Water is life. All living beings need water to live. Unfortunately, fresh water is becoming a scarce resource nowadays, thanks to inefficient use, pollution, and a warming climate.
Veganism has the potential to drastically help in the conservation of this vital resource as vegan diets use significantly less water than those with an abundance of meat and dairy products.
Whilst 71% of the planet is water, only 3% of that is freshwater, most of which is inaccessible; either frozen as glaciers or stored as groundwater. Whilst freshwater is renewed through the water cycle, humans have disrupted this to such a degree, that water now needs to be treated as a finite resource. Depletion of freshwater increases droughts which in turn increases wildfires. Wildfires have increased in recent decades and are responsible for 30% of deforestation.
Let’s take a closer look at the interrelationship between veganism and water conservation.
Key Takeaways
Water Use and Livestock Farming.
Agriculture accounts for 92% of the freshwater footprint of humanity; almost one-third relates to the production of animal products. 98% of this is used to produce grains to feed animals., with 80% of soy produced globally used to feed animals. In a world where food security is reportedly a problem, this hardly seems justifiable.
The production of beef requires the highest amount of water at 15,000 litres per kilogram of meat. Other forms of meat also require high amounts of water, but less so than beef. On the other hand, producing ½ a kg of tofu requires about 924 litres of water, whilst many other vegetables and grains require far less than this. On average, one kilogram of vegetables uses about 322 litres of water, whilst grains typically need around 1,644 litres per kilogram.
Inefficient Land Use
Plants are much more efficient at converting water into energy and mass than animals. In a world where many people are suffering water and food shortages, the importance of this cannot be underestimated. Over-extracting water from water sources such as rivers or underground aquifers can have an irreversible impact on inexisting flora and fauna.
Intensive rearing of animals causes immense pollution such as eutrophication; an excess growth of plants such as algae. This is caused by run-off of manure, synthetic fertilisers and left-over feed into waterways, leading to the loss of fish and other aquatic life. Antibiotics and hormones can also find their way into waterways, potentially causing anti-biotic resistance and autoimmune diseases.
Choosing a plant-based diet can greatly reduce an individual's water footprint and mitigate these damaging ecological side effects.
Further Ways to Save Water
Opting for drought-resistant protein sources such as lentils, and chickpeas will help lower your water usage. Consider rainwater harvesting and growing your own food, if this is an option for you.
Safe Drinking Water
According to the United Nations, 2.2 billion people lack access to clean drinking water. Conserving and safeguarding fresh water resources is not only important for those alive today, but also for future generations. Industrial agriculture is responsible for polluting waterways, depleting groundwater, exacerbating erosion and speeding up desertification at an alarming rate.
Leaving future generations in a state of water scarcity is not a very compassionate thing to do, given that it can be avoided.
Land Use And Climate Change
It has already been mentioned that farming animals for food is an efficient use of water resources, and energy transfer. Avoiding farming animals and eating plants ourselves can also help us cut down our land use by 75%. By eating the food that is used to feed animals, we could drastically cut down world hunger, desertification, land use and the poisoning of water ways.
Growing one pound of grains does not give you one pound of meat. There is also a lot of water loss through irrigating the crops to feed the animals in the form or evaporation and ineffective watering methods. A large amount is also lost through evapotranspiration which is a normal part of plants growth.
Livestock farming also accounts for 18% of carbon emissions, more than any other sectors. Livestock raising is responsible for 70% of forests clearance in the Amazon, largely for grazing and to produce feed. The FAO suggests that moving towards plant-based diets could help reduce water usage by upwards of 50%.
Animal farming is one of the main causes of a rapidly warming climate. Warmer temperatures mean a higher rate of evaopation of moisture from the soil as well as freshwater reserves. Drought increases, negatively affecting ecosystems and people. Higher atmospheric moisture levels can also lead to heavier rainfall and flash floods, which can lead to erosion causing desertification, which in turn hinders the soil’s ability to absorb moisture, maker the system more vulnerable in the future.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Water is vital for life, and adopting a vegan lifestyle can help mitigate many of the problems that are facing society in securing sufficient fresh water in the near future. Switching to plant based diets can help safe guard our water resources and allow nature to restore herself as is her want. Your dietary and lifestyle choice are not merely personal choices, but are linked to the health and flourishing of the whole. Veganism, whilst not the answer to all the problems facing humankind, has the potential to have a profoundly positive affect on the future.
0 comments