Vegan Sustainability Magazine - Autumn 2015

Welcome to issue #2 of
!
Dear Readers,
You will notice that a theme that is running
through our current issue is that of climate change.
As the world waits in anticipation of the next climate
summit in Paris in December, one cannot but
be fearful that it will not deliver what is necessary
in order to avert the environmental catastrophes
that await us unless we act now. The world is
heating up. We are currently on track to far exceed
a temperature increase of 2°C, beyond which
global warming will move us past some irreversible
environmental tipping points.
Worse still is the fact that governments, as
well as environmental organisations, remain silent
about the enormous contribution of animal agriculture
to the conditions that bring about climate
change – primarily, the emission of greenhouse
gases such as methane. A switch to a plant-based
diet by large swathes of the population would have
the effect of reversing this damage far more
quickly than measures to reduce CO 2 emissions
such as driving fewer cars, for example. Switching
to plant-based diets would also mean that large
areas of land, currently being used by livestock,
could be given over to forestry – a measure which
would mitigate even further the harmful effects of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
On top of all this, we have climate sceptics in
positions of power who say that climate change is
not real. They are doing irreparable damage, not
just from their inaction in government, but by giving
people the impression that nothing is wrong
and that they can simply continue with business as
usual. It is clear that there are powerful vested interests
at work.
In addition to switching to a plant-based diet,
we have many green and renewable sources of energy
at our disposal – both here in Ireland and
elsewhere – and we look at how we could make
the switch to these cleaner and more plentiful energy
sources on page 34. We also look at the idea
of giving rights to nature. This has the potential to
protect animals as well as the environment.
With the summer holiday season now coming
to an end, how have vegans fared on their holidays
abroad? Three vegans tell of their experiences.
Ireland’s first vegan festival is taking place this
November and the newest member of our team,
Moldovan TV and newspaper journalist, Tanya
Scutari, has an interview with the event organiser.
We look at an old idea which is now coming
back into use – ‘the commons’. This is the sharing
and management of the resources that should be
available to all of us such as land, water and air. It
also refers to projects in which people work together
voluntarily without payment, or when they
create something that they make freely available to
all.
Why would any of us want to make changes
in our lives unless they had the potential to make
us happier? With this in mind, we review a documentary
by Helena Norberg-Hodge which discusses
the issues around globalisation and looks at
ways in which we can be happier, healthier and
live more meaningful lives by choosing the ‘local’
option.
The shadow of the TTIP still looms before us
here in Europe and we look at the issues that are
involved on page 38. We also have articles on
wild herbs, soap making, recipes, courses, book
and movie reviews and more.
We hope you enjoy reading!
The Editorial Team
For a list and description of each member of our
editorial team, please click here.
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