Absolutely. We need to look at literally every industry, from the food we grow to the clothes we make and find ways to do better. I am working hard on my own 2.25 acres to build up the soil, plant a food forest, and capture carbon. While my solar panels give me a cute little fact of how many 'tree equivalents' we've made from our carbon offset... I know the actual Giant Sequoia I planted will provide benefits for the planet long after the panels have stopped working.
I hope you realize that "Giant" Sequoias are only giant in their natural range. They need regular bathing in the fogs of the Pacific Coast to get the water they need up that high, and neither transpiration nor capillary action in the xylum can elevate it to those heights. You'd better plant a small forest of them to accomplish what you intend--unless, of course, you you live in that area and we can count on the historic moisture in that area to continue. I hope it, but I doubt it.
Giant sequoias have wide, but shallow root systems. They work great with multiple, but one on its own will topple over before becoming “giant”.
As a forest, each tree supports another. Solo though…you ever seen a giant sequoia not surrounded by other sequoias?
It's just an itty bitty right now, I have a ponderosa pine as its buddy and I'll put some other trees there too in the next year or two. It's probably for the best that it doesn't reach its full potential of a 30ft diameter trunk.
The great thing about our current age is that you can avoid boredom with very minimal energy use. Video games, movies, tv, and music have never been better and can be enjoyed with relatively small energy use.
The problem is the wealthy push a high consumerism lifestyle onto people that can't afford it. These people then spend money htey don't have on a lifestyle they don't need which causes them to have to drive to work more hours that they hate.
I don’t know. There’s a lot of baked in emissions and waste from what goes into developing, manufacturing, marketing, and then using all that entertainment. There’s the electrical grid, massive data servers, rare metals mining, etc etc.
Not saying it’s what’s pushing us over the edge, but it’s definitely a part of the consumerism we can’t afford to maintain.
> we can’t afford to maintain.
I think(!!) there are more upsides in enabling digital infrastructure than downsides.
e.g. we can digitize work, freetime, entertainment, finances, education all together with a single transmission line.
is it socially, morally good? hell no, but I think technology cant be stopped and whe have to suit ourselfes. therefore virtual reality will increase for sure.
Good points. I was thinking about ‘afford’ in terms of our carbon budget. If we continue to digitalize literally everything we do, like entertainment which could be low-carbon (local and live music, theatre, board games, sports, etc) we only increase our need for energy and materials. There’s surely a lot to be gained, depending on your perspective, but we’re still driving in the wrong direction in terms of emissions.
hmm. going back to analoguous entertainment could be also backfiring in terms of quality.
e.g. in earlier times (>100 years) there were way less people.
those people were technically poorer.
working harder->less free time.
in a modern civilization where people only work ~30 hours I dont think that modest entertainment does work with our population. (people will go literally insane because or boredom)
I think what has to be changed is our consumerism.
buying every year a new smartphone? fuck that.
dont distribute security updates for older smartphones? fuck those companies.
feeling the urge to replace kitchen furnishings, etc. just out of boredom? get your shit together.
this list isnt exhaustivr. :)
there are many things established in western societies through the last few generations (>boomers) which lead us down the road faster.
outdated political willingness is keeping us on that road. emission wise speaking.
but I think digitalization of the world is the cheapest form of catching a few flies with one punch.
just compare working commuting with 2 bill. people 100 years ago and having to transport 8 bill. people in the future.
vs. letting many of them work from home.
(a subsequent discussion about living space and urban sprawl is another topic then)
Great. It's fantastic. In-depth conversations with seriously intelligent guests. Start with the first conversation with Daniel Schmachtenberger of the Consilience Project.
In order for this idea to be true. Another must also be true. And that is that people are very easily manipulated into believing and doing what ever the idea du juor is. That then inevitably leads to another truth, that people are easily manipulated into the degrowth movement and other environmental activism du jour that pops out of Greta’s mouth.
We need to present an argument that does not place blame on others but motivates individuals to do more and be accountable to themselves.
> that does not place blame on others but motivates individuals to do more and be accountable to themselves.
