What’s better for the planet: Going vegan or going solar?
When salespeople knocked on my door a year ago attempting to sell me solar panels, I declined, explaining that I couldn’t afford them and that I was already doing my part to combat the climate catastrophe by being vegan. But when they asked if I’d be open to hearing more information, I agreed, mostly out of curiosity. Six months later, I had solar panels installed on my home.
Although I’m glad I did, I stand by my original statement that the best way to protect the planet—as well as help animals, improve your own health and save money—is by being vegan.
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I don’t discourage anyone from going solar if they’re given the opportunity, but if you look at the big picture, going vegan—as I did 32 years ago—has a much greater positive impact.
I recently received an e-mail from the company that provides my solar panels, notifying me that in 2023 my system had produced 5,500 kWh of electricity, which is “equivalent to offsetting the same amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as 5 acres of forest in one year.”
My solar app, however, states that my panels generated roughly 6,500 kWh of power, enough to prevent the carbon dioxide emissions of 5,064 pounds of coal, 188 cylinders of home-barbecue propane and 517 gallons of gas.
It’s impressive either way. But I was more impressed when I learned that University of Oxford researchers had found that vegans are responsible for about 75% less greenhouse gas, water pollution and land use than people who eat meat and other animal-derived foods. They also found that vegans help conserve water and prevent habitat destruction and wildlife extinction simply by not consuming meat, eggs and dairy.
Vegans also spare thinking, feeling animals horrific pain and suffering. It’s estimated that each vegan saves the lives of nearly 200 fish, chickens, pigs, cows and other animals every year.
You can’t say that about solar panels!
Being vegan also has health benefits that installing solar panels obviously can’t match. Eating foods that come from plants, rather than from animals, reduces one’s risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other health problems. And vegan foods have never caused a pandemic, but confining and killing chickens, pigs and other animals leads to the spread of pathogens, including coronaviruses, that cause animal-borne illnesses such as bird flu and swine flu.
Those are important reasons to go vegan—regardless of whether you have solar panels or not. Of course, with money on almost everyone’s mind, the tax rebate for getting solar panels is worth considering. And the solar company’s sales reps assured me that going solar would reduce my electric bill, although I probably wouldn’t see the savings for a year or two.
Two years? Being vegan saves me money every time I go grocery shopping. A recent study by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine found that people who go vegan cut their food bill by 16%. On average, they save $500 per year just by ditching meat, cheese and other animal-based foods. And if you factor in the money vegans likely save by not spending it on statins, blood pressure pills or other medical expenses incurred due to conditions caused by eating fatty, cholesterol-laden animal-derived foods, going vegan is downright economical.
