Vegetarian Star

How does Treehugger.com‘s founder do his part to help the environment even though he’s not a full time vegan? He simply eats a vegetarian diet for the majority of the week.

This “Weekday Vegetarian” plan was first discussed at a TED conference in February 2010 and now Graham Hill has written a book on it and published it exclusively to Amazon Kindle.

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“Cute animals are treated better than uglier ones. What gives? It’s not like we’re sleeping with them. Most of us, anyway.”

–Graham Hill, founder of green site Treehugger.com and Weekday Vegetarianism, a flexitarian eating plan that only allows meat on the weekends.

Besides being “saved” in terms of adoptability at shelters and not ending up on the dinner plate, depending on the country’s culture, cute animals may also be hogging all the conservation dollars meant to save all threatened species. In the past, the cuter ones have received protection from more non-government organizations and more funds from the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

Slate discusses a paper in Human Biology by David Stokes that examined the cute traits of penguins and found small differences like a shading around the eyes determined what animal walked the cute and ugly line. Stokes suggested that conservationists take the “ugly” animals and focus on their cuter parts to draw attention to them and hopefullly, generate efforts and funds to protect the species.

Sounds like a good, simple idea. Let’s start practicing with one of the uglies. How many cute features can you find in the adorable Aye-Aye below?

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Time magazine is featuring a short article on the practice of flexitarians, or people who eat vegetarian sometimes, but not completely.

Green lifestyle website Treehugger‘s founder Graham Hill and his “Weekday Vegetarian” concept is discussed, as well as praise for the movement by people involved with animal rights like Animal Liberation author Peter Singer and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal’s president, Ingrid Newkirk.

“Absolute purists should be living in a cave,” says Newkirk. “Anybody who witnesses the suffering of animals and has a glimmer of hope of reducing that suffering can’t take the position that it’s all or nothing. We have to be pragmatic. Screw the principle.”

“The surge is due to a sense of a plateau,” Singer said. “You’ve already reached out to the base of strict vegetarians, and it’s hard to get beyond those numbers. People should go further, but it’s progress in the right direction.”

More at Time.

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In February of this year, Treehugger founder Graham Hill presented his idea for reducing your carbon footprint without giving up meat entirely, his Weekday Vegetarian Plan.

The green living website has now posted Hill’s speech from the 2010 TED conference.

Upset with the fact his lifestyle had more of an impact on the planet than the transportation industry, Hill wasn’t quite ready to go cold turkey (pun intended) and quit eating meat.

“Imagine your last hamburger,” he jokingly told the audience.

By eating vegetarian Monday through Friday and allowing himself to have meat on the weekends, Hill was able to ease his conscience without having his taste buds go through withdrawal.

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Meat eaters who will forgo the hamburger on most days and opt for the pasta with “wheat” balls are on the rise.

According to a new study discussed in The Mirror, record numbers of flexitarians, or people who eat vegetarian sometimes are forming.

Sales of  products such as fake meats have doubled over the last decade in the UK, according to the Vegetarian Society.

“The real growth area is in ‘meat reducers’ – those who haven’t given up meat completely but who are making a conscious effort to eat less of it,” said Su Taylor, a spokesperson for the company.

There are different ways to incorporate a part-time vegetarian lifestyle.

Treehugger founder Graham Hill follows a weekday vegetarian plan, while author Mark Bittman recommends a “vegan until 6″ deal.

Still, others eliminate some animal products entirely, like red meat and dairy, replacing them with plant based alternatives.

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kentgoldman on Flickr

Like many considering vegetarianism, for Graham Hill, founder of the environmental website Treehugger, the thought of the “last burger” was similar to what some pets might think about a visit to the veterinarian for spaying/neutering.

Instead of ignoring the environmental problems of eating meat and continuing to do so, he struck a deal with himself that allowed him lighten his impact with deprivation.

From his speech at a recent TED conference:

“Either you’re a meat-eater or you’re a vegetarian and I guess I just wasn’t ready. Imagine: Your last burger. So, my common sense and my good intentions clashed with my taste buds and lead me to commit to doing it “later”. And later never came. Sound familiar? I wondered “Could there be a 3rd option?” And I found one, and I ‘ve been doing it for the last year and it works. It’s called Weekday Vegetarian. And the name says it all. Nothing with a face during the week and on the weekends, your call.”

Weekday vegetarianism may find you keeping your promise to yourself and the earth easier, given the fact meals during the week are usually for work. Taking time to plan ahead for your lunches may force you to try new items, improving both your cooking skills and repertoire.

The old standard PB & J every day works just as well.

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kentgoldman on Flickr

Those of you who follow the religious sect known as treehugger.com know Graham Hill is the smart, environment lovin’ chap who founded the website for all the latest green news and information.

Although Graham isn’t a complete vegetarian, he flexes and calls himself a “weekday vegetarian,”-saving the bacon for Sunday brunch.

Eating vegetarian at least during the week is just one of the ways Graham recommends going greener.

He also shops at his local farmers’ market and buys organic produce.

And don’t worry, you big city dwellers, who think because you’re living the fast paced life, you’re being too rough on the planet.

Graham thinks cities are greener because more people use public transportation or bike and apartments are smaller, so there’s less room to fill up with useless junk. Plus, there’s a plethora of organic shops to frequent on every corner.

“You can find some weird vegan bakery, if you want to,” Hill said.

Before you run off to locate that vegan bakery with weirdos, read the rest of Graham’s feature story at the observer.com.

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