Meatless and mindful: preventing a water crisis

I’m a vegan and, yes, I have no sense of humor.

Apparently the most laughable thing I’ve ever done is pick the tofu over steak at Chipotle: a hilarious waste of seven dollars, my friends say.

What I’m not wasting, though, according to an article on The Huffington Post, is the 462 gallons of water it took to make that 4 ounce serving of steak.

I’m going to get practical– the world is running short of usable water. A study by The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that 36 states anticipate water shortages in the near future. To alleviate the matter, government agencies suggest turning off the sink while brushing your teeth, flushing the toilet less and washing dishes by hand.

Not to deprive anyone of feeling like an environmental superhero, but showering for two minutes less than usual as an act of global consideration is the equivalent of patting yourself on the back for drinking a Diet Coke. The water footprint of livestock is huge, but largely ignored. According to the EPA, agriculture accounts for 80-90 percent of American water usage, and nearly half of this goes towards producing crops for livestock to eat. Domestic water use, on the other hand, accounts for about six percent of total water usage.

My brother goes to college in California. Because of the drought, his dorm advisors encourage students to keep a bucket in the stall while they shower to collect excess water. Many restaurants in the area don’t serve complimentary tap water. Posters reminding students to turn off the sink while they brush their teeth line the hallways.

What many Californians, and Americans in general, don’t know about their drought is that the impact they are capable of making with changes like the ones listed above is miniscule. An article on ProPublica points out that agriculture uses the most water by a landslide, and animals eat a large sum of the crops produced by the agriculture industry. In fact, the livestock industry, not just in California but on a national level, uses so much water that, according to the article, “if every American ate meat one less day a week, it could save as much water as flows through the Colorado River in an entire year.”

Get this– you can save more water by not eating a pound of steak than not showering for six months.  Now, imagine if every person in America reduced their meat intake. As a vegan who is partially motivated by saving the planet, people often tell me that I’m incapable of making any difference. Perhaps it’s true that alone, I can’t suddenly revive the water supply in California or replenish dried up rivers and lakes. However, what I can do is encourage my community to take baby steps in solving an important issue. If everyone takes baby steps together, it can result in one massive leap.

So you want to save the world? Good news, you can still waste that extra two minutes in the shower thinking about whether or not you did your history packet and what the meaning of life is.  And you can still have your steak burrito from time to time, but I encourage you to challenge yourself in a pragmatic way: Meatless Monday.

During World War II, Americans were encouraged to partake in “Meatless Monday” to benefit the war effort. Seventy years later, for the sake of the planet, I’m urging you to do the same.

Today, Meatless Monday is a global movement that calls upon restaurants, food services, schools, communities and individuals to benefit a number of aspects, including water conservation. After all, it only takes 39 gallons of water to produce a pound of vegetables.

You don’t have to rush to Whole Foods and fill your cart with Tofurky and soy chorizo, but you should care, at least to some degree, about the well-being of our planet. If we live together through little victories, like not eating meat on Mondays, we can make a substantial impact on the fate of our treasure of a planet.