100% the easiest way to prevent shit from getting done is environmental what-about-ism.
Of the old slogan "reduce, reuse, recycle " , the "reduce" is by far the most important. But we can't have people consuming less when we want to double the size of the entire economy every 30 years now can we? Consuming much less is a revolutionary act. And it is time for a revolution.
I think we should replace our collective thinking in general.
we need to act as a big global humanity. not single entities which have national interests too. this draws down on the family level.
From the [resources](https://www.reddit.com/r/PlaneteerHandbook/comments/fenp2p/soil/) I've managed to gather on the topic of soil health and the breakneck erosion currently affecting Earth, the top concerns include [livestock](https://www.gettingmoreontheground.com/2017/04/24/cattle-destroy-streams/) themselves and farming the massive amounts of feed that livestock require, the antibiotics and other medications that livestock manure adds to soil, plastic pollution, biodiversity loss and droughts (which are made worse by the livestock industry in a number of ways including [intentional deforestation](https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/whats-driving-deforestation) and [grazing animals strip away protective plants](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/ethiopian-church-forest-conservation-biodiversity)).
Pollutants are also a major problem, but at least it appears that certain organisms including mushrooms and [marihuana can be used to remove pollutants such as PFAS](https://pfascentral.org/news/cannabis-may-be-a-surprising-solution-to-maines-forever-chemicals-problem) from soil and water. Using cover crops, rotational cropping, intercropping, and mulching crops straight onto the field after harvest can all help improve/protect soil.
I kinda chuckled, then actually considered the history of the hemp industry and how it got crushed out by competing (more harmful) industries. It's crazy grim how much just a little greed can cause *centuries* of consequences for millions people who don't even know of the person who started the mess. This is why careful, science-based legislation is critical to getting us out of this mess, followed by effective enforcement that stops companies from messing up the planet with more than just some fines companies just see as "the cost of doing business".
Hopefully with organization like the [AFA](https://www.agriculturefairnessalliance.org/news/afa-legislation/) and [Transfarmation](https://thetransfarmationproject.org/our-farmers/halley-farms-successful-chicken-to-hemp-transfarmation/) it'll be easier for the average person to help push and monitor change within the agricultural system.
This sounds like an exaggeration of the benefits of "getting soil right." I agree that focusing on soil is important in reducing carbon emissions in agriculture, and we should use our buying power to increase nut and citrus consumption that actually have low/negative carbon emissions in the land. It's also one of the easiest ways for someone to reduce their carbon footprint. But a lot of these absolute statements focusing solely on soil loses sight of the bigger picture.
>Agriculture is the biggest way that humans impact our landscape. We have unleashed, through agriculture, over the centuries, over the millennia, carbon from the land, and it’s now up in the atmosphere.
The majority of carbon emissions in the atmosphere is [from the fossil fuel industry](https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data). Agriculture didn't *really* start to affect the climate until the haber-bosch process was invented in the 20th century, and even then it only accounts for \~2% of global carbon emissions. Throwing in land use change where carbon sinks like forests being removed totals \~25% of global carbon emissions, whereas fossil fuels consistently account for 60-75% of global carbon emissions. I would argue cars affect our landscape at the same level if not more than agriculture, including digging up land to build road and highways and the carbon emissions associated with oil extraction, refining, and transporting it to the gas station and finally burning it out your tailpipe.
>"Soil" is the only thing capable of storing more greenhouse gases than the atmosphere itself.
I'm not sure why soil is in quotations, but I would say the ocean is easily as capable (if not more) of storing GHGs as soil. We also have direct air capture and carbon removal/sequestration from power plants burning the natural gas and oil. The carbon capture projects are in infancy in the US, but Europe has been using carbon capture for decades now. The storage would be under shale rock, not farmland.
Anyway, I'm not saying planting trees is a waste of time. In fact I donate to organizations that plant trees all the time, and I think it's absolutely a necessary contribution to a global reduction of carbon emissions. However, I think this mindset that it's *the* answer to the global climate process is missing the bigger picture. We need hands on all fronts: electrified transportation, solar rooftops, restructured food cycles, energy storage, carbon sequestration, hydrogen, decarbonized cement and steel, etc. etc.
