You Don’t Have to be Vegan to Save the Earth

Small changes can make a big difference.

Like many people, you may have been wondering how to live more responsibly - how to reduce your carbon footprint. What many don't realize is that the emissions associated with animal agriculture are responsible for at least one-sixth of of the greenhouse gas emissions that are contributing to global warming. Is it possible to reduce reliance on animals? While it may seem like an insurmountable challenge to avoid animal products, you don't have to go full vegan to make a difference in your own health and that of the planet. According to Josh May and Victor Kumar, your choices and actions have a lot of influence on what others you know do, too.

The key is to make your choices visible to people in your social circle. This will show folks that meat-free choices are still delicious and part of a great lifestyle. But, if you want to influence people for vegetarianism and not against it, there are a couple of pitfalls you can avoid.

For one thing, studies show that people do not like to be confronted over their moral choices. So avoid sanctimony or an air of moral superiority when you make vegetarian choices. Making people feel as if they are being shamed for their behavior is likely only to drive them in the opposite direction.

For another, there is nothing more discouraging than an "unsuccessful" vegetarian, or a person who vows to never eat meat again, only to give in to carnivorous temptation. People can be discouraged if going meat-free seems like an "effort doomed to failure."

May and Kumar are offering an alternative - become a "Reducetarian," a person who is working to *reduce* the amount of meat in their diet. This is an important quest that can make a real difference, but not a quest that is destined to fail. It allows people to make small adjustments rather than radically rethinking every meal.

This approach has two advantages. First of all, it's easy to begin with small changes that build up over time. For example, you can start by eliminating red meat, then gradually reduce poultry, while still eating dairy and eggs. Or you can eat vegetarian during the week and splurge on the weekends. There are many ways to customize this to suit your current lifestyle.

Another great advantage of "reducetarianism" is that is avoids drawing an uncrossable line in the sand for your social group. Rather than dividing the group into vegetarians and carnivores, "us" and "them," this creates a feeling that we all care and do what we can. This camaraderie prevents defensiveness and alienation which can put people off of considering changes.

Ultimately, less meat is a great choice for personal and planetary health, and "reducetarianism" may give people a path they can follow through the unknown.