Save the planet !

[excuseme]

I have been listening to the TV in the background that my husband had on this morning and the discussion was about cows/ruminants burping and farting too much and polluting our planet. How far is this stupidity going to go. We humans are already killing our planet, let's not blame the cows who provide this ever growing planet with milk, cheese, meat and other required products for us humans.
What about preventing our very large population of humans from burping and farting, dogs and canine creatures included too! ( almost impossible I would have thought)

 

[JudyN]

It's really not as simple as that. Of course it's not the cattle that are to blame, but the humans who require such huge numbers of cattle to feed them. Meat and dairy production are hugely polluting compared to other forms of agriculture. In the last 50 years, meat production has more than tripled, whereas the global population hasn't even doubled.

Cutting back on meat and dairy production is probably the most effective way of reducing your environmental impact (apart from not having children). Should we all go vegetarian/vegan? That's a step too far for most of us. But reducing meat & dairy consumption, and moving away from the traditional meat & 2 veg meals can only be a good thing. At the same time, we could increase the quality of the meat & dairy we eat, such as by switching to local, free range and organic products.

I mostly have oat milk at home, but dairy when out and about as it's easier. I can't give up cheese, because vegan cheese is minging. We had lunch at a service station when we went to Scotland and, only having the choice of KFC or Burger King, I had a vegan Whopper from BK - I had to remove both the 'cheese' and the burger before it was edible...

 

[Hemlock]

And we must not forget the essential good done to the environment by outdoor flocks and herds. Their manure, footfall and benefits to herbivorous grassland that can't be made any other way also benefits invertebrates (without which we'd all perish) and all other animals and birds. As JudyN says, it's not straightforward. The deeper we look the more fascinatingly complex it gets.

What we have is too many humans. They fart too.

 

[arealhuman]

What we have is too many humans.

I love a good environmental debate, but don't want to get into it in depth here (too much ). My view too is that there are too many people, meaning we're all clamouring for finite resources such as food, water, fuel. Yes, cattle is a huge emitter of greenhouse gases but not only through their gaseous expulsions, but also through the environmental resources required to rear them (feed, water, etc.). Don't forget that before pastures there was woodland which was destroyed to make way for cattle and, of course, roads and buildings as humanity developed.

Every human being has a negative environmental impact, however careful they are. I cringe when I hear the government going on about cycling as being "environmentally friendly". The term should be "less environmentally harmful". All those tyres on bikes? They shed particles when in use. That goes down the drain and then invariabley into rivers and seas, and from there, likely into the food chain. The same when the soles on your shoes wear down. Or road marking disintegrate. Or when cyclists wash those terrible lycra clothes they insist on wearing - particles are released into the environment.

As custodians of this planet that we share with so many other forms of life, we've done a terrible job, mostly in the last few hundred years following the industrial revolution. We seem to be waking up to this now, but I fear it's too late. My hope rests with technology, perhaps we can produce something like nanobots that can turn carbon into oxygen, and pollution into something non-polluting.

Human apathy has an awful lot to do with it too. I think most people are environmentally aware and would like to do the right thing, but there's also a lot of people who don't believe what they're hearing as it sounds, to them, too incredulous. The cow fart thing is real - some farmers are already collecting the gas to burn for other uses (example here) or are changing their feed so that they produce less gas.

I've quoted @Hemlock's words above as there is thinking in the scientific community that humanity is nearing a population collapse. Perhaps that will right our collective wrongs! Happy Sunday everyone!

 

[Flobo]

We have done a terrible job for sure but, to me, one that was sadly inevitable with a human beings desire for 'progression', I don't think things could of been any different really, evolution and all that! Personally, I like to see the beauty in our planet and it's amazing ability to adapt and survive, we just have to remember it was once inhabited by giant creatures, dinosaurs! What happens to our species, who knows, (other than the likely event of AI's becoming dominant and keeping human beings as 'pets' of course!...)
In my daughter's generation there does seem to be a common desire not to have children, I don't know how far and wide this feeling is, but who knows, it may just help in some way...

 

[JoanneF]

It all started to go horribly wrong when mankind discovered how to make fire. That's only slightly tongue in cheek, I really think that was where it all began.

 

[JudyN]

Capitalism is a big driver too... The economy is no longer there to serve us, we are here to serve the economy. Hence, despite politicians' and business owners' greenwash and lip service, they are still doing what they can to make sure we consume more and travel more. We have a growth economy, with finite resources. Just look at the profits made by the water companies as they pump more raw sewage into our waterways.

And we (along with all other species) are driven by an urge to become bigger, better, faster, higher, because originally it made us better able to pass on our genes. Remember when 26" tellys were big? When we bought a 32" telly it seemed enormous, but now my son and even my mum tell me that it's really small. My sons can't imagine living with no electronic devices, and my 18-month-old granddaughter probably has more toys and books than I did throughout my entire childhood. Most made out of plastic and transported many, many miles.

And don't get me started on plastic...

 

[excuseme]

I would have mentioned about too many humans being produced around this planet, and then mega money helping women to have more babies (who have already got at least 1), let nature take it's own course, but that all becomes another subject. Or does it
As @Hemlock mentions, "what we have is too many humans" and @arealhuman, "my view too is that there are too many people".
I agree too.

 

[JudyN]

Again, it's in governments' interests to encourage a high birthrate because with an increasingly elderly population, they will lose revenue but have a larger number of pensioners they need to support, both financially and with healthcare.

I do agree there are far too many humans, but cutting the birthrate would take far longer - literally generations - to have a significant impact on the environment than we can afford. If we don't cut emissions hugely by other means, and soon, we are screwed. That's if we aren't already screwed.

 

[arealhuman]

Interestingly, China recently changed it's laws to increase the number of children couples could have from one. Yes, capitalism and consumerism have a lot to answer for. Plastic pollution is terrible - photos of miles of beach covered in plastic waste such as bottles and whatnot breaks my heart, wildlife caught up in our plastic waste even more so.

Governments have a huge part to play in this, however those from corrupt regimes (for example Brazil recently, where the President turned a blind eye to the destruction of the rain forest) don't care - they want to make money fast and let future generations (or even the next generation) deal with the mess that's left. The perceived non-corrupt governments play their part too as has been said, striving for more stuff, bigger stuff, faster stuff.

I might have dreamt this, but I have a vague recollection of a new parasite that's developed that can ingest plastic as there's so much of it. Perhaps that might help in dealing with plastic - we clearly can't cope with it.

I don't know the answer, but surely the first step must be better awareness across the public.