5 Facts Everyone Needs to Know About Keeping the Earth and Yourself Healthy

Author: Anita Krajnc & Nicola Harris, illustrated by Gerrah Selby.

We care so much about animals and recognize the unit of survival is organism plus environment1. As animal rights activists we very much need to protect the planet for farmed animals and free living animals. We are concerned about climate justice and human rights. If you watch Seaspiracy you can see these many layers and the interconnectedness of life.

1. Sea Forests Are Just As Important As Land Forests

Watch Seaspiracy on Netflix to learn more about the vital role of sea forests and check out our blog to see five things our climate campaigner Natasha learned while watching it. Sea forests act as carbon sinks and absorb carbon out of the atmosphere. In fact, the ocean is the largest carbon sink on the planet.

Did You Know...

  • bottom trawlers, which drag giant nets across the ocean to catch fish release as much carbon into the atmosphere as air travel?
  • slavery is still use on fishing boats? It is linked to the same criminal groups behind drug trafficking and human trafficking. Around 24,000 fisheries workers die on the job each year.

2. Plastic Straws Are A Distraction

We are told to stop using plastic straws—and yes this is good but it’s a big distraction from the main culprit—fishing nets.

Did you know?

  • plastic straws account for a mere 0.03% of the plastic found in the ocean, but more than 50% of the plastic in the ocean is fishing equipment like ghost nets?

Turtles, whales and dolphins get caught in fishing news and die. Over time the nets break down and create micro plastics, which enter the food chain and kill larval fish2.

If you want to make a positive impact and solve the problem of ocean plastic, stop eating fishes and save sea life.

3. Animal Agriculture Drives Deforestation

Land forests also purify the environment and supports lives of different species.3 But did you know that 80% of farmland is used for animal agriculture and yet it supplies just 18% of calories consumed?4

Did you know...

  • animal agriculture is a leading cause of rainforest destruction and species extinction. For example, the pygmy sloth is critically endangered because their homes have been destroyed to make way for animal agriculture.5 6

Take care: of yourself and get outside and explore nature. Forest bathing reduces stress and improves happiness. Being around trees is like medicine. They help lower your heart rate and blood pressure, boost the immune system and accelerate recovery from illness.

Take action: If the oceans and forests die, we all die. However, we can all be part of the solution by not eating fishes and other animals to protect both them and our carbon sinks. Urge your local school and hospitals to switch to a vegan menu for the earth, for our health and especially for the animals. Sample letters are available here.

4. It's Not Necessary To Drink Milk

It takes 628 litres of water to make one litre of dairy milk, compared to only 48 litres for oat milk, that is, it takes 13 times more water for one glass of dairy compared to one glass of oat milk.

Did you know...

  1. Canada’s food guide took dairy off the guide and now recommends switching dairy milk for a glass of water instead?7

Take care: Stop drinking dairy milk and make water your choice of beverage. Drinking 6-8 glasses of water each day can improve your mood, cognition and sleep quality.

5. Dairy Milk Is Choking The Earth

Dairy emits three times the Greenhouse Gas Emissions of soy milk, and did you know that by choosing ANY plant milk over dairy you will significantly lower your carbon foodprint. Eggs are also destroying the planet, by emitting 2.5 times the GHG emissions of tofu.

This Earth Day, go vegan for the Earth, watch Seaspiracy, and promote veganism in schools and hospitals!

#VeganEarthDay #PlantBased4Planet #DontLookAway

References

  1. Bateson, Gregory (1972). Steps to an Ecology of Mind: Collected Essays in Anthropology, Psychiatry, Evolution, and Epistemology. University of Chicago Press.
  2. Laura Parker, Microplastics Impact on Fish, National Geographic, May 2019 
  3. Forests are the Lungs of the Earth, May 2, 2018
  4. Tim G. Benton et al, Food System Impacts on Biodiversity, Chatham House, February 2021
  5. Sloth Facts, WWF
  6. Jes Walton, Species Extinction in Farmlands: It’s Not Just the Birds and the Bees, Green America October 13, 2020

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