Isabel Thomas - This Book Is Not Garbage: 50 Ways to Ditch Plastic, Reduce Trash, and Save the World!

When it comes to gobbling up resources, meaty meals are the planets number one enemy. Going veggie for one day each week can make a BIG difference.

Every year, 7.6 billion humans chomp their way through meat from an amazing 65 billion animals. Raising these animalsand getting them from the farm to your burger bunputs pressure on the planet in three ways.

Most of the worlds farmlandand almost one-third of all usable landis devoted to raising animals for meat and milk. Its not just fields of grass playing home to cows and sheep: almost a third of the crops we grow are used to feed animals, too. This farmland has replaced forests and destroyed natural habitats.

Greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere, causing global warming. Livestock emit the same amount of greenhouse gases as all the fossil fuelguzzling vehicles in the world! Cows are the WORST culprits.

As they digest grass, they constantly burp and fart methane, one of the most harmful greenhouse gases. Each of the 1.5 billion cattle on the planet can expel up to 132 gallons of methane in a day!

Looking after all those animals accounts for nearly 10 percent of all the fresh water that humans use each year. Even more water is used to keep meat clean and cool on its journey from field to fork. Animal farming is also one of the main sources of water pollution, because animal poop and chemicals wash into rivers and oceans.

Scientists have crunched the numbers and calculated the carbon footprints of some favorite meaty meals:

Half a leg of lamb

86 pounds of carbon dioxide, or 93 miles in an average car

Four large beef burgers

59.5 pounds of carbon dioxide, or 65 miles in an average car

20 pork sausages

26.7 pounds of carbon dioxide, or 31 miles in an average car

If you and your family avoid meat (and cheese, too) for just one day a week, it could help the planet more than taking your family car off the road for 4.5 WEEKS .

What about the other six days? Well, if you love meat too much to go veggie but you want to be kinder to the environment, stick with chicken, and fish thats caught in a responsible way. Eggs are an even greener source of animal protein (but DONT eat them if they actually are green).

By 2050, at least 9 BILLION people will be sharing our planet. (Fifty years ago there were just 3.5 billion.) Its not possible for all those people to feast on beef and lamb. Protein will HAVE to come from different sources. Some of the ideas scientists are working on include cultured meat grown in labs, and protein from insects! That bean burgers starting to look pretty good now, isnt it?!

You hate it, and the planet hates it too! Happily, putting less effort into doing the dishes is a win-win situation.

Have you ever considered taking part in some scientific research? Scientists are always looking for people to help test their theories. BUT BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU VOLUNTEER FOR . The unlucky participants in one scientific study were asked to wash 144 dirty dishes, pots, pans, and utensils EACH ! It did have a purpose, though. The study found that people approached the task in very different wayssome much kinder to the environment than others.