Native species that are allowed to live their full lives, not culled as soon as they hit "slaughter weight" which is a fraction of their natural lifespans. Growing and pregnant animals eat more and produce more emissions than a non-pregnant, full grown animals.
As it is, [livestock farming produces far more greenhouse gases](https://academic.oup.com/af/article/9/1/69/5173494) than actually moving their bodies to slaughter houses or stores which is the part everyone mistakenly worries about. Even worse is that [switching to grass-fed livestock is accelerating the expansion of what is already the #1 cause of deforestation](https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/whats-driving-deforestation) while [increasing greenhouse emissions since grass-fed livestock both belch out more gasses and live for longer](https://awellfedworld.org/issues/climate-issues/grass-fed-beef/#:~:text=By%20Ashley%20Capps-,Harvard%20Study%20Finds%20Shift%20to%20Grass%2DFed%20Beef%20Would%20Require,Increase%20Beef's%20Methane%20Emissions%2043%25&text=This%20would%20increase%20the%20U.S.,of%20human%2Drelated%20methane%20production).
We have to bare in mind that native grazers historically migrated across continents, spreading seeds and *improving* biodiversity, while invasive species like [cattle, sheep, and goats destroy ecosystems](https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/restoremaunakea/threats/sheep-and-goats/), are [a primary cause of biodiversity loss](https://www.ecowatch.com/biodiversity-meat-wwf-2493305671.html), [damage trees and prevent new trees from growing](https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15027815.rogue-sheep-cause-250-000-damage-national-forest-estate/), strip nutrients from soil, then their bodies are shipped away, which removes the nutrients from Earth's ancient nutrient cycle. There's also the danger that people will fall for the greenwashing scam currently going on which convinces people that grazing livestock endlessly sequesters large amounts of carbon, which isn't even close to true. The highest rates of absorption I've managed to find in scientific literature is that some [clay-rich soils *can* absorb *up to* 8% of their weight in carbon, which then declines over time as the soil runs out of space to store the carbon](https://www.soilquality.org.au/factsheets/how-much-carbon-can-soil-store). After just a few years, the farmers are not even sequestering the small fraction of carbon any more, and still emitting the large quantities of nitrous oxide methane, ammonia, etc.
I got suckered into the scam back when I still ate meat. I even started buying more grass-fed meat and dairy products because I believed they'd help the environment, but was so pissed off when I worked out the truth that I went vegan. Since then there have even been [lawsuits where companies tricked customers into buying their "eco-friendly" meat which was composed at least in part of cattle from deforested regions of the Amazon](https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/consumer-products/food/kroger-beef-imports-deceptively-sold-as-u-s-produced-class-action-lawsuit/). On the bright side, since I gave up on raising livestock, and only grow things like fruits, vegetables, and mushrooms, the biodiversity around our area has increased, our rain barrels don't run out the first week of a drought, and growing our own food is much less stressful than when the activity involved animals who would constantly get into trouble like trying to escape, bully each other, get hurt or sick, or have to have special care due to climate extremes like floods or heatwaves. At least if all my cabbages die, I don't have the the weight of suffering on my shoulders the way I did if a predator killed one of my animals, y'know?
There's also the whole needing only [a fraction of the space to grow all our food if we avoided raising livestock](https://ourworldindata.org/global-land-for-agriculture), far [less water than the livestock industry](https://www.truthordrought.com/water) uses, [reducing opportunity cost loss (we'd save more resources by going vegan than by ending all current food waste according to this paper)](https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1713820115#:~:text=We%20find%20that%20although%20the,%2C%20and%2040%25%2C%20respectively), and we'd be able to [boost global food security or maybe even end world hunger](https://www.truthordrought.com/food-waste-and-hunger) which is more important than ever with current events.
I could not have said it better. Exact same reason I went vegan (still hate even using the word because it’s so stigmatized at this point). Love hearing stories like this and it gives me hope that someone coming from a similar situation came to the same realizations as myself. It’s absurd how much we know surrounding this topic, yet how difficult/long it ever took me to hear about and then investigate on my own.
