7 Ways You’ll Change the World by Going Vegan for Lent
Lent, the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Holy Saturday, can have a profound spiritual meaning for Christians, as we honor Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice by giving up something ourselves. And if you’re among the many people who choose to forgo meat, milk, and eggs for Lent, you’ll have a profound impact on the rest of the world. Here are seven ways that every person who goes vegan for Lent will show love to the world—just like Christ:
1. You’ll save 44,000 gallons of water. It takes 2,400 gallons of water to produce just 1 pound of meat, which is about equivalent to 50 full bathtubs.
2. You’ll save 1,600 pounds of plant foods. Animals raised for food eat up to 10 pounds of grain for every 1 pound of meat that humans produce. If everyone went vegan, we could end world hunger.
3. You’ll save 1,200 square feet of forest. About 260 million acres of U.S. forests have been cleared to make more room for more crops for farmed animals.
4. By some estimates, animal agriculture is responsible for more greenhouse gases than all of the world’s transportation systems combined.
5. You’ll save the lives of about 40 animals. The practices of the animal-agriculture industry are a far cry from how Christ instructed us to care for “the least of these.”
6. You’ll spare the lives of dolphins, whales, sharks, seals, and other animals. As many as 650,000 dolphins, whales, and seals as well as 40 to 50 million sharks are killed every year by fishing activities.
7. You’ll save money. A vegan diet can cost about half what a meat-eater’s does. If you were hoping to save up for an Easter gift to a church, mission, or charity, here you go.
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Happy eating, and happy Easter.
To learn more about ways in which Christians can care for God’s creation, visit PETALambs.com.
