Credit: Julie Grundy

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Did you know that 11% of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions come from our livestock? We eat 16 million sheep, 9 million cows, 5.6 million pigs and half a billion chickens each year!

You can read about it in-depth at the FAO's report Livestock's Long Shadow, if you're very patient, or get the summary if you're like me and just want the bare facts.

Our meat-eating habits create a huge environmental impact, and we don't even need to eat that much meat in the first place. About 65 to 100 grams of meat a day is all you need to get the protein and minerals you need - how many people do you know who eat two or three times that amount?

But meat isn't the only way to get those nutrients, so why are we creating so much environmental destruction just to get a sausage or two?

I'm going ok with my Meatless Monday and Thursday so far. This should save 23kg of greenhouse gas emissions from being created and stop 769 litres of water from being wasted. Not a bad result for something so easy to do! All I did at work today was switch to a cheese and salad sandwich instead of ham and salad for lunch.

Tonight I'll be having a beetroot and orange salad that I came up with myself earlier this year after eating one at a restaurant. All you do is roast the beetroot in foil with a little olive oil, then pop it in a salad of spinach or rocket, with slices of orange, crumbled up feta cheese and slivered almonds.

It keeps really well for lunch the next day too, so I always make enough for leftovers. It's similar to this salad from the tv show The Cook And The Chef.