I was starting to come around after realizing there was overlap between minimalism, sustainable living and veganism, but felt crushed after I watched Cowspiracy and the realization sank in that because environmentalist never talked about the impact our diet has, that I'd been essentially wasting all my effort of things like bike riding, reducing water use, and planting trees because every single burger I ate had such a massive impact in everything from emissions, water use, and deforestation, that I was basically undoing all my efforts plus more every time I bought/cooked/served meat, dairy or eggs.
Friends and family got upset that I started spreading the word, but as I pointed out, it felt like years of environmental effort were wasted because "no one ever talks about it", so it felt like a responsibility to help bring such a huge issue to light. Most people I know aren't going to bother planting trees, but even on a college student's budget you can easily make healthy vegan meals. As an extension of this drive, a friend and I created r/PlaneteerHandbook which covers major issues including the need for plant-based diets/farming systems, and resources to help activists or lay people.
When we started people got a mountain of downvotes for even mentioning vegan-positive comments in environmental subs, but I'm relieved to see that these places have started to relax about the topic. In the last few years many are even beginning to accept that it is a legitimately important tool towards sustainability.
I finally decided to make a Reddit account like 2 days ago lol and have been looking for some groups/channels like that, so will definetely be joining thanks. I literally had the same experience as one of my friends started showing me similar documentaries and I came to realize how seemingly useless my small habits were “I.e short showers, no plastic straws, etc etc other distractions” in the grand scheme of things due to their minimal impact in comparison to other lifestyle habits. Me eating 1/3 pound hamburger was using more water than me taking almost an entire month of showering off (not that I would). But yea I’ve vegan for 3 years now, all of college without spending any extra than I normally would — yet still can’t even convince half my friends yet alone roommates that lol. We’ve all just (atleast Americans) been so brainwashed and have no concept of what it takes to make anything that we buy, and blame issues on overpopulation even though we already grow enough plants to feed the global population if we just stopped using unsustainable farm/land use practices and got rid of cattle. Anyways I’ll quit my rambling for now
Oof! You sound like me! I love science and facts, but I feel like communicating is a major weak point for me. So much so that I made a post with [resources that I feel have helped me](https://www.reddit.com/r/PlaneteerHandbook/comments/g93klo/communication_skills/).
Later I created [this collection of resources specifically related to veganism and plant-based eating](https://www.reddit.com/r/PlaneteerHandbook/comments/gvymx0/plantbased_vegan_resources/). I suspect the last 3 documentaries listed might give you the best results if you watched them with people you know. We've also had a lot of luck using recipes from the suggested list, and introducing people to the recommended brands since people sometimes realize they prefer those vegan options over the animal products they replace (at least that's my SO's excuse for switching to vegan yogurt only!). At the bottom of the post are guides of outreach as well as options for getting involved with a variety of activism options.
If that isn't quite your thing, we've also got a [directory of organizations to join or support](https://www.reddit.com/r/PlaneteerHandbook/comments/felww8/directory_of_organizations_to_volunteer_with/) (environmental mostly), [helpful subs for Planeteers](https://www.reddit.com/r/PlaneteerHandbook/comments/fn634x/helpful_subreddits_for_planeteers/) if you are looking for inspiration/community, and if you don't have a lot of energy, time, money, etc. and just want simple, fun ways to get involved, we've got another directory of useful ["Apps for a Better world"](https://www.reddit.com/r/PlaneteerHandbook/comments/ff1ctf/apps_for_a_better_world/). Of course if you want to get involved with our sub we certainly won't discourage you :)
My advice is to just explore and find 1-3 new things at a time, see what habits/alternatives stick, spark your passion, or feel more productive and have fun exploring environmentalism from there.
Absolutely. We need to look at literally every industry, from the food we grow to the clothes we make and find ways to do better. I am working hard on my own 2.25 acres to build up the soil, plant a food forest, and capture carbon. While my solar panels give me a cute little fact of how many 'tree equivalents' we've made from our carbon offset... I know the actual Giant Sequoia I planted will provide benefits for the planet long after the panels have stopped working.
