Ren’ee Jeffries
Mr. Klever
GSW 1120
8 March, 2018
The Pros and Cons of Veganism
A major trend that has been set in the last few years is veganism. Veganism is the act in which a person doesn’t use or consume any product that comes from or is made by an animal. Many people switch to a vegan diet and lifestyle because of the claims of better health, fair treatment for animals, and benefits for the earth. Saving the planet and taking care of ourselves should be important to everyone so that not only our species, but other species can survive and flourish as well. Therefore the question I’d like to answer is; How can switching to a vegan diet impact a person's health, social life, and the planet? While not all aspects of eating meat can
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Some examples of this include - and are not limited to: the amount greenhouse gases the slaughterhouse industry emits each year, millions of gallons of water waste, and deforestation. One of the biggest concerns when it comes to slaughterhouses is the water contamination, and the amount of wastewater. According to a source “The United States alone has 32 slaughterhouses responsible for dumping 55 million pounds of pollutants into the waterways … annually.” (Farr). If that is confusing, it means that disgusting items such as fat, manure, and grease are being dumped into the water. If having disgusting matter in the water was not bad enough, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions are just as bad. According to a source, most of the gas emissions come from the electricity that it requires to run a slaughterhouse. “The main source of these emissions is from the electricity used to run the slaughterhouses and to get rid of the previously mentioned wastewater as well as packing, cooling and transporting the dead animals” (Farr). The reason why greenhouse gases are dangerous to the environment is because they have been connected to global warming. Two of the most common pollutants from slaughterhouses are carbon dioxide and methane. “Slaughterhouses are also responsible for large outputs of greenhouse gases such as methane and carbon dioxide, both major contributors to climate change“ (Farr). The question I’d like to answer is; How can switching to a vegan diet impact a person's health, social life, and the planet? The answer that I got from research on the environment due to the meat industry is - slaughterhouses emit tons of greenhouse gases that pollute the air, and the water is polluted by dumping things such as manure and fat into the water. I believe that slaughterhouses and the meat industry are extremely bad for the