smasha

sorry, ruminants (such as cows) eating grasses produce more methane than ruminants eating grains.

so you can have factory-farmed grain-fed (and scrap-fed) beef which is terrible for the animals and terrible for the environment, or free-range grass-fed beef which may be better for the animals but it's worse for the atmosphere. which is it?

and no matter how "happy" the cow is, it'll just about always wind up in a happy meal when it's no longer financially viable as a milk cow.

gerv 

Interesting observation. But eating beef isn't an all-or-nothing proposition. If you ate grass-fed beef as a holiday treat, we probably wouldn't be that concerned about the methane released in the atmosphere. Would we?

Personally, I'm eating no meat at present... I've managed to lose some weight and I've discovered a lot of new, interesting recipes. My latest discovery is vegetarian meatloaf. A great meal. Surprising since I always hated meatloaf with actual meat in it.

addictedhealer

I think me and my girlfriend are sorta green, we recycle paper, glass, cans and plastic. She rides her bike to work or walks. We try to buy local as much as possible. We keep lights off and try to reuse stuff instead of throwing it away. Although we eat alot of meat (one thing I wont give up). We also compost all vegetables and fruits and we have a garden. I also own a 96 Camry with 262K and she has a 2007 cobalt. One car never gets moved but my work is 30 minutes away so we do need two vehicles.

We are not as green as possible but I think we are way way way better than the average American, by far.

Ekdog

You might consider avoiding meat one day of the week: https://www.meatlessmonday.com/

MyBikeGotStolen

Somewhat green, but could probably do a little bit more. I am vegetarian and have been for almost 7 years now. I am super anti-waste around the house, but currently do not recycle as much as I should. Currently I am not car free, my college is way to far by bike. I could move closer to school, but with my wife and a kid it would mean either rooming with strangers, or living on our own. Right now we are at her parents house sharing utilities until we both graduate and see where life takes us from there. Unfortunately my most un-green thing I do is I deliver pizzas...by car. But hey, it pays the bills until school is over.

Today I did the most "green" thing I have done to date, although that is not the reason I did it (although it may be on the top 10 list of reasons). I got a vasectomy. Ouch.

cycleobsidian

Those tumbleweed houses on a small lakeside are less environmentally friendly than they seem. You need a road to get to them. Once there is a road, more people move in and build their own cabins. Next thing you know, goodbye wildlife habitat, hello jet skis and foreign invaders (meaning flora and fauna.) Goodbye marshland and woodland, hello garden plots and driveways.
We humans just take over, even when we're well meaning.

ubringliten

I am so green that when I see people not at least respect the environment can ruin my outing. For example, last night I took my relatives this food event called Off the Grid and people are so lazy to sort out between recyclable, recyclable from regular trash. They even have signs showing what kind of trash to go into which bin. I could see all these recyclables and compostables going to the landfill. What a waste! And this event was pretty big. People sucks!

Smallwheels

I learned another reason to stop eating animal products yesterday even though most people who would see me assume I'm very healthy. In the movie "Forks Over Knives" and in a two hour lecture by Dr. Esslestyn (a prominent medical researcher) he stated that Americans by age seventeen are already showing the signs of early heart disease. It is caused by eating animals and their secretions (dairy). In the Korean War and Vietnam War very young soldiers were killed. When the bodies of those soldiers were examined it was easy to see that their arteries were already filling with plaque.

Jim Fixx, the famous runner who introduced America to running as good exercise, died because of a plaque blockage in his arteries.

I ate meat and dairy products daily since childhood. Only two months ago did I stop. I imagine that my arteries are partially blocked even though I exercise regularly and am slender just like Jim Fixx. Heart attacks happen when a piece of arterial plaque breaks loose and suddenly blocks the blood flow. Yikes!

My switch to an all plant based diet is saving the environment even though I'm not doing it for the environment. This dietary switch will also begin to reverse the plaque buildup in my system. If I really stick to it and avoid all oils too (proven to be really bad, even olive oil) my blood flow should improve and with that my fitness level. Within two years my whole circulatory system should be free of plaque.

This is a long lecture by Dr. Esslestyn. It is almost two hours. It isn't as fast paced as the movie "Forks Over Knives" but the data and the testimonial of a person who had medical problems caused by diet, are really compelling. If you know anybody who eats meat who is concerned about health, share this with them.

https://youtu.be/J6pLRdawBw0

Midol_Mohawk

I'm veg and my wife is vegan, we recycle and I taught my students to compost at school for our garden. I don't commute to work (yet). We walk all over the place where we live, and as soon as we get our bikes (doing a trade with LBS) we will be riding a lot to different places on the weekends.

I do not do the veg thing due to its environmental benefits, and would stress that going veg, raw or whatever is a personal choice. We all do it for different reasons (health, compassion for animals, etc.) so we simply need to accept them as personal and move on.

That being said, anyone who needs a good veg recipe let me know, I got a ton!

Mos6502

Yes and some people who eat meat live to be in their 100s. So there's obviously more to it than simply eating meat builds up plaque in your arteries and you die.

Smallwheels

You are right. What can be proven today is that when people stop eating meat, dairy, AND oils in their diet, their blood chemistry improves and over time their arteries get cleared of the plaque that was in them.

Just yesterday I was thinking about something I haven't eaten since leaving the New Orleans area, Popeye's Famous Fried Chicken. I loved eating the spicy chicken they sold. It was one of my favorite foods. Alas no more.