Nov. 1 is World Vegan Day. In fact, November is World Vegan Month. So here are 30 reasons, one for each day of this month, why moving toward a plant-based diet will improve the sustainability of our planet and survival of all its inhabitants.

• Day 1 — Animal agriculture is a top contributor of global greenhouse gas emissions, leading to climate change. The UN Environment Program estimates that animal agriculture could contribute as much as 25 per cent of global greenhouse gases.

• Day 2 — Animal foods contribute substantially more greenhouse gases than plant foods. The top two emitters are lamb at 39, and beef at 27 kg of CO2 equivalents per kg, followed by cheese, pork, farmed salmon, and turkey, ranging from 13.5 to 11 kg CO2e. Most plant foods — including beans, grains, and vegetables — fall below three kg CO2e.

• Day 3 — Animal agriculture uses 50 to 70 per cent of global freshwater resources.

• Day 4 — Water scientists at the Stockholm International Water Institute warned that if the western diet prevails, there won’t be enough water to produce food for everyone by 2050. They suggest a diet with less than five per cent of calories coming from animals.

• Day 5 — Canada’s average annual meat consumption per capita, (roughly 24 per cent of calories) is about 100 kg, over twice the worldwide average of 47 kg.

• Day 6 — It takes up to 100 times more water to produce animal protein than plant protein.

• Day 7 — Water footprints for animal products are significantly higher than those for plant foods. Bovine animals top the list at 112 litres per gram of protein to chickens at 34 litres/g, versus an average of only 20 litres/g for cereals and legumes.

• Day 8 — It takes 300 gallons of water to supply one day of plant-based food per person, 1,200 gallons for a lacto-ovo vegetarian, and a whopping 4,000 gallons for an omnivore.

• Day 9 — Producing one pound of beef requires 2,500 gallons of water, 12 pounds of grain, generates 40 pounds of waste, and emits a greenhouse gas equivalent of driving an SUV for 40 miles.

• Day 10 — An average meat-based diet requires seven times more land than a plant-based one. Animal agriculture uses 70 per cent of global agricultural land.

• Day 11 — The global cattle population (1.3 billion) consumes an amount of food (in calories) that can feed 8.7 billion people. Current world population is seven billion.

• Day 12 — There are one billion hungry people worldwide; about six million children die each year of undernutrition. Meanwhile, 1.5 billion people are overweight or obese.

• Day 13 — Eighty per cent of rainforest destruction is due to cattle ranching and growing monocrops for animal feed.

• Day 14 — Run-off from factory farms pollute waterways and contribute to oceanic dead zones — over 400 worldwide.

• Day 15 — Routine antibiotic use in animal agriculture has been scientifically linked to the rise in superbugs such as MRSA in hospital infections, rendering treatment of human infectious diseases increasingly difficult.