The Ultimate Drought Hack: Use Less Water, Eat More Beef
If you’re living through a drought, conserving water is easy—there are so many ways to choose from! Dig up the lawn! Skip showers! Change how you wash the dishes!
Yet for all your efforts, your vegetarian and vegan friends are bound to self-righteously inform you that the easiest way to drastically reduce the amount of water you use is to stop eating meat.
Thankfully, the folks behind the Skip Showers for Beef campaign and Funny or Die have provided us with a video's worth of drought hacks. Letting your lawn go brown (sorry…gold)? HA! You really ought to be bathing in tomato soup. Turning off the faucet while you brush teeth or shave? Pathetic! You need to start kipping shaving, brushing teeth, flushing the toilet, and attending to any semblance of personal hygiene. That way you don't need to worry about all the water that goes into your meat.
So, Why Should You Care? Estimates of how many gallons of water go into raising a steak vary widely, but according to ecological research group the Pacific Institute, the alfalfa and irrigated pasture that California cattle rely on suck up 2.7 trillion gallons of water a year, which is about enough to supply every family in the state for four years. Which is to say, if you want to cut back on your personal water consumption enough to justify eating all of the beef you desire, it’s going to take more than just skipping a couple of showers.
You can do it—you can save enough water to justify eating beef for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Even if it means you end up living in your car (with colon cancer and heart disease), it’ll be worth it.
Related stories on TakePart:
• Roast Chicken or 208 Minutes in the Shower—Your Call, Water Hog
• 34 Surprising Facts You Need to Know About California's Drought
Original article from TakePart
