Can You Really Fight Climate Change By Eating Less Meat?

Climate change is a huge threat to our species, yet it’s an issue that often feels like it’s beyond our control. Huge fossil fuel companies are doing so much environmental damage and the government doesn’t seem to be acting fast enough. But while these big players make big decisions for the rest of us, individuals are left to feel powerless. So what can we do?

Eating less meat is probably the simplest and most effective way to reduce your carbon footprint. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, livestock farming uses 32 per cent of Australia’s water and 58 per cent of our land. And livestock makes up more than half of Australia’s total climate footprint, according to The International Journal of Climate Change.

In light of these factors, there’s a new initiative by Less Meat Less Heat, a non-profit organisation, to reduce meat consumption in Australia. As the name suggests, it’s all about encouraging Aussies to help subvert the effects of climate change by reducing the amount of meat we eat.

How it works

Like most trends these days, it comes in the form of an app, called the Climatarian Challenge. Essentially, the app helps people monitor their carbon consumption. At the start of the month users are given a budget of 8,000 carbon points (the equivalent of 80kg of carbon) and are challenged to ration out those points in their meals. The idea is that after each meal, you record which kind of meat you ate and the portion size, and the app automatically reduces the carbon from your carbon budget.

If everyone cut back their meat intake to this level, we’d have a much better chance in the fight against climate chance. In fact we may be able to prevent the climate from rising to an unsustainable level.

Do you have to be a vegan?

It’s not necessarily about pushing people to go totally vegetarian or vegan – labels which are absolute and can make some people feel threatened or uncomfortable – but the focus is on encouraging reduction of resources.

The app’s creator, Mark Pershin told ABC, “Once people realised we weren’t a vegan or vegetarian organisation, we found people were really open to that idea, and to actually learn about their various food choices.”

Less Meat Less Heat maintain that they’re opposed to animal cruelty, but their primary focus is on creating a sustainable climate, and evidently preaching veganism can prevent people from entering into this conversation.

The initiative is also set on revealing how different meats measure up on the scale of carbon footprints. Beef is by far the most resource heavy, followed by lamb, while kangaroo is so sustainable that it’s comparable to vegetarian products. Here’s the full graph:

If you’ve been freaking out about climate change but felt powerless to act, give the Climatarian Challenge a crack.