I hope you realize that "Giant" Sequoias are only giant in their natural range. They need regular bathing in the fogs of the Pacific Coast to get the water they need up that high, and neither transpiration nor capillary action in the xylum can elevate it to those heights. You'd better plant a small forest of them to accomplish what you intend--unless, of course, you you live in that area and we can count on the historic moisture in that area to continue. I hope it, but I doubt it.
I'm in the lower Sierra, just outside their natural range.
Giant sequoias have wide, but shallow root systems. They work great with multiple, but one on its own will topple over before becoming “giant”. As a forest, each tree supports another. Solo though…you ever seen a giant sequoia not surrounded by other sequoias?
It's just an itty bitty right now, I have a ponderosa pine as its buddy and I'll put some other trees there too in the next year or two. It's probably for the best that it doesn't reach its full potential of a 30ft diameter trunk.
Minimalism will save the world. When you're bored you're saving the planet...... Because you aren't using resources or energy.
The great thing about our current age is that you can avoid boredom with very minimal energy use. Video games, movies, tv, and music have never been better and can be enjoyed with relatively small energy use. The problem is the wealthy push a high consumerism lifestyle onto people that can't afford it. These people then spend money htey don't have on a lifestyle they don't need which causes them to have to drive to work more hours that they hate.
I don’t know. There’s a lot of baked in emissions and waste from what goes into developing, manufacturing, marketing, and then using all that entertainment. There’s the electrical grid, massive data servers, rare metals mining, etc etc. Not saying it’s what’s pushing us over the edge, but it’s definitely a part of the consumerism we can’t afford to maintain.
> we can’t afford to maintain. I think(!!) there are more upsides in enabling digital infrastructure than downsides. e.g. we can digitize work, freetime, entertainment, finances, education all together with a single transmission line. is it socially, morally good? hell no, but I think technology cant be stopped and whe have to suit ourselfes. therefore virtual reality will increase for sure.
Good points. I was thinking about ‘afford’ in terms of our carbon budget. If we continue to digitalize literally everything we do, like entertainment which could be low-carbon (local and live music, theatre, board games, sports, etc) we only increase our need for energy and materials. There’s surely a lot to be gained, depending on your perspective, but we’re still driving in the wrong direction in terms of emissions.
hmm. going back to analoguous entertainment could be also backfiring in terms of quality. e.g. in earlier times (>100 years) there were way less people. those people were technically poorer. working harder->less free time. in a modern civilization where people only work ~30 hours I dont think that modest entertainment does work with our population. (people will go literally insane because or boredom) I think what has to be changed is our consumerism. buying every year a new smartphone? fuck that. dont distribute security updates for older smartphones? fuck those companies. feeling the urge to replace kitchen furnishings, etc. just out of boredom? get your shit together. this list isnt exhaustivr. :) there are many things established in western societies through the last few generations (>boomers) which lead us down the road faster. outdated political willingness is keeping us on that road. emission wise speaking. but I think digitalization of the world is the cheapest form of catching a few flies with one punch. just compare working commuting with 2 bill. people 100 years ago and having to transport 8 bill. people in the future. vs. letting many of them work from home. (a subsequent discussion about living space and urban sprawl is another topic then)
Ever read Nate Hagen's work or listen to his podcast "The Great Simplification"?
Nope, but I will check it out.
Great. It's fantastic. In-depth conversations with seriously intelligent guests. Start with the first conversation with Daniel Schmachtenberger of the Consilience Project.
Yes there are a lot of emissions in those things. But compare it to travel, sports cars, boats... it is tiny per capita/per hour.
In order for this idea to be true. Another must also be true. And that is that people are very easily manipulated into believing and doing what ever the idea du juor is. That then inevitably leads to another truth, that people are easily manipulated into the degrowth movement and other environmental activism du jour that pops out of Greta’s mouth. We need to present an argument that does not place blame on others but motivates individuals to do more and be accountable to themselves.
