant-based diet could free up more than 75 PER CENT of the total global agricultural land that is currently being used - an area equivalent to the US, China, European Union and Australia combined, and could still feed the world.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

* CO2: Animal agriculture is responsible for 18% of all greenhouse gases worldwide; to put this into context, animal agriculture contributes more greenhouse gas emissions than ALL forms of transportation combined. Producing cow’s milk creates 3 times the CO2 emissions of soya milk.

* OCEAN DEAD ZONES: Unless we act now, there will be fishless oceans by 2048.
​According to a study, the loss of ocean biodiversity is accelerating, and 29 percent of the seafood species humans consume have already crashed.
The oceans absorb 4x the amount of CO2 than the Amazon rainforest and up to 80% of the world's oxygen comes from phytoplankton - which is fertilised by whales - which we kill. In a balanced eco-system, they play a vital role in the natural carbon cycle, helping to regulate the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and keep the earth’s climate in balance.

* WATER USAGE: One potato requires 25 litres of water for production whereas one hamburger (made from a cow) requires 2,400 litres of water for production.

* WORLD HUNGER: We produce enough food to feed every human on the planet (1/1.5 times the amount needed), yet over 800 million people go to bed hungry each day. We could feed the entire world on the food we feed to livestock).

* SPECIES EXTINCTION: UK nature is in crisis, ranking among the top 10% of most nature-depleted countries, our wildlife faces numerous challenges and over the past 50 years, we’ve lost 38 million birds, since the 1930’s, 97% of wildflower meadows have vanished, and in the last century, 92% of seagrass meadows, which absorb carbon more efficiently than tropical rainforests, have disappeared. Loss of wild areas to agriculture is the leading cause of the current mass extinction of wildlife.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

Imagine the number of animals that are saved every month, every year, or over the course of a lifetime simply by choosing a vegan diet...

eg. 3 meals a day = 3 animals a day, that's around 90 animals a month, 1080 animals a year, and thousands of animals in a single human lifetime!

WHAT CAN I DO?
Please, by all means, plant trees, put up bird boxes, leave fresh water and food out for the wildlife, stop mowing the lawn, rewild areas, plant wildflower seeds, build log piles, make a pond, stop cutting down hedges, write to your council asking them to stop cutting down trees, hedges and mowing wild areas of land during the spring and summer months, write to your local council asking them to sign the Plant-based Treaty and don't vote Conservative - they care nothing for the planet, it's wildlife and the animals living upon it - that includes human animals. Please do all these things. But the biggest, most impactful thing you can do is to no longer pay for animals to be farmed, abused and slaughtered which in doing so, is causing detrimental damage to our planet, not to mention our health!

IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT MATE!
I don't like posting these morbid posts - I would much rather post jokes and silly videos.

YEAH, WE'D MUCH RATHER YOU DID THAT TOO LEE!
But I care so much about this planet, about my child's future and the animals we share this massive rock with. Can you even begin to imagine humans being wiped out? Never existing. Everything we've ever created - all gone? Can you comprehend that? If we continue as we are, adding to the climate damage (whilst moaning about it), rather than doing EVERYTHING WE CAN to turn it around, then I'm afraid we may not make it through this. This isn't me being morbid, (I mean it is) but this is real.

Anyone can stop harming animals - anyone can start defending them and our planet. We all know it's wrong. Of course it is. Killing anything that wants to live is wrong. Anyone can make a significant difference. Just one meal can make a difference! Anyone can do things to protect our planet and the future of our children. Anyone can start, anytime. Anyone can fight in their own way. But we must fight.

If you care about animals (all animals, not just pets), if you care about your children's futures, about the next generation and want to leave our beautiful planet in a good, EXISTING, thriving condition for them, then that means we ALL need to do our bit to make sure that happens and by stopping our contributing to the largest cause of climate change is the perfect start.

If you need more information on this stuff, including the science, facts, studies and data, then I thoroughly recommend the below video from Plant-Based Treaty:

What are YOU doing to help this urgent climate crisis, to save our planet and our children's futures?
To cause the least amount of harm you can? Is it enough? Can I do more? Can you do more?
Act now, before it's too late. Go vegan.