Reversing the damage. One steak at a time. What have you done to save the planet today?

I recently attended a very moving couple of History 102 lectures discussing the human impact on the earth as well as our impact on the animal world. Professor Cobbing, our lecturer, urged us to take a test in order to establish what exactly our ecological footprint was. I thought the man was exaggerating as he proceeded to scream at us with accompanied overzealous hand gestures for not taking the matter as seriously as we should. I thought: “come on, I’m a little student in a tiny town, I walk everywhere, I don’t eat red meat how could I possibly harm the planet that much?”

Well, I was wrong.

Have you ever measured your ecological footprint? Find out: http://earthday.net/footprint/flash.html or even www.myfootprint.org/en/visitor_information/

It’s a shocking sobering process, but it’s made me aware how much attention we need to start paying to the little things we do in order to preserve what we have left. In desperation and disbelief I took off all my meat-eating tendencies from the quiz and my footprint was drastically decreased.

This brings me to the situation that our carnivorous ways have landed us in. Did you know how harmful meat is to the environment? Did you know that for every kilogram of steak we eat five kilograms of grain could have gone to feed the hungry? Subsequently 10 000litres of precious water would have been saved if we spared the steak too.

In light of this I’ve decided to slowly work my way towards becoming vegetarian. It’s not an easy process you know, but I’m now tired of feeling guilty for what I consume. Today I make a difference – albeit a little one. Shouldn’t you?

By: Tarryn Ross