statistical information on why one vegan makes a difference
i was very bothered that someone, a completely misinformed person, told me today that no one vegan makes a differece.
So I decided to figure out exactly what difference I alone will make by chosing to go vegan.
This is what I have concluded just in terms of a vegan diet.
The average vegan saves the lives of 95 animals a year by adjusting their consumer demand to reflect increased want of products containing no animal product. In other words by myself not buying meat i put a demand of 95 less animals on the meat market.
Now if I chose to eat a vegan diet for 10 years I am saving 950 animals. If I eat a vegan diet for 20 years I am saving twice that! considering I am only 22 I should theoretically be able to eat a vegan diet for 40-60 more years if I live near the average lifespan of an adult human male. Lets assume I eat a vegan diet for 50 years total [very realistic since vegans tend to live longer with healthier hearts on account of having no cholesteral in their diet!]. That is 4,750 animals. 4,750 lives. 4,750 conscious beings that are being spared life. Can you honestly look someone in the face and say that sparing 4,750 lives is not a remarkable impact? If a firefighter rescues one life they are a hero for it [and rightly so] (human, companion animal, or any other animal in fact!). Imagine saving 4,750 in your life time! That is remarkable and a feat worth being proud of.
Now...
If the vegan population is 1% [which studies show it to be as high as 7%] and the current population is 295,734,134 people in the United States...that would be roughly 2,957,341 vegans. In fact I will even round down to 2,950,000 for those skeptics out there.
So if 2,950,000 people keep a vegan diet for 1 year they are saving 280,250,000 lives. WOW. Imagine that these vegans now are able to keep their vegan diet for 10 years. 2,802,500,000 lives! 50 years? 14,012,500,000 lives [not to mention the vegan population continues to grow with the normal population influx. the rate has also been seen to rise. imagine the vegan population reaching 10 percent in 10 years and you have a whole lot more vegans to consider]!.
so now let us assume that i join a small vegan group on the UNCG campus of 30 people and we are all fortunate enough to live out a vegan lifestyle for 50 years [again this is highly likely do to the healthy diet and lifestyle we are choosing].
30 * 95 * 50 = 142,500 lives being saved. And i did 4,750 all on my own just by eating smart and healthy.
that is just a small group of vegans from a small state school in a relatively small state. Imagine how many animals vegans in New York City are able to save.
one person does make a difference. dispute it you must but numbers do not lie.
So I decided to figure out exactly what difference I alone will make by chosing to go vegan.
This is what I have concluded just in terms of a vegan diet.
The average vegan saves the lives of 95 animals a year by adjusting their consumer demand to reflect increased want of products containing no animal product. In other words by myself not buying meat i put a demand of 95 less animals on the meat market.
Now if I chose to eat a vegan diet for 10 years I am saving 950 animals. If I eat a vegan diet for 20 years I am saving twice that! considering I am only 22 I should theoretically be able to eat a vegan diet for 40-60 more years if I live near the average lifespan of an adult human male. Lets assume I eat a vegan diet for 50 years total [very realistic since vegans tend to live longer with healthier hearts on account of having no cholesteral in their diet!]. That is 4,750 animals. 4,750 lives. 4,750 conscious beings that are being spared life. Can you honestly look someone in the face and say that sparing 4,750 lives is not a remarkable impact? If a firefighter rescues one life they are a hero for it [and rightly so] (human, companion animal, or any other animal in fact!). Imagine saving 4,750 in your life time! That is remarkable and a feat worth being proud of.
Now...
If the vegan population is 1% [which studies show it to be as high as 7%] and the current population is 295,734,134 people in the United States...that would be roughly 2,957,341 vegans. In fact I will even round down to 2,950,000 for those skeptics out there.
So if 2,950,000 people keep a vegan diet for 1 year they are saving 280,250,000 lives. WOW. Imagine that these vegans now are able to keep their vegan diet for 10 years. 2,802,500,000 lives! 50 years? 14,012,500,000 lives [not to mention the vegan population continues to grow with the normal population influx. the rate has also been seen to rise. imagine the vegan population reaching 10 percent in 10 years and you have a whole lot more vegans to consider]!.
so now let us assume that i join a small vegan group on the UNCG campus of 30 people and we are all fortunate enough to live out a vegan lifestyle for 50 years [again this is highly likely do to the healthy diet and lifestyle we are choosing].
30 * 95 * 50 = 142,500 lives being saved. And i did 4,750 all on my own just by eating smart and healthy.
that is just a small group of vegans from a small state school in a relatively small state. Imagine how many animals vegans in New York City are able to save.
one person does make a difference. dispute it you must but numbers do not lie.