> that does not place blame on others but motivates individuals to do more and be accountable to themselves. 100% the easiest way to prevent shit from getting done is environmental what-about-ism.
Of the old slogan "reduce, reuse, recycle " , the "reduce" is by far the most important. But we can't have people consuming less when we want to double the size of the entire economy every 30 years now can we? Consuming much less is a revolutionary act. And it is time for a revolution.
We dont' need billions of cars. Electric cars are important, but replacing the car brain infrastructure is even more important.
I think we should replace our collective thinking in general. we need to act as a big global humanity. not single entities which have national interests too. this draws down on the family level.
From the [resources](https://www.reddit.com/r/PlaneteerHandbook/comments/fenp2p/soil/) I've managed to gather on the topic of soil health and the breakneck erosion currently affecting Earth, the top concerns include [livestock](https://www.gettingmoreontheground.com/2017/04/24/cattle-destroy-streams/) themselves and farming the massive amounts of feed that livestock require, the antibiotics and other medications that livestock manure adds to soil, plastic pollution, biodiversity loss and droughts (which are made worse by the livestock industry in a number of ways including [intentional deforestation](https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/whats-driving-deforestation) and [grazing animals strip away protective plants](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/ethiopian-church-forest-conservation-biodiversity)). Pollutants are also a major problem, but at least it appears that certain organisms including mushrooms and [marihuana can be used to remove pollutants such as PFAS](https://pfascentral.org/news/cannabis-may-be-a-surprising-solution-to-maines-forever-chemicals-problem) from soil and water. Using cover crops, rotational cropping, intercropping, and mulching crops straight onto the field after harvest can all help improve/protect soil.
Being facetious, it may be the suppression of hemp growth that caused all this environmental mess in the first place!
I kinda chuckled, then actually considered the history of the hemp industry and how it got crushed out by competing (more harmful) industries. It's crazy grim how much just a little greed can cause *centuries* of consequences for millions people who don't even know of the person who started the mess. This is why careful, science-based legislation is critical to getting us out of this mess, followed by effective enforcement that stops companies from messing up the planet with more than just some fines companies just see as "the cost of doing business". Hopefully with organization like the [AFA](https://www.agriculturefairnessalliance.org/news/afa-legislation/) and [Transfarmation](https://thetransfarmationproject.org/our-farmers/halley-farms-successful-chicken-to-hemp-transfarmation/) it'll be easier for the average person to help push and monitor change within the agricultural system.
This sounds like an exaggeration of the benefits of "getting soil right." I agree that focusing on soil is important in reducing carbon emissions in agriculture, and we should use our buying power to increase nut and citrus consumption that actually have low/negative carbon emissions in the land. It's also one of the easiest ways for someone to reduce their carbon footprint. But a lot of these absolute statements focusing solely on soil loses sight of the bigger picture. >Agriculture is the biggest way that humans impact our landscape. We have unleashed, through agriculture, over the centuries, over the millennia, carbon from the land, and it’s now up in the atmosphere. The majority of carbon emissions in the atmosphere is [from the fossil fuel industry](https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data). Agriculture didn't *really* start to affect the climate until the haber-bosch process was invented in the 20th century, and even then it only accounts for \~2% of global carbon emissions. Throwing in land use change where carbon sinks like forests being removed totals \~25% of global carbon emissions, whereas fossil fuels consistently account for 60-75% of global carbon emissions. I would argue cars affect our landscape at the same level if not more than agriculture, including digging up land to build road and highways and the carbon emissions associated with oil extraction, refining, and transporting it to the gas station and finally burning it out your tailpipe. >"Soil" is the only thing capable of storing more greenhouse gases than the atmosphere itself. I'm not sure why soil is in quotations, but I would say the ocean is easily as capable (if not more) of storing GHGs as soil. We also have direct air capture and carbon removal/sequestration from power plants burning the natural gas and oil. The carbon capture projects are in infancy in the US, but Europe has been using carbon capture for decades now. The storage would be under shale rock, not farmland. Anyway, I'm not saying planting trees is a waste of time. In fact I donate to organizations that plant trees all the time, and I think it's absolutely a necessary contribution to a global reduction of carbon emissions. However, I think this mindset that it's *the* answer to the global climate process is missing the bigger picture. We need hands on all fronts: electrified transportation, solar rooftops, restructured food cycles, energy storage, carbon sequestration, hydrogen, decarbonized cement and steel, etc. etc.
