Pure air, fresh water
and nutrient-rich soil.
Vast oceans, mighty rivers
and ancient forests.
These are but some
of the life-sustaining
natural resources
from Mother Earth
that nourishes all beings.
Today,
eco-conscious viewers,
in honor of Earth Day
on April 22, Planet Earth:
Our Loving Home
will address
the seven best ways
to save our precious
planetary home.
With glaciers dwindling,
rising sea levels,
turbulent weather,
species extinction,
ocean dead zones
and drying rivers,
our Earth and all her
inhabitants are in danger
from the catastrophic
effects of climate change.
So what is
the single most effective,
efficient and fastest way
to save our planet?
#1 ORGANIC VEGAN
LIFESTYLE
As Supreme Master
Ching Hai
explained during
a live videoconference
in Frankfurt, Germany
on October 18, 2009:
even though
our predicament is
very grave, we do still
have time if we act now.
And the solution is
still very simple.
Well, you know it, right?
It’s the vegan diet –
no animal products.
No more killing,
no more torturing,
no more even
experimenting
with animals,
no more raising animals
for meat or any other
purposes, except
to protect, love, and
take care of the animals.
This is the key.
If everyone switches to
this beneficial lifestyle,
our planet will be cooled
in no time,
scientifically speaking
and my promise.
“Livestock’s Long Shadow”
a report released in 2006
by the Food and
Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations
revealed that
livestock raising
produces more
greenhouse gas emissions
than all transportation
in the world combined.
Half of the United States’
water consumption
is wasted
on livestock production,
which also pollutes
our air and waterways.
Any way we approach it,
meat is not green
and experts from
around the world concur.
There are many things
that people can do
to reduce
their carbon emissions,
but changing
your light bulb and
many of the things are
much less effective than
changing your diet
because if you eat further
down on the food chain
rather than animals,
which have produced
many greenhouse gases,
and used much energy
in the process of
growing that meat,
you can actually make
a bigger contribution
in that way
than just about anything.
Methane is a danger
that must be combated by
the change of our lifestyle,
especially what
we put (into) ourselves
in the form of food and it
is not just vegetarianism,
it’s organic
vegetarianism
to save the soil.
Essentially, a complete
shift by humanity
to organic veganism
is imperative
for the sustainability
of the ecosphere.
The benefits
of organic farming
are numerous,
including higher yields,
no pollution from
chemicals and pesticides,
and the soil effectively
serving as a carbon sink.
If we were to move
agriculture to organic
ecological farming,
we could reduce
climate change emissions
by 25% while
protecting the farmers,
while protecting
biodiversity, and while
protecting our health.
By adopting
a plant-based diet and
supporting organic farming,
each person
can drastically reduce
their ecological footprint
and benefit
our beautiful planet.
#2 SUSTAINABLE LIVING
As minister of water
it is my responsibility
to talk to everybody
around the globe.
“Save water;
every drop counts.”
I thank you!
Sustainable and green
living is another way to
help preserve our planet.
This encompasses a shift
in consciousness to be
more ecologically aware
of the decisions we make
in our everyday lives.
Simple actions
we can take include using
energy-efficient light bulbs,
recycling, and
being more frugal.
Don’t use the car
if you don’t have to really.
Don’t leave lights on.
You get
a low-flow shower head;
if you are going to put
in a new toilet, make sure
that it is a low-flush toilet.
Simply turn off
the shower sooner;
don’t take a long shower.
Don’t let the water run
when you are brushing
your teeth, etc., etc.
Certainly don’t hose off
your driveway
or your walkway
or anything like that.
Use a broom.
So, we need to save water,
we need to put in
grey water systems.
Live simply so that
others may simply live.
Save the water
and save the planet!
Save the water!
Save the Earth!
