Assessing the environmental impacts of consumption and production

     In regards to creating better sustainability, I would argue that converting to a vegetarian diet would yield the most prospering and influential impact in regards to fostering sustainability, compared to the conversion of automobiles to hybrid vehicles. First and foremost, as technology advances, other technologies aside from, and much more advanced and less toxic than, the hybrid will become available; however, there is no substitute or supplement for the production of meat, or the ample and vast resources it takes to procure and propagate that system. In addition to the steadfast and deadlock options agricultural producers face with the means of raising animals for food, meat production, and consumption, leads to the devastation and change of habitat, pollution, over exploitation of resources, introduction and impact of invasive species on habitats, climate change, and health issues; in summary, according to the United Nations, the production of meat leads to compromising the integrity of ecosystem health, human health, and resource availability.


     This argument is not to be presented with out acknowledging the paramount stride in progress the hybrid exemplifies with its conservative design compared to standard automobiles, nor the outrageous pollution the automobile industry procures; however, it is objective truth that the production of hybrid vehicles still produces ample waste, contributes to large amounts of pollution, and colludes with a system that is not sustainable in any fashion. The United Nations has weighed in on the topic of hybrid vehicles, and claims that the bulk of devastation brought on by the automobile industry lies in the production of the vehicle its self, not necessarily in the emissions produced in everyday use. Expanding on this statement and thinking critically, even with the implementation of, or conversion to, hybrid vehicles, there are still many systems and processes already in place in standard automobile production that would remain the same, the materials and chemicals used to produce and run the vehicles would still be highly toxic to the environment, the costs of producing, marketing and integrating the vehicles into mainstream society would be vast, recycling hybrid vehicles is not much less toxic unto the environment than standard automobiles, and lastly, doing away with standard automobiles would entail such a burden in regards to disposal of them and the resources needed to even embark on such a large project. In summary, hybrid technology is a step in the right direction; however it is still technology that is arguably comparable, in regards to negatively impacting the environment and sustainable practices, to the current automobile industry; and would require paramount funding for little progress, especially taking into consideration the pace of technologies advances.

     The pace of technological evolution may be swift, however, the only real evolution the meat industry has seen is demand and subsequent machinery designed to meet that demand regardless of environmental impact. There are little options left to agricultural workers in regards to raising eco-friendly meat. Meat production on land requires vast amount of land and resources, while emitting large amounts of greenhouse gasses and other toxins into the air; an estimated twenty six percent of earth’s terrestrial surface is used to support animals grazing, upwards of eighty percent of agricultural land fosters some type of raising animals, according to the United Nations; and meat production stemming off of aquatic animals comes with an equally high price as does terrestrial meat production.

     In both terrestrial and aquatic meat production, entire ecosystems are compromised or eliminated in order to accommodate farms, or access animals, and this phenomena yields a plethora of drawbacks and deadlocks to the environment and sustainable practices. Habitat changes contribute further to the depletion of resources, over exploitation of certain species for harvest or production becomes a byproduct of both terrestrial and aquatic meat production, and extinction as well as sustainability of entire ecosystems at large become of concern. A paramount example that can be given of aquatic meat production jeopardizing ecosystems, species, and the health of the planet and people can be made of contemporary deep sea fishing and commercial fishing. Contemporarily the fishing industry is running its self dry by overfishing smaller fish that sustain ecosystems and support larger organisms in the oceans and seas. This is becoming detrimental to aquatic ecosystems at large, because due to the demand of aquatic meat, ecosystems are losing essential players, and larger predators are losing their resources for food. The combination of these two factors is leading to the endangered and extinct status of many aquatic fish, as well as mammals, and is a leading contribution to the extinction of reefs and other catalysts to ecosystems in the seas and oceans.

     Another byproduct of meat production, both terrestrial and aquatic, would be pollution. Methane and carbon dioxide gasses are the primary greenhouse gasses emitted in dangerous quantities from meat production, and they contribute to general pollution, as well as the depletion of the ozone layer and global climate instability. According to the United Nations, the meat industry produces more greenhouse gasses than all SUV’s, cars, trucks, planes, and ships in the world combined. Not to slam on those arguing that hybrid vehicles would be more effective at creating sustainability, but this statement, which is arguably founded considering the institution who supports it, is of paramount importance and cannot be dismissed as statistically insignificant. Pollution is a main byproduct of the meat industry from the moment business begins. Clearing the land for the animals to be raised on produces pollution, the animals produce pollution, feeding the animals and the process of raising the feed for the animals produces pollution, the slaughter and process of the animals furthers the production of pollution, and even the subsequent marketing and transporting of meat produces pollution. At every step of the way, meat production produces pollution on a natural (in the case of animal wastes and gasses) and unnatural basis (chemicals and hormones used in production).

     Pollution leads to the last two main points I have for this blog, and they would be climate change and health drawbacks. The meat industry contributes an ample amount of pollution to the environment, and due to decades of these unsustainable practices, the ozone has began to deplete at a more rapid rate over terrestrial meat production areas, and the gasses being emitted from terrestrial and aquatic meat production and cultivation has contributed to the amount of gasses that exist in our atmosphere that are aiding in the instability of our global climate. The greenhouse gasses, methane and CO2, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, are aiding in the irregularity of our climates temperature, and phenomena such as hurricanes and extreme weather is being seen like it has previously never been seen before. The seas and oceans are experiencing what is called “bleaching”, where the UV intensity is so high that it literally burns corals to death, leaving coral reefs and algae fields looking baron, or white in appearance, bleached. The impact of global climate instability is furthering the severity of resource depletion, because at this point, the environment is destroying resources, or rendering them useless, at the same time we are continuing to destroy resources.

     Lastly consuming meat is arguably unhealthy. The meat industry produces meat that is tainted with hormones, antibiotics, and chemicals, lacing an already arguably unnecessary dietary choice with harmful substances that contribute to the rising health issues reported by people all over the world. It is not factual to argue that people cannot sustain proper or good nutrition with out meat; there are hundreds of millions of people who have mastered vegetarian or vegan lifestyles, often in turn for healthier bodies and lives than those who remain on a diet encompassing meat. Eating meat, especially meat treated with hormones and chemicals, leads to the increased risk of heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and digestive problems, such as chrones disease and colitis, as well as ulcers. It is not to say that meat cannot be eaten in a healthy manner, but when comparing the devastating impact the hybrid poses to the world, versus the meat industry, the meat industry yields more paramount devastation in regards to ecosystem health, human health, and resource availability.

by Belal Albar