This blog is dedicated to educating Americans on lowering their carbon emissions. As a country with one of the highest per capita carbon emissions, we have an obligation to ourselves, people in other countries, and future generations to lower our present impact.
This is not a blog about reducing plastic use or packaging. That topic is covered extensively by "zero waste" communities online that are a much better resource for this than this blog could ever be. Although I recognize the large environmental impact of single-use plastics, and I acknowledge the need to reduce our consumption and production of plastic waste, the threat posed by the climate crisis and global heating has far more dire implications for all animal life, human or otherwise. I believe that solely focusing on small issues like straws or takeout containers is tinkering in the margins, and runs the risk of making us feel like we are accomplishing something without actually making significant dents in our carbon emissions. This is a common problem known as the Law of Triviality that can seem comforting when facing large, complex issues.
This is not a blog about the ethics or philosophy of veganism. This blog will discuss a variety of plant-based diets that exist as an alternative to typical American diets, but this will be discussed from the perspective of carbon emissions only. The rights of animals and the ethics of raising animals for food are topics worthy of their own discussion which are beyond my knowledge base and the scope of this blog.
This is not a blog about shaming or trying to make you feel bad. Discussions of alternatives to our current lifestyles should not be viewed as moral judgment or finger-wagging, but rather, a frank discussion of the reality of the problem. The typical American lifestyle is running up against very real material constraints. Your lifestyle must be seen as living within a complex system that you had no part in designing, and have little-to-no vested interest in maintaining.
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