I don’t eat meat, but it’s a pretty unpopular position to take to say ‘Be vegetarian or vegan or life on Earth will cease to exist.’ So even progressive organisations simply say ‘Eat less meat’. In a world with 9 billion or 12 billion people, eating less meat (and indeed everything) won’t save the planet. But we also don’t see prominent organisations protesting procreation.

It’s a tough one, man. I’m all for lessening the impact on the poor in developing nations in the interim, because I see the Earth shrugging us off like a bad flu (along with the rest of the creatures) and starting anew. And that may not be such a bad thing.

At the end of the day, we all have a sphere of influence. I believe the best way we can make an impact is through living as an example (being the change we want to see), rather than crying out against others actions when we know we’re imperfect ourselves.

Best,
Joe

I understand and respect you position. We should all work on our own impacts!

However, I do think that never daring to speak out when there is wrong being done for fear we are being culturally insensitive will mean that we will lose many species.

The guerrillas are going under in Uganda, the rainforest is being cut down in Brazil and the orang-utan in Indonesia. If we just focus on our own cultures we can kiss good bye to them.

We are one planet and frankly national boundaries don’t interest me much. It is up to us to act now.

A bit of debate: I shy away from tackling other cultures on their unsustainable actions. I understand that in many respects, the decreasing shark population represents a serious and potentially imminent threat. But I’ve been guilty of fueling the meat industry and predominantly the factory farming industry through my meat consumption up to last year. I drove a car up to 4 years ago. And some of the clothing I buy is still made in sweatshops by little kids. So I find it very hard to take on something like shark fin soup when so much of what is happening in my own culture and indeed in my own sphere of influence (through the grid provided electricity in my house, the way my water pipes are set up, and the way the tasty beverages I like to buy are packaged) has negative effects and knock-on consequences. I always think it’s best to clean up the backyard before treading further afield.

That being said, I make an effort in my own life to reduce my impact as much as I can in a society where impact is dictated to a large extent by the broader systems that are already in place. I also try to change those systems through my professional work. I mean, the average Chinese person has an eco-footprint equivalent to 1.2 planets and my Australian-American impact is closer to 5 on average (though personally 1.8 according to a footprint calculator). So plenty for me to focus on internally before setting my sights on the old shark fin soup.

But I do appreciate the message you are sending out and what you are trying to do with the campaign.