Poverty No More – Episodes 11 & 12 – Cows and Toilets
Episodes #11 and #12
(7 -8 August 2010)
This week on “Poverty No More”, we take a look at MDG #7 – Ensuring Environmental Sustainability – from two angles.
First, we look at links between climate change, hunger . . . and eating meat. Cows and pigs are one of the biggest contributors to global warming, more so even than cars. Modern meat production meanwhile is also an inefficient use of fuel, grain and water . . . which could exacerbate food crises. So, what can you do? Go vegetarian . . . or at least reduce your consumption of meat.
In our second episode this week, we ask you to imagine life without toilets. Unfortunately, 2.5 billion people don’t need to imagine this – it’s their daily reality.
AUDIO
Episode 11 : Climate Change, Hunger and Meat Consumption
Episode 12 : MDG #7 – Life without a Toilet
RESOURCES – Vegetarianism, Hunger & the Environment
The Guardian has run a series of articles on the subject, including:
- “Ten Ways Vegetarianism Can Help Save the Planet”
- “UN Says Eat Less Meat to Save the Environment”
- “Paul McCartney Backs ‘Meat Free Monday’ to Cut Carbon Emissions”
- “Can Vegetarians Save the World: A small town in Belgium has gone meat-free one day a week”
- “Day of the Lentil Burghers: Ghent goes veggie to lose weight and save planet”
More about the UN Report linking meat consumption to man-made climate change:
- UN News Centre: “Rearing Cattle Produces More Greenhouse Gases Than Driving Cars”
- ABC News: “Global Warming Culprits . . . Cows and Cars”
- The Independent: “Go Veggie to Fight Global Warming, says expert”
About the “Meat Free Mondays” Campaign:
- Meat Free Mondays (website)
- “Why Meat Free Mondays?” (video and text)
- “Goodlilfe’s Meat Free Mondays”
And if you’d like to meet more about vegetarianism or just meet and mingle with some vegetarians, check out theVegetarian Society (Singapore), Singapore Vegetarian Meetup Group, Veggie Singles and the magazine VegVibe. The Vegetarian Society also has a list of 500+ vegetarian restaurants in Singapore.
RESOURCES – Sanitation and Toilets
The best resource in town is a locally-grown international non-profit group — the World Toilet Organisation. The WTO’s site has more info as well about World Toilet Day and The Big Squat.