With recent research
demonstrating that
more than 51%
of human-caused
greenhouse gas emissions
result from the production
and consumption cycle
for animal products,
it is evident
that while certainly
small conservation steps
add up, the most
sustainable living practice
is definitely that of
an organic vegan lifestyle.
Start
changing our lifestyles
so that the people can see
that we can still have
a good quality of life
while walking to work.
Or while
eating vegetarian meals
rather than meat.
So there’s a lot of things
that we can start doing.
#3 GREEN
TECHNOLOGY
Green technology
continues to advance
with the ingenuity
of scientists helping a
wide range of industries
become more efficient
and sustainable.
Examples of progress made
include electric cars,
greener buildings,
and energy efficient
computers and servers.
Clean energy sources
such as wind, solar,
and geothermal power
are increasingly
being used worldwide
and supplanting fossil
fuel-based energy supplies.
I am happy
to inform this Forum
that Tuvalu has officially
announced its vision
that we’ll become
100 percent dependent on
clean energy by 2020.
Tuvalu’s energy policy
clearly reflects this mission.
This (policy)
is particularly focused on
electricity generation.
The vision was due to
a continuous concern
about the effects
of global warming
on our very existence.
Approximately 37% of
human-caused methane,
a potent greenhouse gas
that has a warming
potential 72 times
that of carbon dioxide
over a 20-year period,
is due to
the livestock industry.
Although every day
progress is being made,
there has yet to be an
invention that is as effective
in minimizing
greenhouse gas emissions
as a switch
to an organic vegan diet.
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television
for more ways
to save our environment
here on Planet Earth:
Our Loving Home.
I drive a hybrid car,
I recycle, and
I wear organic cotton.
I do everything I possibly
can to support the planet.
The number one thing I do
to support the planet
that saves
more carbon and trees
than any possible thing
is being a vegan.
What I think the solution
really should be (is)
simply doing
without animal products.
That is a climate-friendly
thing to do.
It is what everyone
who considers themselves
to be an environmentalist
should be doing.
An animal deserves
respect.
Eat less meat, it will be
better for you,
it will be better
for the environment
and it will be better
for the animals.
Thank you for joining us
again for Planet Earth:
Our Loving Home.
The green trend
is picking up
around the world,
with many governments
and celebrities promoting
the eco-message through
their noble examples.
Especially notable
are public figures
who are vegetarian
or vegan and advocate
this greenest of all solutions,
including actors
Alicia Silverstone,
Tobey Maguire
and Barbie Hsu,
NBA basketball champion
John Salley,
television show host
Ellen DeGeneres, chair
of the United Nations
Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change
Dr. Rajendra Pachauri,
US Congressman
Dennis Kucinich,
television journalist
Jane Velez-Mitchell,
musical artists
Jason Mraz and Moby,
attorney and CNN
legal analyst Lisa Bloom,
author Jonathan Safran Foer
and supermodel
Petra Němcová,
to name just a few.
In addition to being
an organic vegan,
practicing
sustainable living and
using green technology,
what are some of
the other things we can do
to save our planet?
Rounding out
our Earth Day 2010
top seven list on ways to
protect our environment is:
#4 SPREAD
THE VEG MESSAGE
For those who understand
the importance
and the necessity
of an organic vegan diet
as the solution to reversing
the detrimental effects
of climate change
on our Earth, it is crucial
that this information
is shared with family,
friends, and especially
governments, media and
schools, as they can assist
in implementing
veg policies and
raising the awareness
of the public at large.
I think
the most important thing
we can do is to start
this information about
the dangers of meat,
as well as the benefits
of fresh fruits
and vegetables,
and put in into a
very comprehensible and
easy-to-understand form.
Our message should
be one of love,
of radical inclusion,
of compassion, of peace
and that's how we create
a better, more peaceful
world is by everything
that we do, being an
expression of that peace.
In addition to
flyer distribution and
other grassroots efforts,
the veg message can also
be effectively promoted
by opening
animal-free businesses
like vegan restaurants,
hotels, bakeries, and so on.
