I love small changes that have a big impact.
I'm sure you know the feeling of coming home from work, tired as usual after a long day. On top of it, you were stuck in the traffic. As you open the door you throw your handbag on the floor and the blazer over the chair while running into the kitchen. There you start to pack away the groceries you bought on the way home.
So, what are we eating tonight? Again something quick, just no time or energy for that recipe your friend gave you last weekend.
You're all sitting around the dinner table, but you are not attentive to your children the way you would like to be. Your husband is talking away about his day and you listen with half an ear.
After you cleared up in the kitchen, it's time for your well-deserved chill-out time in front of the TV.
You kick off your shoes, curl up on the sofa, and turn on the TV.
Again you are bombarded with crazy headlines, negative news, chaos, and uncertainty. That feeling of anxiousness is creeping up on you and you are scared about what's going on in the world. What's the world gonna look like for your children or your grandchildren for that matter?
Frustrated you change the channel only to land up with some reality show. No, not tonight, you turn the TV off, you want some peace. Why is that so difficult?
You get this feeling of guilt, what are you complaining about? You have it so good and have a high standard of living, and in Switzerland, everything is calm and peaceful. You think you are spoilt and you try to shake these uncomfortable feelings off.
What happens somewhere else, well, there is nothing you can do anyway. What can you do? You can't help that there is war in the world and that the oceans are dying. You do what you can, like changing lightbulbs and driving an electric car.
But you have a nagging feeling that there is more
I used to think that we have to do big things in life to be able to make a difference. Just think about Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, amongst
And who am I to be able to compete with them?
But I realized, about ten years ago, that we too have tremendous power to make a difference and a change. We can all become conscious and compassionate shoppers and help change the world to the better, one tiny purchase at a time.
We don't need to invest extra time, just make more conscious choices when we're doing our usual daily or weekly shopping.
And there are many easy ways to be a compassionate shopper. We can shop second-hand, buy less, and go vegetarian or vegan or all the above.
A wonderful place to start is reducing animal-based products and replacing them with plant-based alternatives. The organization Four Paws recommends people use the principle of the 3Rs: Reduce, Refine, Replace
Reduce consumption of items such as meat, milk, and egg.
If you buy products of animal origin, look for higher animal welfare production systems (for example, products which are free range, organic, or products with an animal welfare label)
Replace: Replace meat, dairy, and eggs with plant-based alternatives.
The impact you will have in the world is huge! In all areas of life; ethical, moral, environmental just to name a few.
Did you know that the water use for 1KG of meat is the same as if you have a shower for approximately 7 minutes
Or you can brag about saving 150 animal lives a year if you don't eat meat.
To produce 1 KG of meat you need 15 KG of grains. What? People are dying of starvation and malnutrition every day, up to 40'000 (UN Statistics) children!
Sorry to dish up these brutal facts. I can picture you reading this now, frowning, shaking your head in disbelief. I agree, it sounds, insane.
This is what Jean Ziegler, a former member of the Swiss National Council and UN Special Rapporteur, said on the right to food:
“The world‘s grain harvest is about 2 billion tons per year. Over 500,000,000 tons are fed to the cattle of the rich nations – while 43,000 children die of hunger in the 122 Third World countries every day according to UN statistics. I don’t want to participate in this horrible mass murder any longer: eating no meat is the minimum.”
Why didn't anyone tell me about this? Why is this not covered in the news? What happened in school?
Remember these steps next time you go shopping; reduce, refine and replace.
Every trip to the supermarket will feel like a contribution to easing world poverty and making the world a better place for everyone. You can truly make a difference by doing this yourself and by spreading the word. You can do this by making more conscious and compassionate everyday shopping choices.
You will feel like a million bucks knowing that you help reduce the environmental footprint and you help people and animals in a positive and ethical way.
Es gibt kein schöneres Gefühl als denen zu helfen, die sich selbst nicht helfen können. In „Posessing the Secret of Joy“ spricht die Autorin Alice Walker darüber, dass gegen Gewalt und Unterdrückung zu arbeiten das Geheimnis eines glücklichen Lebens ist.
There is not much that beats the feeling of helping those who cannot help themselves. In Possessing the Secret of Joy, the writer Alice Walker suggests that the secret of a joyful life is working against violence and oppression.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever does.” - Margaret Mead
Learn more about what creates world hunger, so you can be part of the solution:
https://www.ciwf.org.uk/media/3758836/Food-security-and-farm-animal-welfare-report.pdf
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/world-hunger-population-growth-ditching-meat/-meat/
