Do you view animals as living beings who experience suffering, pain and happiness just like us, or do you view them as a source of food, something we can control at our own will? I imagine that most, if not all, of you grew up eating meat, consuming dairy, and wearing leather and wool clothing. I also imagine that most of you don't think about the impact of using or consuming these products. However, supporting the use and consumption of animal products has a negative impact on our environment, and consuming animal products likely has a similar negative impact on your body. It is also responsible for the deaths of thousands of animals every day. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay It is very difficult for humans to make the connection between the food on their plate and its origin. Being vegan means not consuming meat, fish, poultry, dairy products, honey, eggs, etc. Vegans don't eat anything that comes from an animal. Additionally, vegans do not use leather, wool or products not tested on animals. Becoming vegan is one step you can take to end the animal product industry, improve your health and the environment. Vegans tend to be labeled extremists - because they eat whole foods, take care of their health, protect the environment and reduce the number of animals brutally killed. Yet meat eaters who pollute the environment and waste resources that could be valued elsewhere and cause the slaughter of more than 50 billion animals per year are considered normal. So why do people go vegan, what impact does it actually have? It may not seem like eating a piece of chicken or drinking a glass of milk would have an effect on the earth, but it does. The animal products industry uses an excessive amount of natural resources and pollutes the environment. To put that into perspective, it takes 2,400 gallons of water to produce one pound of meat. Yet it only takes 25 gallons to produce a pound of wheat. You would save more water by not eating a pound of meat than if you didn't shower for 6 months. Animal farming uses 30% of the world's land surface. The industry emits more greenhouse gases than the entire global transport sector combined; and this causes water pollution, deforestation and air pollution. According to veganoutreach.com, switching to a vegan diet prevents the release of 1,533 pounds of CO2 per year that would be produced by the animal products industry. Most people don't realize the amount of resources needed to produce animal products. To give you yet another idea, it takes a thousand gallons of water to produce 1 gallon of milk (veganbranding.com). The majority of you probably didn't know the impact this industry has on our planet because no one tells you when you're growing up. Because it's normal to consume and use products of animal origin. Because no one tells you, when you're eating a hamburger, that it takes almost 700 gallons of water to produce it. Feeding animals pounds and pounds of grain reduces the amount of food resources that other countries desperately need. So imagine if we were to stop focusing a lot of these resources onproduction of animal products and focus more on the production of whole plant-based foods, which are not only immensely healthier, but have less impact on the environment, how could we then reduce the negative impact of our population on our planet? Not only does becoming vegan significantly reduce your individual impact on the environment, it can also directly affect your health. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that those who follow a vegan diet have lower cholesterol levels, lower blood sugar, lower body weight, and a lower risk of diseases such as colon cancer, breast cancer. breast, catarac, osteoporosis. Meat and dairy products contain a lot of saturated fat which, when removed from the diet, can significantly improve your health. Humans are the only species that drinks milk from other animals. By eating more plants, you would also consume more antioxidants, which fight cancer and improve the health of your cells. Going vegan has also been shown to reverse type 2 diabetes and heart disease in some people. Becoming vegan also gives people more energy. This is why so many athletes and celebrities adopt a plant-based diet. Vegans can easily get all the nutrients they need and, despite beliefs to the contrary, plants contain plenty of protein. By switching to a vegan diet, you can improve your health significantly. Now let's move on to why most people go vegan: to save animals. If you could live a life without paying for someone to constantly kill animals, would you? I can't answer this question for you, but I encourage you to think about it. For most people, when a dog dies, it's sad. And for some people, when they hear that a cow has died, it's also sad. But these people continue to consume animal products that lead to the death of thousands of animals every day. Many people would say they love animals, but how can you say you love animals when you are responsible for their death and suffering when you eat animal products. I'm going to give you a briefing on the life of a cow. When it is born, it is immediately taken away from its mother because she needs the mother's milk for human consumption rather than giving it to the calf which needs these nutrients. If it is a male calf, it will most likely go to one of two places: a farm where it will grow up, although separated from its mother, living in harsh and dirty conditions all its life, until 'to its slaughter; or it will be sent to a butcher right after birth to be slaughtered for veal. If it is a female cow, she will most likely be sent to a dairy farm, where she will receive repeated injections of hormones, have many offspring she will never see, and live out her life in harsh conditions . All types of animals related to the animal products industry live like this. Think about having to live this life for even one day. You are stuck in a small habitat. Most chickens have a living space the size of an iPad screen. You are only fed so that you can produce products for others. You must abandon any children you may have. Finally, you just wait for your inevitable massacre. The belief that humans and animals deserve the same compassion may not be shared by everyone, but humans are.