Why should I stop eating hamburgers? Well, according to the HBO Real Time with Bill Maher show, it stated that creating meat takes pounds of feed to get those great tasty burgers. This is related to the food crisis because it takes a lot of energy to produce the meat. In certain parts of the world, there are food riots and shortages. We see some of it at Costco with the rice rationing. In honor of Earth Day, the show decided to bring out the fact that the problematic creation of meat is something seldom brought up.
The cows that are used to create the hamburger meat eat up all the grain. Thus, this leaves less for the soil to produce for food for humans. According to Time, “the international meat industry generates roughly 18% of the world's greenhouse-gas emissions-even more than transportation-according to a report last year from the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization.” Basically, the manure contributes to the problem and becoming a vegetarian will decrease the carbon dioxide by 1.5 tons a year according to research by the University of Chicago.
This poisonous gas, carbon dioxide, kills silently and causes the environment to grow worse. Everyone should pay attention to how to lower waste consumption. For example, here are 5 simple steps we can all take:
- Use electronic fax solutions, like Efax;
- Email shopping lists to be viewable on the phone, instead of, wasting note paper;
- Use only recyclable paper;
- Receive all bills and bank statements electronically; and
- Use power strips to conserve the energy appliances utilize
As a nation, we can effectively find new ways to help environment one day at a time. For instance, using a textbook rental company to save the trees cut down to create these super expensive textbooks used in college. Next semester, use Chegg.com to save money and plant a tree in the world. They have a large database of books, and they arrive quickly in the mail. Also, influencing professors to accept electronic submissions of homework is also a good start. Asking school cafeterias to cut back on beef options will create less waste that is created from students ordering hamburgers that they don't finish. After all, it is a double waste to produce the hamburger and then to throw away part of it too.
Hopefully, hamburger lovers will cut back and make it a specially ordered item, and not a staple of the American experience. The over production of the meat is what the issue is for those eating items lower on the food chain, like wheat. For at least fifty years, we have looked at fast food places and restaurants as the sources of this favorite cuisine. Perhaps, they can find healthier and less wasteful products to offer this country and the rest of the world will follow. Let's influence food places to go green in their food selections, and that will truly honor Earth Day. Note that cutting back on this makes a bigger impact than getting rid of Hummers.
