This weekend, Sunday, April 22, is Earth Day, a chance to celebrate this beautiful planet we call home, a chance to gather with others who care about our Earth and find ways to be in service to her, and to take stock of our own actions to see how we can lessen our own personal impact on a world reeling from the influence of our human species.
Science tells us that the choices we all make everyday and hundreds of times a year about what to put on our plates and into our stomachs has a huge impact on the earth and is a decision that deserves our attention. As a member of Compassion for All Living Beings CC (Multiregion; https://uri.org/who-we-are/cooperation-circle/compassion-all-living-beings-cc-c4alb), I’d like to offer the invitation to consider this and make the choice to transition to a more plant-based diet. There are many resources online, and our CC would be more than happy to offer help and suggestions. (And if this is an area you are already passionate about, join us!)
Did you know?
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- Animal agriculture causes 18 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions — more than the entire transportation sector, combined.
- Growing feed for livestock accounts for 56 percent of water use in the U.S.
- It takes approximately 1,800 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef.
- Livestock takes up 45 percent of the earth’s free land.
- Raising animals for food is the leading cause of species extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution, and habitat destruction.
- A farm with 2,500 dairy cows creates the same amount of waste as a city with over 400,000 people.
- As many as 2.7 trillion animals are taken from the ocean every year.
- Animal agriculture is the cause of up to 91 percent of Amazon rainforest destruction.
For more information, please see: http://cok.net/blog/2016/04/earth-day-heres-eat-save-planet/
And for help getting started: https://www.onegreenplanet.org/lifestyle/earth-day-every-day-going-green-with-plant-based-cuisine/
Happy Earth Day!
Stefan
***Compassion for All Living Beings (C4ALB) CC was started in 2014 by Rev Heng Sure and counts URI’s Global Council Chair Kiran Bali and Global Envoy Mussie Hailu among its early members. Newly invigorated in the last year, C4ALB is dedicated to “creating culture of peace, justice and healing for all living beings.”
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Stefan Howard • Director of Operations
415.762.0188
1009 General Kennedy Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94129-0242
“As long as men massacre animals they will kill each other. Indeed he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love.” – Pythagoras, 6th cent. BC
“Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself be free.” – Dr. Albert Schweitzer
URI is a global grassroots interfaith network that cultivates peace and justice by engaging people to bridge religious and cultural differences and work together for the good of their communities and the world, and is a non-governmental organization (NGO) with consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.