Turn out the lights to help save planet
IT'S Earth Hour on Saturday. For one hour from 8.30pm, hundreds of millions of people across the world will turn out their lights to raise awareness about climate change.
I have a suggestion to boost Earth Hour's success: participants could be encouraged to prepare a low-carbon evening meal on Earth Hour night. First, to use organic, local produce if possible, but more importantly, to prepare a meal without animal products.
While transport of food amounts to a tiny part of one per cent of the world's greenhouse emissions, producing animal foods accounts for 18 per cent according to the UN, and a recent recalculation by World Watch put the figure at 50 per cent.
Animal products have a huge impact. While we produce far more plant food than animal products, and could feed the world with it, if the part fed to farmed animals was redistributed to people, plant food produces just four per cent of emissions.
Amy Carpenter
Mossop Close, Ottery St Mary
4 Comments
by Dutch, Exeter
Saturday, March 27 2010, 10:36PM
“Oh God, I never thought of it like that! We better get on and slaughter the ponies on Dartmoor, the cows on the Alpine Meadows, the reindeer and caribou of the arctic tundra, the wildebeast in africa, the bison in America and the yaks in Tibet, as they obviously all displace the possibility of growing valuable foodcrop (even if nothing can grow there) and horror upon horror, they all produce methane! Ahh, the wonderful silence of the vegan world!”
by julia whatley, Dartmoor
Friday, March 26 2010, 9:40AM
“Typical of this couldn,t care less attitude. Yes China are building coal powered stations and this will have dire consequence,s for the planet . Climate Chaos is down to us humans over consuming. We need to change our habbits. Dwindling world energy supplies will mean rethinking how we source our food and energy. Looking forward to the change. Working towards this myself using permaculture methods, food futures with possitive thinking caring people. On Earth hour I shall be on my LIVING OFF GRID COURSE and then working on our new Comminity market Garden.Enjoy ya Macdonnals, MUPPETS!”
by Ed, Exeter
Thursday, March 25 2010, 5:58PM
“Couldn't agree more. Who do these people think they are?
Haven't they got it by now, that their peculiar point of view has been trashed scientifically?
While I've been writing this, the Chinese have built another wall for a power station. Talk to them if you can Amy.”
by Mike Parsons, Exeter
Thursday, March 25 2010, 12:34PM
“Absolute waste of time! Stop trying to change peoples eating habits under the guise of climate change. What a muppet!!”