Every year on December 1, millions of people around the world come together. Not so much in a literal sense, but more of a united front in which a dedication to raising awareness of one of the most destructive epidemics in recorded history is made.

AIDS has already claimed the lives of over 25 million people. Unfortunately, many people with HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) don’t even know they’re carrying it.

Fighting HIV/AIDS is a very important cause to me, having been one of the youngest members to serve on the Board of Directors of AIDS Alabama; I don’t personally know anyone with it, and I’d like to keep it that way.

Although there has been a lot of publicity about drug treatments which are prolonging some people’s lives, they don’t work for everyone and there is still no cure in sight. Moreover, young people are still becoming infected at alarmingly high rates. With no cure for AIDS, our only hope is prevention and in order to prevent, we must educate and raise awareness.

It’s up to each of us to take a stand against this epidemic, but first we must educate ourselves and get rid of the stigma surrounding those who are living with HIV/AIDS. It’s important that we keep talking about this issue because it’s not going away, yet thousands continue to die from this disease each day.

Post Title Download: Pink Floyd – “Keep Talking” from The Division Bell

With the release of Forbes’ list of 100 most powerful women, I was reminded of my Political Economy class in college where we discussed the impact women have on the world.

When you educate a woman, you educate a community.

Camfed, the Campaign for Female Education, is an international organization dedicated to eradicating poverty in Africa through the education of girls and empowerment of young women.

The following is a short film from Camfed featuring Mgata, a teacher-mentor in a school in rural Tanzania who sees it as her mission to help any girl who is on the verge of dropping out of school. Her goal: to provide them with social and financial support, enabling them to finish school and become leaders in their community.

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Kate Bush -- “This Woman’s Work” from This Sensual World

Take a good look at these young men because they’re part of a generation that’s going to change the world. Or, at the very least, your opinion of what a “black sport” is.

They are members of the Work to Ride program, a non-profit that provides disadvantaged urban youth from Philly with constructive activities centered around horsemanship, equine sports and education. In 1999, the Work to Ride polo team became the first black polo team in the nation. In 2005, the team won the Eastern Regional Interscholastic Polo tournament.

If you’re able, I implore you to make a donation to Work to Ride, which promotes discipline, self-esteem, motivation, social development, life skills, academic achievement and physical fitness—highly valuable characteristics in today’s society. If you can’t, please tell others about this great organization and these young individuals who are doing something productive in their pursuit for happiness and success.

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Mya – “Ridin’” from Liberation

I recall reading that if you care about the environment, you had better be a vegetarian. Why? Because meat consumption is one of the primary causes of environmental devastation, including the misuse of natural resources, the polluting of water and air and the destruction of rain forests.

I have been a lacto-ovo vegetarian for nearly eight years, and never once had I considered myself an environmentalist because of it. That is until I began researching the benefits of a vegetarian diet – not only for myself, but also for the environment.

With environmental concerns like climate change on everyone’s mind lately, people may not realize that if they want to do something to help our planet, they can simply try not to eat meat.

According to Newsweek, each cow requires enough water from birth to slaughter that “the water that goes into a 1,000 pound steer would float a Naval destroyer.” A major 2006 report by the United Nations said raising animals for food is “one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems at every scale from local to global.”

More water is used by the animal production industry in the U.S. than by all other industries combined. According to John Robbins in The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and the World, over 50 percent of all water consumed in the U.S. is used for animal agriculture, most of which is used to irrigate land growing feed for livestock, especially cattle.

According to Newsweek, each cow requires enough water from birth to slaughter that “the water that goes into a 1,000 pound steer would float a Naval destroyer.”¹ Robbins adds that you save more water by not eating a pound of beef than you do by not showering for an entire year.

It’s not just water you can help conserve; think of all the land and energy you can save, too. Every minute, an area of rainforest the size of seven football fields is destroyed to make room for grazing cattle, and more than one-third of all raw materials and fossil fuels currently used in the U.S. go to raising animals for food.

According to a report by the National Resources Defense Council and the Clean Water Network, the pollution from animal waste causes respiratory problems, skin infections, nausea, depression and even death for people who live near factory farms.

In December 1997, the Senate Agricultural Committee released a report stating animals raised for food in the U.S. produce 130 times as much excrement as the human population – five tons for every person in the United States.² Since factory farms do not have sewage treatment systems as our cities and towns do, this ends up polluting our water, destroying our topsoil and contaminating our air.

Animal waste is not the only thing making us sick, though. According to the American Dietetic Association, vegetarians often live longer and suffer less from chronic diseases, and they are less at risk from degenerative diseases, including kidney diseases and diabetes.

According to the Worldwatch Institute, “Dr. Colin Campbell of Cornell University, who headed the China Health Project, conservatively estimates that excessive meat consumption is responsible for between $60 and $120 billion of health care costs each year in the United States alone.”

With that in mind, it is easier than ever to consider giving up meat for good. Trying a vegetarian lifestyle does not mean you have to opt for a salad or a piece of fruit. Meatless burger crumbles, faux deli slices and chicken-free nuggets in addition to other man-made “meats” and meat products can be found in grocery stores everywhere.

Perhaps you’re interested in learning more about vegetarianism. PETA offers a colorful vegetarian starter kit packed full of recipes, tips on making the switch and much more. The Vegetarian Resource Group is also a great resource for more information.

In honor of Earth Day, I would like to remind you that considering a vegetarian diet is not only good for your health, it’s also good for the planet.

As Albert Einstein said, “Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.”

References:
1. “The Browning of America”, Newsweek, February 22, 1981, p.26.
2. U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, “Animal Waste Pollution in America: An Emerging National Problem,” Dec. 1997.