#5 PLANT TREES &
ORGANIC GARDENS
Dr. Martin Luther King
said, “If the world
is ending tomorrow,
I will still plant a tree
today.”
One of the noblest things
we can do
is to plant trees
because trees are much
bigger than ourselves.
They affect
the whole ecosystem.
They provide fresh oxygen
and stabilize the soil.
Since 1970,
more than 80 percent
of the Amazon rainforest
cleared has been due to
livestock raising.
By adopting
the organic vegan diet,
we can stop
the destruction of
our precious remaining
ancient forests.
In addition to planting trees,
we can plant our own
organic vegetable garden
to supply ourselves
with nutritious,
locally grown produce,
thereby leading the
greenest of green lifestyles.
#6 DO GOOD DEEDS
The world’s major
religions all emphasize
the principle of
“as you sow,
so shall you reap” or
karmic retribution, where
kindness begets kindness.
Give your wealth.
Give your fortune.
Help the world.
Share with the people
who are in need.
We are all vegetarian,
if we decide
to help everybody,
like our relative, like
a member of the family,
I guarantee you that it
would be a better world.
to be balanced, to be kind,
to be at peace, to be
at peace with yourself
first and when you are,
then you will be positive.
By doing good deeds
in all aspects of our lives
from choosing
a compassionate diet to
helping our environment,
we are at our best
in carrying out our
stewardship of nature and
our animal co-inhabitants.
#7 MEDITATE/PRAY
Through meditation and
prayers, we can connect
with our inner divinity
and be guided
onto the best path to live
in harmony with nature.
I think the basic message
from God is that there
should be a balance
and a harmony, and that
harmony has been offset
because of
our shortsightedness,
and that we have
a responsibility
to handle together.
The first level is the level
of individual behavior,
of the group
and of the community,
and a second level
is the level
of political and economic
decision-makers.
And the spiritual,
the religious can bring
a bonus to the change
in behavior, and to a new
orientation of political
and economic strategies.
I pray day and night that
the divine manifest
in the physical realm
and wake up the leaders
of our nations, wake up
the religious heads,
wake up everybody
in time so that they
understand the urgency
of our situation,
and that they understand
the solution of solving
this dangerous crisis
that is facing us.
That is, we have to
turn back to our caring
and compassionate nature
inside our heart.
That’s very simple.
We are that.
We are compassion.
We are merciful,
we are caring.
So, we just
have been cheated.
We have been
misinformed up to now,
so we did not know it.
Being vegan worldwide
is the advancement
of compassion that
will uplift and unify
all cultures,
bringing tranquility to
humans and animals alike.
The inner peace that
comes from
replacing killing with
respect for all life
will spread like a wave
across the globe,
elevate human hearts, and
create a harmonious Eden
on Earth.
That will bring us all
to a lasting Golden Era.
May our sincere prayers
and Earth-protecting
measures invoke
Heaven’s mercy to
save our beautiful planet.
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television for
Enlightening Entertainment,
after Noteworthy News.
Let us all act in ways that
reflect our consideration
and care of our
life-sustaining planet
and all her inhabitants on
Earth Day and every day.
The best thing
that you can do if you
want to really connect
the dots and protect
the environment,
which will also protect
yourself and your family
and your loved ones,
is to adopt a vegan diet.
one person
can make a difference,
and together
we’ll make real change.
Be Veg,
Go Green,
Save the Planet.
Thank you.
“A Dog’s Tale,” written
by acclaimed writer,
humanitarian and
outspoken animal
advocate Mark Twain
of the United States, tells
the story of a loyal canine,
Aileen Mavourneen
and her unwavering trust
of her human companions.
My father was
a St. Bernard,
my mother was a collie,
but I am a Presbyterian.
It is a heart-wrenching
tale with a lesson
for us all.
Be sure to watch part 1,
Saturday, April 24,
on Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants.