 no meat, think about it. Thursday, August 03, 2006 The average American drives 8,322 miles by car annually, emitting 1.9 to 4.7 tons of carbon dioxide, depending on the vehicle model and fuel efficiency. Meanwhile, Americans also consume an average of 3,774 calories of food each day. In 2002, energy used for food production accounted for 17 percent of all fossil fuel use in the United States. And the burning of these fossil fuels emitted three-quarters of a ton of carbon dioxide per person. That alone amounts to approximately one-third the average greenhouse-gas emissions of personal transportation. But livestock production and associated animal waste also emit greenhouse gases not associated with fossil-fuel combustion, primarily methane and nitrous oxide. While methane and nitrous oxide are relatively rare compared with carbon dioxide, they are - molecule for molecule - far more powerful greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide. A single pound of methane, for example, has the same greenhouse effect as approximately 50 pounds of carbon dioxide. This is data from a recent University of Chicago study, the underlying theme...however close you can be to a vegan diet and further from the typical American diet, the better you are for the planet. Something to swallow...It doesn't have to be all the way to the extreme end of vegan. If you simply cut down from two burgers a week to one, you've already made a substantial difference. I'm moving to a strict Shiner diet. I got your greenhouse gases right here. Braaaap. Shiner. Kiev 60 with some homemade filter action. Check out some super swank work over at Filmwasters and Toycamera.com. Comment (11) | Permalink |
