8 Top Personal & Environmental Benefits of Veganism

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Our environment provides us with fresh water to drink, clean air to breathe, and fertile soils to grow nourishing food. But human activity is pushing our planet to its limits, and we’re already paying the price.

If we don’t take action to slow the threat of irreversible climate change and environmental degradation, in that case, we will lose the majestic lakes and rivers, lush forests, rich soils, and other natural resources that sustain our lives on earth.

What is Veganism & a Vegan Lifestyle?

Thankfully, we already have the key to living in a way that’s more sustainable and kinder to our planet. Veganism, a diet that excludes meat, dairy, and other animal products in favour of plant-based foods, presents us with the opportunity to reduce our individual impact on the environment and create a liveable future for us all.

Like vegan diets, by following a vegan lifestyle, we can eliminate our dependency on animal-based products to support our lifestyle such as clothing, shoes, bags, aesthetic outcomes, etc.

Nowadays, the vegan fashion industry is thriving with many innovative products. You don’t have to buy and wear animal-derived products. There are various types of vegan products in the market today, such as vegan bags, vegan boots, clothes made up of vegan fabrics, and many more.

When those vegan options clearly prove that you don’t have to sacrifice your style to eliminate the use of animals in the fashion industry, you can rethink and reflect on certain aspects of your life.

Here’s why you should give Veganism a chance and become at least a little more vegan.

4 Ways Veganism Benefits the Environment

To understand why Veganism is beneficial for our environment, we must look at the patterns by which fish, meat, and dairy production is immensely impacting our planet’s ecosystem and resources.

We have listed below four ways Veganism can help our environment. Also listed below are four personal benefits that a vegan lifestyle can provide for us.

1. Mitigating Climate Change

Greenhouse gasses are the most significant cause of climate change, and Veganism or a vegan lifestyle can combat climate change. One research indicates that if everyone shifts to a vegan lifestyle, emissions contributing to global warming would be sliced by 70%, enough to reverse and possibly halt climate change and its harmful effects like floods, melting glaciers, rising sea levels, and droughts.

2. Keeping the Soil & Air Clean

Agriculture, farming, and illegal logging are the foremost reasons for worldwide deforestation.

This can, however, be tackled by planting trees. Trees are superorganisms that consume carbon dioxide through the process of photosynthesis. Plants can also reverse the effect of nutrient exhaustion and, thereby, clean and nourish the soil for more sustainable farming.

3. Veganism protects the Rainforest and Lands

The primary responsibility for the destruction of the Amazon rainforest is animal agriculture, and it is the most influential driver of deforestation and land used worldwide.

A lot of land needs to be allocated for animal farming. It is counted that about one-third of the world’s land is used for raising animals. The meat industry is the most significant cause of deforestation since land needs to be cleared for growing animals and animal feeds and allowing the animals to graze.

Through the process of deforestation, a vast quantity of carbon dioxide is released into the environment. Not only that, but animal farms also produce a large amount of methane. Methane is one of the harmful greenhouse gasses responsible for accelerating climate change.

4. Reducing Air Pollution

We already know how animal agriculture is one of the main contributors to GHG emissions, with (CO2) carbon dioxide being one of the most dangerous ones for the atmosphere. The meat industry accounts for at least 33,000 million tons of carbon dioxide per year.

Embracing a vegan diet reduces air pollution by holding carbon dioxide emissions. According to the Veganism Impact Report 2019, the world would see a 71% reduction in CO2 food-related emissions if the current meat-eating residents were shifted to a vegan diet.

4 Personal Advantages of a Vegan Lifestyle

A vegan lifestyle has many benefits, including decreasing the risk of various types of diseases and losing weight. But it contains many more benefits than this as you can see below.

1. Lose Weight Easily

Plant-based diets that mainly contain vegetables, pulses, and fruits are lighter in calories than meat diets. If you want to maintain your health and consume less or hardly any animal products, you could find vegan alternatives for animal products like a healthy soy protein diet that provides you with necessary nutrients.

2. Decrease the Risk of Heart Disease

A vegan diet with mostly vegan meals will allow you to lower the risk of heart disease by up to 43% compared to non-vegan diets. Heart disease is a significant problem globally and is deemed a secret killer, especially among women. A diet containing high fats and cholesterol consumption can raise blood pressure. People are more likely to have elevated cholesterol from red meat, dairy by-products (ex: milk, deserts), and eggs.

3. Decrease the Risk of Diabetes

Studies suggest that a plant-based diet reduces the risk of 2 types of diabetes. Plant-based food contains low calories, low saturated fats, and healthy fibres which helps us reduce weight and the risk of diabetes. Several studies have shown that people who pursue a vegan lifestyle can lower their chances of type 2 diabetes up to 35%.

4. Lower the Risk of Various Types of Cancer

The vegan diet is linked with reducing the risk of different types of cancer. A study conducted by Oxford University discovered that vegans have a 25 percent less chance of having cancer than meat-eaters. 2014 WHO report stated that meat probably is the cause for the rise of cancer. Even a tiny amount of meat can be a source of cancer in humans, and eating fresh vegetables and fruits decreases the risk of cancer by 17%.

Conclusion

If you are looking to lower your impact on the environment, going for veganism is one of the great choices you can make today. Going vegan reduces your carbon footprint, and the latest science is overwhelmingly on the vegan side as the data presented above shows. This article has mentioned the essential benefits of the unique and environmental vegan lifestyle for yourself and your environment so now the ball is in your court. If you need more inspiration you can check out other green living blogs or some sustainability apps that will help with making a change.