SPRING'19 ISSUE
What does it mean to be vegan? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines "vegan" as "a strict vegetarian who consumes no food (such as meat, eggs of dairy products) that comes from animals, also: one who abstains from using animal products (such as leather)." But is this all what it means to be vegan? Do you have to reject all animal products to be vegan?
I would bet that as soon as you read "vegan" in the title, the image that may come to your mind is that of a hippie, a granola bar, or a tree-hugger obsessed with their veganism...
This past year, wildfires have dominated the media. News reports and articles have published stories with dramatic scenes of flames devouring forestry and changing the lives of thousands. We keep brushing these fires aside as random acts of nature, as if we have no responsibility for the wildfires. But the fires that have burned through millions of acres in the United States and abroad are anything but natural disasters. We humans have caused these fires to keep reappearing - and if we don't take action soon - they're only going to keep happening...
In the mid-18th century, 800 million people inhabited the earth. Now, two hundred and fifty years later, 7.5 billion do. The United Nations predicts that there will be 9.7 billion humans by 2050. Many scientists believe the earth can only support up to 9 or 10 billion. This increase in population is due mostly to better medicines and greater food production, resulting in fewer deaths. Most people know that a growing population creates other challenges. But most people don't know that there exist simple solutions.
Of the many consequences of overpopulation, one stands out because we have the ability to ameliorate its negative effect on the earth. Did you know that the meat industry plays a leading role in greenhouse gas emissions?
One click and. a few days later, your Amazon order arrives. Before heading to science class or after buying a grill cookie, you conveniently walk less than 100 meters to open your P.O. Box, find a red slip, and line up for a purchase
that you'll forget about in a month. On a good day, there'll be no more than two Exonians lining up for packages. On a bad day, you'll have to wait with over thirty Exonians for just one package. Just one? No... many more. On 20th of January 2017, Amazon tweeted: "We grew from about 1000 orders per day, about four years ago, to 10-30,000 order per day now."
