MEAT, FISH AND POULTRY

AS A VEGAN, THIS IS AN AWKWARD THING TO WRITE ABOUT

But my commitment to this project was to help others find ways to live with less plastic. To not include meat would be amiss.

The short answer is that many places now allow you to bring your own containers to their deli counters. Anywhere you go that sells meat and fish by weight, is worth trying. For the sake of accuracy, I have asked in all the local butchers near me, and all of them said they would be happy to do this. But I’ve heard anecdotally, that it’s less clear with supermarkets. Morrisons have made it official. Yes, you can BYO with them. Other places it’s more down to the whim of whoever serves you. You can also find plenty of processed options in the frozen (not chilled) sections.

The longer answer is more complicated. I’d imagine that if you have concerns around plastics, then it’s likely you care more broadly about the environment. In which case - if you’ll allow me a quick hop up onto my soap box - it’s worth considering these four things:

Discarded fishing gear makes up one third (!) of all ocean plastic. It causes immense suffering to the marine life that gets tangled up in it.
The toxic run-off - AKA manure - from animal farming is entering our waterways. It’s causing dramatic shifts in the PH of the ocean, resulting in enormous marine ‘dead zones’ where there isn’t enough oxygen to support life. WTF.
The methane released when cows burp is directly contributing to global warming. Sounds funny? It’s really not. Those burps contribute the same level of emissions as all transport combined. Yep, including shipping and aviation!
Every second (!) 1-2 acres of rainforest are cleared for grazing livestock or growing soya and corn for animal feed (not for vegans, as some cheeky rogues like to say). When trees ‘breathe’ it helps regulate our atmosphere by absorbing carbon dioxide and other emissions. This crazy deforestation is making a bad situation worse. And that’s before you factor in the small fact that up to 137 plant, animal and insect species are lost every day because of this needless destruction of their homes.

(I’ll get down now)

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