TOMORROW many people will strike to raise awareness of the climate crisis and encourage governments to take action to tackle it.

While this is a worthwhile endeavour, there’s no need to wait for a special date to commit to saving the planet. If you truly want to combat climate change, you can start today by removing meat, eggs, and dairy from your shopping list.

Each year, humans kill 60 billion land animals for food – that’s almost seven million every hour.

All of these animals produce massive amounts of waste, which releases powerful greenhouse gases into our atmosphere.

Animal agriculture is the single largest source of both methane and nitrous oxide, greenhouses gases that are 25 and 300 times more potent at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, respectively.

A person who follows a vegan lifestyle produces the equivalent of 50 per cent less carbon dioxide than a meat eater and uses 1/11th of the oil, 1/13th of the water, and 1/18th of the land.

That’s why the United Nations has stated that a global shift towards a vegan diet is essential to combat the worst effects of climate change, and research from the University of Oxford has found that going vegan is “the single biggest way” to reduce our environmental impact.

So by all means, take part in the strike for the climate – but remember that change starts on your plate and choose planet- and animal-friendly vegan meals.

Sascha Camilli, Peta Foundation