I, The Zero Waste Bystander, from America’s heartland, lover of barbecue and burgers, pork chops and Parmesan, have sworn off meat.
A lot of people who know me will assume I’ve gone vegetarian because my husband doesn’t eat meat or dairy. This assumption is somewhat true (he does cook 99% of all our vegetarian dinners), but I refuse to simplify this decision with pure passivity. I’ve been in relationships with vegetarians for 13 years and still continued eating meat, particularly when eating out at restaurants or parties. No, my choice to become vegetarian this year is an ACTIVE political statement.
The Amazon is being burned to satisfy the demand for beef.
Speaking of passivity, you may have heard a lot of news sources using the passive voice when they say, “The Amazon is burning.” Don’t be mislead: people are actively burning The Amazon in order to make more room for cattle. People like me, who have passively eaten meat because it tastes good and is easy to cook, have given Brazil a reason to destroy one of the most amazing ecosystems on Earth.
Correction from the video creator: I just said the widely-shared fact that the Amazon produces 20% of the world’s oxygen without checking. This is not correct, and I should have checked it. The question of where the oxygen comes from is a complicated and interesting one and, frankly, I’d like to make a whole video about it. A good estimate is that the Amazon produces about 6% of the world’s oxygen. Which still seems like an important amount.
I’m done making excuses.
I truly believe that our choices shape the world we live in. If there is even a tiny chance that my tiny decision to stop eating meat once and for all–when combined with others’ tiny decisions–will change the course of the world, then that’s my responsibility.
Comparatively, my life won’t change that much, so there’s nothing to complain about. If anything, this will make my life easier because I won’t have to find zero waste solutions for eating meat. Vegetarianism’s got nothing on going zero waste. Since the lack of struggle means a lack of stuff to write about, you won’t see a ton of articles about my choice to go vegetarian, but luckily the internet is drowning in blogs that discuss those topics if that’s something you’re interested in.
In the meantime, I need to get back to researching ways to reduce pet waste for our new dog. Because that is something that takes actual work.