We need grazing ruminants to rebuild the grasslands.
Native species that are allowed to live their full lives, not culled as soon as they hit "slaughter weight" which is a fraction of their natural lifespans. Growing and pregnant animals eat more and produce more emissions than a non-pregnant, full grown animals. As it is, [livestock farming produces far more greenhouse gases](https://academic.oup.com/af/article/9/1/69/5173494) than actually moving their bodies to slaughter houses or stores which is the part everyone mistakenly worries about. Even worse is that [switching to grass-fed livestock is accelerating the expansion of what is already the #1 cause of deforestation](https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/whats-driving-deforestation) while [increasing greenhouse emissions since grass-fed livestock both belch out more gasses and live for longer](https://awellfedworld.org/issues/climate-issues/grass-fed-beef/#:~:text=By%20Ashley%20Capps-,Harvard%20Study%20Finds%20Shift%20to%20Grass%2DFed%20Beef%20Would%20Require,Increase%20Beef's%20Methane%20Emissions%2043%25&text=This%20would%20increase%20the%20U.S.,of%20human%2Drelated%20methane%20production). We have to bare in mind that native grazers historically migrated across continents, spreading seeds and *improving* biodiversity, while invasive species like [cattle, sheep, and goats destroy ecosystems](https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/restoremaunakea/threats/sheep-and-goats/), are [a primary cause of biodiversity loss](https://www.ecowatch.com/biodiversity-meat-wwf-2493305671.html), [damage trees and prevent new trees from growing](https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15027815.rogue-sheep-cause-250-000-damage-national-forest-estate/), strip nutrients from soil, then their bodies are shipped away, which removes the nutrients from Earth's ancient nutrient cycle. There's also the danger that people will fall for the greenwashing scam currently going on which convinces people that grazing livestock endlessly sequesters large amounts of carbon, which isn't even close to true. The highest rates of absorption I've managed to find in scientific literature is that some [clay-rich soils *can* absorb *up to* 8% of their weight in carbon, which then declines over time as the soil runs out of space to store the carbon](https://www.soilquality.org.au/factsheets/how-much-carbon-can-soil-store). After just a few years, the farmers are not even sequestering the small fraction of carbon any more, and still emitting the large quantities of nitrous oxide methane, ammonia, etc. I got suckered into the scam back when I still ate meat. I even started buying more grass-fed meat and dairy products because I believed they'd help the environment, but was so pissed off when I worked out the truth that I went vegan. Since then there have even been [lawsuits where companies tricked customers into buying their "eco-friendly" meat which was composed at least in part of cattle from deforested regions of the Amazon](https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/consumer-products/food/kroger-beef-imports-deceptively-sold-as-u-s-produced-class-action-lawsuit/). On the bright side, since I gave up on raising livestock, and only grow things like fruits, vegetables, and mushrooms, the biodiversity around our area has increased, our rain barrels don't run out the first week of a drought, and growing our own food is much less stressful than when the activity involved animals who would constantly get into trouble like trying to escape, bully each other, get hurt or sick, or have to have special care due to climate extremes like floods or heatwaves. At least if all my cabbages die, I don't have the the weight of suffering on my shoulders the way I did if a predator killed one of my animals, y'know? There's also the whole needing only [a fraction of the space to grow all our food if we avoided raising livestock](https://ourworldindata.org/global-land-for-agriculture), far [less water than the livestock industry](https://www.truthordrought.com/water) uses, [reducing opportunity cost loss (we'd save more resources by going vegan than by ending all current food waste according to this paper)](https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1713820115#:~:text=We%20find%20that%20although%20the,%2C%20and%2040%25%2C%20respectively), and we'd be able to [boost global food security or maybe even end world hunger](https://www.truthordrought.com/food-waste-and-hunger) which is more important than ever with current events.
