Plant-Based Diet
Environment Facts

Animal Agriculture & Environment

Raising animals for food produces more greenhouse gasses than cars, planes and the entire transportation sector combined.
70% of the world's land dedicated to agriculture is used to rear animals.
US Methane emissions from livestock and natural gas are nearly equal.
Reducing methane emissions would create tangible benefits almost immediately.
Growing feed crops for livestock consumes 56% of water in the US. 5% of water in the US is consumed for private homes.
1000 gallons of water are required to produce 1 gallon of milk.
Animal agriculture is the leading cause of species extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution, and habitat destruction.
Nearly half of the contiguous US is devoted to animal agriculture.
Livestock is the leading driver for desertification around the planet.
We could see fish-less oceans by 2048.
For every 1 lb of fish caught, up to 5 lbs of marine species are unintentionally caught and discarded as by-kill.
Animal agriculture is responsible for up to 91% of Amazon rainforest destruction.
1,100 land activists have been killed in Brazil in the last 20 years.
The US federal wildlife-killing program targets wolves, coyotes, cougars, birds and various other wildlife that are destructive to the agriculture industry. They killed 2.3 million animals 2017.
Worldwide, at least 50% of grain is fed to livestock.
82% of starving children live in countries where food is fed to animals, and the animals are eaten by western countries.
Land required to feed 1 person for 1 year:

From various sources listed here.

73 percent of beach litter is plastic: filters from cigarette butts, bottles, bottle caps, food wrappers, grocery bags, and polystyrene containers.
More than 5 trillion pieces of plastic are already floating in our oceans.
By 2050, virtually every seabird species on the planet will be eating plastic.
As of 2015, more than 6.9 billion tons of plastic waste had been generated. Around 9 percent of that was recycled, 12 percent was incinerated, and 79 percent accumulated in landfills or environment.
More than 40 percent of plastic is used just once, then tossed.

Source: National Geographic

The world consumes about 80 billion new pieces of clothing every year. This is 400% more than the amount we consumed just two decades ago.
Clothing is often considered disposable. The average American generates 82 lbs of textile waste each year.
More than 90% cotton is now genetically modified, using vast amounts of water as well as chemicals and pesticides. As our skin is the largest organ, these chemicals are passed into the bloodstream of the people wearing these clothes.
The leather tanning process is among the most toxic in all of the fashion supply chain. Workers are exposed to harmful chemicals on the job, while the waste generated pollutes natural water sources. Leather tannery workers have a far greater risk of cancer.
97% of items are made overseas. by people who don't share the same rights or protections and are some of the lowest paid workers in the world. Roughly 85% of all garment workers are women.

Source: The True Cost

Plastics

Fashion