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WHY GO GREEN?

This page contains links to external websites. Thank you to Alvaro Guardiola for creating this.

Why go plant-based/vegan?


1. Deforestation

91% of Amazon destruction comes from animal agriculture. Farmers set fire to large areas of rainforest to make space for growing crops in order to feed animals raised for food.


2. Destruction of Marine Life

Industrial fishing does most of the damage. 46% of the total debris in the Great Pacific Plastic Patch is made up of fishing nets. For 1 kg of fish caught by fishing ships, there’s 11 kg of unintended marine species (turtles, dolphins, seal, etc).


3. Pollution of Waterways

Animal waste has high contents of nitrogen and phosphorus. Runoff from animal waste has created over 500 “dead zones” which equates to 250,00 km2 of lifeless water.


4. Global Warming

1 kg of lamb or beef causes more greenhouse gas emissions than a passenger flight from London to New York. By going vegan for a month, you would not only save 30 animal lives, but also 620 pounds of harmful carbon dioxide emissions, 913 square feet of forest, and 33,481 gallons of water.

5. Ethics

In a post-scarcity world, we now have the ability to have a full balanced diet without the need to cause suffering to animals. With so much delicious vegan food available, are animal products really worth the suffering they cause? Watch this and decide yourself!

6. Health

If done well, a vegan diet can be much healthier than a diet with animal products! See here for some additional info, in movie form! 

Why go Green?: Academics

ETHICAL RESOURCES

BANKS

Why switch banks?

Most big banks (including but not limited to Barclays, NatWest, RBS, Bank of Scotland, Santander, Lloyds, HSBC…) invest heavily in fossil fuels and the arms trade, which is deeply unethical. By switching to an ethical bank, you are divesting your money away from these destructive practices!


Where to switch?

There are several online resources that rank your bank and give you better alternatives, such as the ones below:

Ranking of Banks

What's your banks rating?

How are banks scored?

Although they don’t all 100% agree with each other, we have compiled a few banks that tend to get a good score and are easy to switch/use in the table below. These are not the only options though so feel free to switch to another ethical bank if you prefer!


What if I can’t switch right now? What if I’m already on an ethical bank?

Most ethical banks will help you switch even if circumstances aren’t the best! Even if your circumstances mean you can’t switch right now, you can always apply for the Ecosia free debit card which plants trees as you use it!

Some ethical current accounts

Monzo

Co-op Bank

Nationwide



Some ethical savings accounts

Ecology Building Society

Triodos

ENERGY PROVIDERS

Why switch energy providers?

Many of the bigger energy providers (including Scottish Power, EDF, Eon, SSE...) are far from being 100% renewable. Switching energy providers is often relatively easy. 

If you’re a tenant and pay your bills directly, it is your right to choose which energy provider to use: How to Switch Energy Suppliers

In addition, non-green providers aren’t the cheapest options either! In a ranking which doesn’t even take into account the eco creds of the provider, green providers end up on top anyway: Energy Company Ratings


Wondering how to switch?

This online resource helps you choose a better energy provider in addition to an ethical bank. 

Get £50 off by switching to Bulb Energy with this link!

FASHION

Fast fashion is cheap, trendy clothing produced at high speed and low cost to meet consumer demand. It’s based on the toxic idea that outfits should be worn once and that you need to constantly buy new clothes to keep up with trends. Fast fashion retailers include online stores such as Boohoo, Missguided, Pretty Little Thing and Asos, as well as ‘affordable’ high street stores such as Topshop, H&M, Urban Outfitters and Zara.


Check out Glasgow Uni Fashion Revolution for more information about the issues surrounding fashion culture and tips on how to shop for clothes more sustainably and ethically.


You can also see our "How to Sew" page to figure out how to prolong the life of your clothes! 



Why give up fast fashion?


1. Unsustainable

The world now consumes 80 billion pieces of clothing every year. In the UK alone, 13 million items of clothing are sent to landfill every week. 


2. Climate Change

The fashion industry accounts for 10% of all global emissions and uses around 1.5 trillion litres of water annually. 75% of all clothing also contains cotton which requires enormous quantities of water and pesticides in developing countries. This results in risks of drought and creates huge amounts of stress on water basins, as well as competition for resources among local communities.


3. Water Pollution

Fast fashion uses cheap, toxic textile dyes—making the fashion industry the second largest polluter of clean water globally after agriculture. Polyester is one of the most popular fabrics. It is derived from fossil fuels, contributes to global warming, and can shed microfibres that add to the increasing levels of plastic in our oceans when it’s put through the wash.


4. Greenwashing

Many fast fashion brands have latched on to the growing trend in sustainability and are marketing their clothes as sustainable. Despite these performative claims these brands are often only making minimum efforts to make some changes, while the majority of their practices are unsustainable and unethical. H&M for example introduced a ‘recycling programme’ that claims to turn your old clothes into new ones, but in fact less than 25% of those clothes are recycled and the rest end up in landfill. 


5. Ethics

Fast fashion garment workers often work under horrific conditions. They have been found to work in dangerous environments, for low wages, and without basic human rights. Garment workers are also mainly women and people of colour. In just four days, top fashion CEOs earn a garment worker’s lifetime pay. Further down the supply chain, there are the farmers who may work with toxic chemicals that can have devastating impacts on their physical and mental health. 

Why go Green?: List
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