Riley Smith

Since I've been quarantined in New Jersey for seven weeks, life has been weird. There aren't many cars on the road, however, there are a lot more people riding their bikes and walking, while maintaining proper social distancing. This is something that I have noticed on my daily walks. I try and walk/bike 5 miles or more every day just to clear my head and I've been trying to switch the route to see different parts of my town. Overall, the sidewalks need to be improved because in many parts of my town, especially on major roads, there are no sidewalks. This has made many parts of the town inaccessible to pedestrians. Also, there are no designated bike lanes, which makes it difficult for cars and bicyclists. I hope that after all of this the township decides to create better pedestrian and bicyclist infrastructure because it is desperately needed and the residents would adore it! 

My friends and family are well aware of my commitment to sustainable living, but I have recently been working on ways to encourage them to join me! For example, through this one-time challenge, I set up a recycling center in my home for our coffee and espresso capsules. While this was a small change, my entire family participated! It was awesome to see how excited they were when they placed a capsule in the designated box because they recognized that it was going to be properly recycled and reused rather than sent to a landfill. I have also reached out to my friends to incorporate sustainable living into their daily lives, such as using reusable water bottles, reducing their meat consumption, or purchasing products with little to no plastic containers. These changes, although small, will allow a light bulb to go off in their heads about how they make a huge difference not just for the planet but for their own lives. Some of my friends have also encouraged their families to switch to sustainable living and the results have been awesome! Recently, I have been educating myself about changes that I can make in my life to ensure a sustainable future. One of those is researching supply chains of the stores that I often purchase from to make sure they are not greenwashing their products. The biggest change that a person can make is ensuring that the products they are purchasing are good for the environment and the power to do so is in the hands of the consumer.

Individuals in richer areas of the world consume more meat products compared to individuals in other parts of the world because it is more accessible to them. This is a result of an extensive amount of resources, such as animal feed and water, that are required to produce meat products. For individuals in rich countries, they are able to afford the resources and equipment necessary, however, this is not the case for individuals in other parts of the world. Since meat consumption is high in richer countries, many individuals in other parts of the world desire their diet. This has lead to an increase in meat production across the world and thus an increase in cleared land for cattle and poultry CAFOs. For that reason, richer countries, such as the United States, are emitting more greenhouse gases than other countries with lower meat production and consumption rates. The meat industry negatively impacts the environment because it releases methane, the most potent greenhouse gas. Also, when land is cleared to be used for agriculture, carbon dioxide is released from the trees that were previously there which leads to land degradation. These emissions continue to attribute the warming of the global temperature which has negative implications for everyone, regardless of which country they are from. The worst impact of the meat industry is the impact it has on the human body. Doctors have stated for years now that individuals should reduce their consumption of red meat because it has been linked to many health issues, such as cancer and heart disease. Also, many pork products have been linked to increased cholesterol and even diabetes. After all, our ancestors were herbivores and they were able to survive on a vegan diet, so why can't we?