Group Advises Mayor That Going Vegan Is the Best Way to Help the Planet
For Immediate Release:
April 12, 2012
Contact:
Shakira Croce 202-483-7382
Green, Ohio -- PETA has sent a letter to Green, Ohio, Mayor Richard Norton asking him to change the city's name to "Meat's Not Green" for 24 hours in honor of Earth Day (April 22). PETA's request will bolster the city's "Living Green" campaign, which promotes Earth-friendly measures, including encouraging residents to use water-conserving rain barrels and buy locally grown food. PETA points out that in addition to causing health problems and animal suffering on a massive scale, raising animals for food is acknowledged as a leading cause of greenhouse-gas emissions, water pollution, and land degradation.
"'Meat's Not Green' is a catchy name that would encourage everyone to think about the ill effects of meat on the environment, animals, and their own arteries," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "After all, one of the best things that anyone can do to go 'green' is to go vegan."
With the letter, PETA included artwork showing a potential Interstate 77 sign that reads, "Meat's Not Green."
For more information, please visit PETA.org.
PETA's letter to Mayor Norton follows.
April 12, 2012
The Honorable Richard Norton
Mayor of Green
Dear Mayor Norton,
I am writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and our more than 3 million members and supporters, including thousands across Ohio, to suggest that we work together this Earth Day to promote sustainability, an issue that Green's citizens are passionate about. We propose that just for Earth Day (Sunday, April 22), Green temporarily change its name to "Meat's Not Green" so as to remind everyone that going vegan is one of the easiest and most effective ways to help the planet. As thanks, we would be happy to provide your next Living Green workshop with 100 delicious vegan meals free of charge.
The United Nations has made it clear that a global shift toward a vegan diet is necessary to combat the worst effects of climate change and that the meat industry is "one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global" including land degradation, air pollution, water pollution and loss of biodiversity. Researchers at the University of Chicago determined that switching to a vegan diet (no meat, eggs, or dairy products) is 50 percent more effective in countering climate change than switching from a standard American car to a hybrid. In addition, every vegan saves more than 100 animals a year from the routine abuses of the meat industry—such as confining mother pigs to cages so small they can't turn around and breeding and drugging chickens and turkeys to grow such unnaturally large upper bodies that their legs often become crippled under the weight.
We've attached a picture of what a new Interstate 77 sign might look like. Changing your name for the day would be a fun way to let everyone know that they can help save our planet by trying vegan foods. Please contact me to discuss this exciting collaboration. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely yours,
Tracy Reiman
Executive Vice President