Luckily, I’ve found just the man.

Israel over at Fatman Unleashed was ahead of the game on this one. He weighed in on the subject last month with this post  ‘Fat People Cause Global Warming: Fat Isn’t Very Green.’ 

Lately, we have noticed an increasing push for “going green.” We have seen changes in everything from transportation to food preparation to the internet. This got me thinking about how I could make my life greener. My immediate realization was that I was a walking global warming vessel. I’m fat. Being fat can’t be very green. Can it? We need to reduce our emissions of heat-trapping gases and learn how to use energy more efficiently.

Think about it. I’m overweight and require an above average usage of certain environmentally non-friendly things. Like what, you ask? Well, how about showering…? Being fat makes me take longer in the shower, using up more water than I should be using. So I waste water even though I make a conscious effort to “speed up” my showers. Another waste is toilet usage. I take, um, pretty big dumps and need more than one flush. I also use a lot of wipes to clean up. Don’t even get me started on my frequent urination due to all the water and green tea I consume. That equals quite a large amount of flushing per day.

Another way that being fat, or unhealthy, isn’t green is all the crap that gets consumed. I try to be as healthy as possible, but I do have my weaknesses. There are folks that eat out day after day after day. What do you think this does to the environment? That extra bag that was used to pack those 3 double cheeseburgers doesn’t just evaporate into thin air ya know. And the process of creating those burger wrappers doesn’t help either, factories and plants are needed for the creation of all of this.

How else can being fat not be very green? Clothes! Have you seen the amount of fabric needed to create some of the clothes that overweight people wear? I know you have. It’s all over television with the “I lost X amount of pounds” commercials. Think of what it takes to make that 5XL t-shirt. Think. What about all the washing that is needed for those large clothes? The water, the detergent, the softener, the dryer time…talk about endless loads of clothes.

If you’re fat you’re probably a notorious waster of electricity and gas too. It can be either watching too much television, having the air conditioning on a lot, or driving to that nearest fast food joint to pick up a “snack.” The heavier you are the more gas your car needs to carry you around. Fat = heavy = more gas needed. It’s simple math.

I’m not saying that being fat is causing global warming (need some research and scientific proof for this), but I can assure you that being fat isn’t very environmentally friendly.

(originally posted at Fatman Unleashed. Re-posted on Healthbolt with permission.)

Wow! Thanks Israel for sharing.

Anyone else want to weigh in?

We can provide the forum – you provide the words.

Meanwhile, I’m not done with this topic. Next week I move on to ‘The Skinny on Global Warming’.

Post from: Healthbolt

So is there merit to this hypothesis or is it just one more way of laying a guilt trip on those who are overweight?

Let’s look at the facts.

This recent discussion relating obesity to global warming started when The Lancet published a letter by two British scientists that stated the obese population consumes 18% more food energy than the normal weight population. And as a result…

“…more transportation fuel energy will be used to transport the increase mass of the obese population, which will increase even further if, as is likely, the overweight people in response to their increased body mass choose to walk less and drive more.”

This, by the way, is not a new argument.

A couple of years ago Sheldon H. Jacobson, a University of Illinois professor, published a similar idea in an article – Economic Impact of Obesity on Automobile Fuel Consumption – in the Engineering Economist. Based on his calculations, it was taking a billion extra gallons of gas a year to transport increasingly overweight Americans.

Why?

Simple physics really – the more weight in the car, the lower the gas mileage.

But it’s more than just the transportation of increasingly heavier people that is increasing fossil fuel consumption.

The foods that people eat has also increased the amount of fossil fuel consumption. What with chemical fertilizers and food processing plus packaging and cross country shipping, the food system itself uses about a fifth of all fossil fuels consumed in America.

So if you are going to look at the issue of obesity and global warming, it’s not just people transportation at issue but also…

the food system itself  that could be considered the culprit.

What to do about it?

Short of ’stop eating’, I’d suggest we start…

Ditching the car whenever we can. Try walking,cycling, and local (preferably green) transportation. This allows for not only increased exercise but also decreased dependence on fossil fuels. It’s a win/win situation for your health, the environment, and your wallet.

Eat local foods whenever possible. Head for the local farmers market (unfortunately this might not help the wallet but think of all the money you’re saving by ditching the car), create your own vegetable garden, and eat less meat.

So fact or fiction – is obesity a contributing factor to global warming?

What do you think?

Post from: Healthbolt