“Green Monday strives to be the Swiss army knife of green movements and solutions.”- David Yeung
Vegans, rejoice, you’ve been doing it right! According to a new initiative called “Green Monday” the impact of not eating meat for even just a single day each week could greatly impact not only our health but our environment, as well as lessen the effects of global warming. By cutting out all types of meat from our routine the first day of every week, greenhouse gases could be cut down by 14.5 percent.
The movement started in China and has been growing globally since 2012. The livestock industry is one of the highest contributors to global warming, so the less livestock we consume the closer we are to saving the planet from the thresholds of global warming. The process of preparing meat contributes largely to carbon dioxide pollution emitted fossil fuels, as well as the over-usage of water. To produce a single pound of beef, there has to be 1,800-2,500 gallons of water contributing to the meat preparation process.
Green Monday would not only be a solution to Mother Nature’s ailments, but would definitively help ours as well. With the majority of grain and corn being fed to livestock to produce quality meats, it is often forgotten that this very same grain and corn could be used to feed the 1 in 8 people starving globally. The benefits don’t stop there; adding more leafy greens to your diet just one day a week can vastly reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. The presence of red meat in a diet has also been linked to a higher risk of colon cancer.
The founder of the Green Monday movement, David Yeung, has coined the term “flexitarian,” as someone who takes one day a week off from eating meat. As the operation grows, there are currently 1.6 million flexitarians worldwide participating in Green Monday. The movement has partnered with various well known restaurants, schools and corporations who’ve all proudly taken the pledge of refraining from meat every one day a week for the sake of their planet and themselves.
