08/02/23 Let us reflect on our responsibility towards our planet on Earth Overshoot Day
Another study confirms we must drastically reduce meat, milk, and egg consumption.
- Animal Friends Croatia is extending their invitation to all to join them and learn about sustainable plant-based food options at the ZeGeVeggie Festival
Although Croatia entered the period of ‘ecological debt’ on May 29 this year, the global Earth Overshoot Day falls on August 2. Living in ecological debt means taking nature away from future generations. Earth Overshoot Day is the day in a year when our annual demand for and consumption of natural resources overshoots what planet Earth can produce or renew in one year. As WWF Adria state, the reason behind this is the fact that we release more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than our oceans and forests can absorb; we exhaust fish stock faster than it can be replenished, and we cut forests faster than they can grow back. The consequences are extreme heat waves, ravaging forest fires, devastating floods, and dramatic draughts, all of which are becoming more frequent worldwide.
“These destructive events are directly linked to our meat-eating habits,” state Animal Friends Croatia. “It is imperative to raise awareness that animal food production has a particularly detrimental impact on the health of our entire planet. Even the total global transport has a lower environmental footprint than animal food production does,” they added.
The most comprehensive research study so far, analysing the diet of 55,000 UK citizens and data from 38,000 farms in 119 countries, has confirmed that vegan diet has a significantly lower environmental footprint in comparison to other food diets. The research, led by Professor Peter Scarborough from the University of Oxford, shows that, in contrast with animal-based food consumption, vegan diet has 75% lower greenhouse gas emissions causing global warming, freshwater pollution, and land overuse. Vegan food production also requires 54% less water. The most drastic difference noted by the study concerns methane emissions. According to the study, vegan diet has 93% lower methane emissions.
Animal Friends Croatia is calling on everyone to reflect upon their responsibility towards our planet on Earth Overshoot Day and take into consideration the fact that the most effective thing we can all do to protect our environment and our planet’s natural resources is to substantially reduce our animal food consumption. Subsequently, they invite the public to join them at the sustainable living ZeGeVeggie Festival at Europe Square on September 1 and 2, where they will have a chance to acquaint themselves with a large variety of vegan products and learn more about the direct relation between animal food consumption and its adverse effect on our planet.
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