I’m a numbers girl. Absolutely love numbers. And I know that’s not the norm, but there’s a lot of influence that can happen with strong statistics. There’s often a sentiment around me that we have too many problems to address in our world today to care about what may happen in 20 years. I therefore find myself in a constant balancing act of influencing change to happen, and just letting go.
I’ve found that my most effective balance point is to live my life trying as much as I realistically can to help animals and the earth. And hopefully by doing that, the people around me will see how easy it is. But in conversation, I always wish that I had more clear statistics to share, because they get my point across in a non-argumentative way.
So that’s what I’ve put together today. Why should we care? And 3 statistics (there’s actually a few more further down in the blog post if you want them) to keep top of mind for conversation.
I’m thinking about blowing each of these out into their own podcast episodes with more detailed statistics. Please comment below and let me know if you would appreciate that. Thanks!
3 Statistics to Keep Top of Mind:
- A 10-year US government study revealed that more than 90 percent of the nation’s tested waters and fish are contaminated with pesticides.
- Farm Sanctuary found that 9 billion chickens are slaughtered for meat in the US each year, 104 million pigs, and 330 million hens are confined to lay 95 billion eggs.
- Our World in Data states that there are greater than 35,000 species that qualified to be going extinct today. That is 1/4 of the world’s mammals, 1/6 of the birds, and 40% of the amphibians.
4 Simple Ideas to Make a Difference:
- Switch to non-toxic cleaning products. My cleaning closet.
- Choose one day per week, & eat only vegan meals that day.
- Plant trees on our property, or donate to non-profits who plant trees.
- Cut down on our personal paper usage with zero waste alternatives.
1. Toxic chemicals in our products & lifestyle.
Cleaning products, beauty products, and pesticides are all part of the human lifestyle that impacts the animals and environment around us.
The US Geological Survey done in 2002 found traces of detergent in 69% of streams and disinfectants in 66% of streams.
Another 10-year government study revealed that more than 90 percent of the nation’s tested waters and fish are contaminated with pesticides.
SO WHAT CAN WE DO?
We can help by switching out the products that we buy. In today’s episode, I specifically focused on cleaning products. The Think Dirty App is a helpful resource for checking many brands for their cleanliness. If you want a copy of my non-toxic cleaning cabinet shopping list, you can download it from the Free Resource Library below.
MY NON TOXIC CLEANING CABINET:
Sign up to access direct links to my favorite cleaning supplies. PLUS free shopping guides, challenges, and ebooks to save you hours of time helping animals and the planet. You’ll also get exclusive interviews and links to new resources delivered to your inbox every other week.
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2. Animals as food.
Farm Sanctuary has done studies to show how much meat and dairy we consume as a United States culture per year. Here are the top level statistics:
- 33 million cattle slaughtered for beef
- 9.3 million cows for milk
- 104 million pigs slaughtered for meat
- 9 billion chickens are killed for meat
- 330 million hens are confined to lay 95 billion eggs
And this is only the United States. Imagine what it is for the entire world. There has been plenty of research to show that we don’t need anywhere near as much meat as we consume.
SO WHAT CAN WE DO?
We can switch out vegan meals one step at a time. Either choose one day a week to eat vegan breakfast, lunch and dinner. Or, choose one meal one day to switch out. Once you find something that works for you, add another meal, or add another day. You can find some of my favorite recipes on our blog here.
3. Deforestation, Global Warming & Species Extinction.
We don’t actually know how many species there are on the planet. So we don’t know what percentage have gone extinct, or what percentage are going extinct. But there are many estimations that are made. And of course they don’t look good.
Our World in Data states that there are greater than 35,000 known species that qualified to be going extinct today. That is 1/4 of the world’s mammals, 1/6 of the birds, and 40% of the amphibians.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released their most recent report at the beginning of August. This is a UN-led group of scientists who volunteered their time to look at over 14,000 scientific publications and more than 78,000 scientific and public comments. They put together their 6th report and the headliner was that if global temperatures rise by 1.5°C, humans will face unprecedented climate related risks and weather events. This will likely happen in the early 2030’s.
SO WHAT CAN WE DO?
Support reforestation on three different levels:
- Plant native trees, bushes, and plants on our own property, whether it be in a backyard or in a box on our balcony.
- Donate to non-profits who are doing reforestation as their mission. Some options: (Mossy Earth, One Tree Planted, Plant Your Future, Hoja Nueva).
- Cut down on our personal paper usage. Where possible, move to zero waste options for paper products. When purchasing, look for brands that specifically call out their suppliers in detail, and discuss their philosophy and focus on sustainability.