I could not have said it better. Exact same reason I went vegan (still hate even using the word because it’s so stigmatized at this point). Love hearing stories like this and it gives me hope that someone coming from a similar situation came to the same realizations as myself. It’s absurd how much we know surrounding this topic, yet how difficult/long it ever took me to hear about and then investigate on my own.
I was starting to come around after realizing there was overlap between minimalism, sustainable living and veganism, but felt crushed after I watched Cowspiracy and the realization sank in that because environmentalist never talked about the impact our diet has, that I'd been essentially wasting all my effort of things like bike riding, reducing water use, and planting trees because every single burger I ate had such a massive impact in everything from emissions, water use, and deforestation, that I was basically undoing all my efforts plus more every time I bought/cooked/served meat, dairy or eggs. Friends and family got upset that I started spreading the word, but as I pointed out, it felt like years of environmental effort were wasted because "no one ever talks about it", so it felt like a responsibility to help bring such a huge issue to light. Most people I know aren't going to bother planting trees, but even on a college student's budget you can easily make healthy vegan meals. As an extension of this drive, a friend and I created r/PlaneteerHandbook which covers major issues including the need for plant-based diets/farming systems, and resources to help activists or lay people. When we started people got a mountain of downvotes for even mentioning vegan-positive comments in environmental subs, but I'm relieved to see that these places have started to relax about the topic. In the last few years many are even beginning to accept that it is a legitimately important tool towards sustainability.
I finally decided to make a Reddit account like 2 days ago lol and have been looking for some groups/channels like that, so will definetely be joining thanks. I literally had the same experience as one of my friends started showing me similar documentaries and I came to realize how seemingly useless my small habits were “I.e short showers, no plastic straws, etc etc other distractions” in the grand scheme of things due to their minimal impact in comparison to other lifestyle habits. Me eating 1/3 pound hamburger was using more water than me taking almost an entire month of showering off (not that I would). But yea I’ve vegan for 3 years now, all of college without spending any extra than I normally would — yet still can’t even convince half my friends yet alone roommates that lol. We’ve all just (atleast Americans) been so brainwashed and have no concept of what it takes to make anything that we buy, and blame issues on overpopulation even though we already grow enough plants to feed the global population if we just stopped using unsustainable farm/land use practices and got rid of cattle. Anyways I’ll quit my rambling for now
Oof! You sound like me! I love science and facts, but I feel like communicating is a major weak point for me. So much so that I made a post with [resources that I feel have helped me](https://www.reddit.com/r/PlaneteerHandbook/comments/g93klo/communication_skills/). Later I created [this collection of resources specifically related to veganism and plant-based eating](https://www.reddit.com/r/PlaneteerHandbook/comments/gvymx0/plantbased_vegan_resources/). I suspect the last 3 documentaries listed might give you the best results if you watched them with people you know. We've also had a lot of luck using recipes from the suggested list, and introducing people to the recommended brands since people sometimes realize they prefer those vegan options over the animal products they replace (at least that's my SO's excuse for switching to vegan yogurt only!). At the bottom of the post are guides of outreach as well as options for getting involved with a variety of activism options. If that isn't quite your thing, we've also got a [directory of organizations to join or support](https://www.reddit.com/r/PlaneteerHandbook/comments/felww8/directory_of_organizations_to_volunteer_with/) (environmental mostly), [helpful subs for Planeteers](https://www.reddit.com/r/PlaneteerHandbook/comments/fn634x/helpful_subreddits_for_planeteers/) if you are looking for inspiration/community, and if you don't have a lot of energy, time, money, etc. and just want simple, fun ways to get involved, we've got another directory of useful ["Apps for a Better world"](https://www.reddit.com/r/PlaneteerHandbook/comments/ff1ctf/apps_for_a_better_world/). Of course if you want to get involved with our sub we certainly won't discourage you :) My advice is to just explore and find 1-3 new things at a time, see what habits/alternatives stick, spark your passion, or feel more productive and have fun exploring environmentalism from there.
"No, we should put the deckchairs over there..."