in Australia alone. All of these animals
are kept in housing where their waste
needs to be washed away, collected, and
transported.
We’re using our land resources to
produce meat and other animal products
to the detriment of the welfare of billions
of animals, our health, and the planet,
but we’re also plundering the oceans too.
The United Nations Food Organisation has
confirmed that 75 per cent of the world’s
fisheries are now depleted or overexploited
with over 90 million tons of fish being
pulled from the oceans every year. We
now live in a world where super trawlers
are scraping the oceans clean with no
discrimination whatsoever. All kinds of sea
creatures are caught, killed and discarded
as byproducts for simply being in the
wrong place at the wrong time. Thousands
of whales, dolphins, seals, and sharks are
being slaughtered each year by the fishing
boats that prowl the oceans. And while it’s
a tragedy that these beautiful animals are
being discarded with zero regard for their
right to an existence, the consequences ofnumbers of some species while sacrificing
others. We’re destroying land, draining the
oceans and guzzling our natural resources.
None of this is in the name of survival or
need – it’s all in the name of want and greed.
Vegans are sometimes criticised for
appearing to put the rights of animals
above those of humans even though
veganism is far more complex than that.
Not wanting to cause harm to any living
being is of course hugely important to the
movement, but veganism also advocates
for equality within the human race.
Climate change, while denied by some,our heavy-handed destruction of a complex
eco-system will be dire for the human race.
Healthy oceans are essential for human
survival but at the rate we’re going we
could be facing fishless oceans by 2048
(National Geographic News). In fact, it’s
highly likely that in the next few decades
we’ll see more plastic in the sea than actual
marine life. Our oceans produce more than
half the oxygen in the atmosphere and
absorb most of the carbon from it too.
Ocean species also filter out toxins and
control algae blooms, which can have
terrible consequences if left uncontrolled by
nature, creating deadly toxins and affecting
fresh water. Healthy oceans need biodiversity
but over-fishing and manmade pollution
are threatening the delicate balance that
we all so desperately rely on.
In Australia, we eat on average 93kg
of meat per person per year (OECD.org),
which is three times more than the rest
of the world. Our growing population,
combined with the demand for a constant
supply of meat at low prices, is crippling
the planet. We’re playing God, inflating the“In Australia, we eat
on average 93kg of
meat per person per
year, which is three
times more than the
rest of the world.”
“Switching to a vegan lifestyle can save 1.5 million litres of water per
year, 1,000m² of forest per year, 3,300kg of carbon dioxide per year and
save the lives of 365 animals. That’s what one person can achieve in a
year simply by choosing not to consume animal products.”
the big issue