Researchers have linked dietary data from over 55,000 individuals with data on the environmental impacts of the foods they eat. The team, from the Livestock, Environment and People (LEAP) project at the University of Oxford, found that the dietary impacts of vegans were around a third of those of high meat eaters. They also saw a 30% difference between high- and low-meat diets for most of the measures of environmental harm.
I don’t eat meat. But that’s beside the point.
There’s a difference between one person doing something and 10% of the population doing it. The latter would have a meaningful impact, but the former would not.
And the key part of my point is the average individual cannot make 10% of the population do anything.
If 10% of the population are vegetarians, it has nothing to do with what any single person did. A single person is almost always powerless to affect the world.
I have not power over 10%, like you said. But have the power over me, and my choices and for what I want to be responsible. 10% is just 800.000 single persons making a choice and not hiding from responsibility.
It is not going away and will only be more urgent and more visible. You don’t have to do it alone if you want to have more impact. Join groups and organizations, go out and protest. If you want change it does not have to stop at your plate. Go out and talk to people about why you are vegan, be the change you want to see.