Saving Water—a Whole Lot of Water

Saving Water—a Whole Lot of Water

Do you run the faucet while you’re cooking a steak? Considering the amount of water that goes into meat production, even the amount that runs down the drain while you’re cooking a ribeye—or during the hours it takes to braise a pot roast—represents just a fraction of what went into raising the cow those cuts of beef came from. Producing half a pound of beef—the average amount an American consumes on a given day—uses 1,200 gallons of water. Nearly half of the water used in the United States goes toward raising livestock—an untenable amount, considering the increasingly common and severe droughts we’re experiencing.

(Photo: Getty Images; design: Lauren Wade)

The average American’s daily water usage is about 90 gallons, or 32,850 gallons per year. That doesn’t account for what goes toward raising the half pound of meat the average American eats on a daily basis. But by going meatless on Mondays for a full year, you can save more agricultural water usage than you consume in 12 months.

(Photo: Ryan McVay/Getty Images; design: Lauren Wade)

The American diet puts meat at the center of the plate, the steak or chop or chicken we eat the biggest portion in an unbalanced meal. The average American eats a half pound of meat a day—nearly twice the recommended serving. Skipping the animal protein on Mondays is a great way to get your diet back in check.

(Photo: Jeffrey Coolidge/Getty Images; design: Lauren Wade)

Did We Mention It's an Easy Way to Conserve Water?

Did We Mention It's an Easy Way to Conserve Water?

Could you go six months without taking a shower? What about not eating meat next Monday? The latter sounds far more manageable, yet the amount of water you’d save by skipping the animal protein—your average half-pound serving—is more than you would conserve by not showering for half a year.

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Eating Meat Helps Chew Up Our Natural Landscape

Eating Meat Helps Chew Up Our Natural Landscape

A lot of grain is grown in the United States, but little of it goes toward feeding people. Rather, it feeds our appetite for meat, fattening the livestock we consume. The demand for more animal feed has been devastating for natural habitats, giving farmers incentive to plow up forests to make way for more acres of corn and soy.

(Photo: Kevin Russ/Getty Images; design: Lauren Wade)