On January 6, 2021

Consider your environmental toll this year

Dear Editor,

As we sprint away from 2020, and towards what we hope will be a happier new year, many of us have environmental resolutions front of mind. Leaders have resolved to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord and host a global climate summit early next year. Many individuals are seeking to reduce their environmental footprint via personal changes, too, like our choice of foods. Yet, we must resist “greenwashing” from industries like meat and dairy, which threaten our environmental goals.

A recent study published in Nature Communications found that, no matter how animal-derived ingredients are produced, they still take a dire environmental toll. Scientists found that, regardless of its organic or conventional status, meat’s climate damage costs were around 68 times higher than the costs for plant-based products.

Accept that you cannot be a meat-eating environmentalist and go vegan today. 2021 is the year to end speciesism. It’ll help animals, our planet, and human health. For a free vegan starter kit, visit PETA.org.

Jessica Bellamy, PETA

Do you want to submit feedback to the editor?

Send Us An Email!

Related Posts

The public reality of private schools

June 25, 2025
Dear Editor, In their June 13 commentary, “The Achilles’ heel of Vermont education reform,” the Friends of Vermont Public Education state that, “Since the early 1990s, we have been operating two parallel educational systems — public and private.” The organization calls upon the Vermont Legislature to create “one unified educational system,” arguing that, “The current…

Alternative steps for true education reform

June 25, 2025
By Jim Lengel Editor’s note: Jim Lengel, of Duxbury and Lake Elmore, started teaching in Vermont in 1972, worked for the state board of education for 15 years, and retired back in Vermont after helping schools all over the world improve the quality of teaching and learning. Our executive and legislative branches have failed during…

Protect SNAP—because no Vermonter should go hungry

June 25, 2025
Dear Editor, As a longtime anti-hunger advocate, a former SNAP recipient, and a proud Vermonter, I am deeply alarmed by proposals moving through Congress that would gut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), known here in Vermont as 3SquaresVT. If passed, these cuts would devastate thousands of families across the Green Mountain State that rely…

The Good, the Bad & the Ugly of H.454

June 25, 2025
By Sen. Ruth Hardy Editor’s note: Ruth Hardy, of East Middlebury, represents Addison County in the Vermont Senate. She wrote the following reflection (originally posted at ruthforvermont.com) on voting “no” on H.454, the eduction transformation reform bill that passed last week.  On Monday, June 16, the Legislature passed H.454, the education transformation bill that was…