Eat greens to be green

Can't let October 1st pass without marking that this is

» READ MORE: World Vegetarian Day.

It's a good occasion to try doing without meat for a day.

I know, I know, a little late now, right? But here's the great thing - it's also the start of Vegetarian Awareness Month, so you can take advantage of the occasion any time over the next thirty days!

What does going without meat have to do with going Green, you may ask? Isn't that just for animal lovers and health nuts? Well, in fact just within the past two years, meat's role in climate change has been quantified more thoroughly than ever before, and it's pretty big: In 2006 the United Nations released a report showing that worldwide,

» READ MORE: livestock produce more greenhouse gases than planes, trains and automobiles

. Other studies teased out different aspects of this - a team at the University of Chicago found eliminating meat to be

» READ MORE: environmentally equivalent to switching from a standard to a hybrid car,

and another study at Carnegie Melon found that it's

» READ MORE: more eco-friendly to eat plants that travel a long distance

than to eat locally-produced meat.

Obviously very few people are going to find out these facts and suddenly turn vegetarian - but almost all experts agree that those of us in rich countries must start cutting down meat consumption, and some scientists have even suggested the problem is so advanced that

» READ MORE: meat rationing is the only way to save the planet.

Before it gets to that point, though, try a few

» READ MORE: Meatless Mondays

or

» READ MORE: Tofurky Tuesdays

. Vegetarian meals, after all, can be enjoyed by those of any persuasion.