Going Green: Animal welfare to help keep the planet green
As an animal lover with a limited budget, how can I support animal welfare and nature friendly food?
Choosing food is one of those regular ‘jobs’ of the week but producing a weekly planner not only simplifies shopping, it also avoids waste, saves money and can start a family discussion about where our food comes from. As Anna Lappe said “Every time you spend money, you’re casting a vote for the kind of world you want.”
Wildlife depletion and poor animal welfare is primarily due to intensive farming and the agroindustry that profits from poor standards. Intensive farming is also contributing to global warming through increased livestock numbers, pollution and deforestation.
Therefore, buying local, sustainable low-carbon food is essential. The easiest way to do this is to reduce the amount of meat and dairy in our diet. Your local farmers’ market or health food shop will be able to explain where food comes from. Supporting less intensive, free range and organic farming is a great start but we need better regulation to improve animal welfare.
Britain is a nation of animal lovers with more than two-thirds of us referring to ourselves as animal lovers. Even more proof is that 81 per cent of people have taken action to help animals in the UK with 50 per cent reducing single-use plastic use and 50 per cent feeding birds. 80 per cent of citizens in the UK believe that animal welfare standards should apply to trade deals but that’s unfortunately, not always the case.
For example, the Australian trade deal allows animals to be kept in conditions that are illegal in the UK so whilst these are issues that politicians control, we can all choose what meals end up on our table.
In this cost-of-living crisis, most of us don’t want to spend more money, in fact ways to save money on groceries is ideal. Bean, pulses and nuts often work out cheaper than meat, especially if not processed so, reducing beef and lamb can save you money, improve the environment and offer health benefits such as lowering cholesterol.
MSc is a consumer label that offers a simple way to identify fish and shell fish businesses that support more sustainable fishing practices.
Taking part in Meat free Monday is a great way to explore new recipes and you might be pleasantly surprised which vegan options become firm family favourites. My kids prefer the taste of vegetarian ‘chicken’ nuggets so as well as eating more plant-based food, it’s a simple switch away from factory farmed birds. Given 120 million chickens are slaughtered each year, finding vegetarian alternatives helps reduce the carbon footprint of food and clean up our rivers.
Chicken farms are part of intensive agriculture with pollution from factories often ending up in our rivers and killing fish. The Rivers Severn and Wye are tragic examples of this and have led to the phrase ‘death by chicken farm’.
Celebrity Spot
James Norton, the actor staring in King and Conqueror supported the Climate Coalition saying: “We’re capable of so much, maybe the next great human achievement will be saving our world and if we did…well wouldn’t that be our greatest achievement of all.”
Visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAyhRD4JPxg website.
Green swap
Swap plastic plants for real plants. Living plants help improve indoor air quality and many produce beautiful flowers and fruit. However, plastic plants are made from oil, a product responsible for global warming.
Ditch single use plastics in drive to clean up our oceans
There will be more plastic than fish in our seas by 2050 if we don’t act now.
This is one of those ‘stats’ that are so shocking it’s almost impossible to believe but due to the increasing amount of rubbish entering rivers and seas, plastic in the ocean is due to out weigh fish in the next twenty five years.
Plastic production has risen from two million tonnes in 1950 to about 475 million in 2022 – and it is expected to keep rising. Even worse, only about ten per cent of plastic is recycled worldwide as the trend to dump waste in poor countries continues unchallenged.
The negative impact of plastic on human health are being widely reported as micro plastics are turning up in internal organs and newborn babies, where they leach out toxic chemicals.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. There are plenty of alternatives to producing more and more virgin plastic. Reducing, recycling and reusing rubbish are well known strategies that we can all support.
For example, some of the drinks companies responsible for biggest amounts of plastic pollution are coca cola and pepsi. Therefore, swapping out these brands
for a healthier home-made alternative such as a fresh fruit slushy or a cordial with soda water is a cheaper and more environmentally friendly option.
Walking around any supermarket you see food and drink covered in unnecessary packaging so pick peppers and other fruit and veg without bags and try when possible to cook food fresh at home.
It’s far cheaper and healthier than ready meals or take aways.
Fast fashion is another source of micro plastics in our environment, particularly during washing cycles. Avoiding synthetic garments and choosing sustainably sourced natural fibres is great for reducing pollution.
Buying preloved fashion is important as there are enough clothes in circulation already for the next six generations! Buying from your high street in stead of online reduces packaging, avoids impulse purchases and supports your local economy.
Finally, when looking at furniture, opt for renewable resources such as wood over plastic. Trees are grown sustainably and products with the FSC mark are superior in
quality to cheap plastic tat.
Oil and gas industry are key supporters of plastic production to protect profits. Generally, electric vehicles are better quality, reduce pollution and are cheaper to run.
Therefore, demand for petrol and diesel at the pumps is dwindling so fossil fuel firms need to create new demand – despite the disastrous impacts of global warming. Hence promoting single-use plastic is their new strategy and unfortunately it’s working.
The recent plastic treaty to end pollution collapsed after lobbying from petrostates
such as Russia and the oil industry to protect this growing market.
Visit https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgpddpldleo website.
Fact or fiction
Approximately 60 per cent of all materials used by the fashion industry are made from plastic.
FACT.
500,000 tons of microfibres are released into the ocean each year from washing clothes – the equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles.
The clothing industry has a carbon footprint bigger than air travel and shipping combined.
Visit https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-60382624 website.