Happy birthday to Sir David Attenborough! At age 92 today, he continues steadfast in raising awareness about the plight of wildlife, the precarious state of our planet’s living systems, and the impact of our rapidly growing human population. Since 1950, our human population has more than tripled, from 2.5 billion to 7.6 billion people. With this rapid population growth has come a corresponding explosion in demand for environmentally devastating animal foods, the mass production of which weighs immensely in driving every major environmental crisis we now face — including climate change, water pollution and water depletion, land use, deforestation, and species extinctions. One of the most impactful positive steps each of us can take right now as individuals is to live vegan and boycott cruel and destructive animal products. In addition to addressing the impact of our consumption (including dietary) choices, we must also deal with our unsustainable population growth by raising awareness of the issue and supporting education, family planning, and gender equality around the globe. |