Today is the 40th annual celebration of Earth Day, a day to be aware of how our everyday life choices can affect the health of the world we live in. More than one billion people in 190 countries will take some kind of action for Earth Day and the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) suggests one in particular: go meat-free for (at least) one day.

Experts at the AICR stress that food choices make a difference in preserving some of the earth’s natural resources. Just check out the difference you can make by reducing your consumption of meat products:

• Beef requires a lot of energy, for feed, transportation, slaughter and processing. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that the meat industry generates nearly one-fifth of the man-made greenhouse gas emissions, and if all Americans ate one less serving of beef each week, these would decrease by the same amount as if 5 million cars were taken off the roads.
   
• Livestock needs a LOT of water. About 1800 to 2500 gallons of water go into the overall production of a single pound of beef. Opting for a 3-ounce beef burger requires about 26 times more water that if you chose a similar-sized black bean burger
   
• On average, about 40 calories of fossil fuel energy go into each calorie of feed-lot beef in the U.S. It takes about 15 times the amount of energy to produce pork (per pound) than it does to produce grains or vegetables.
   
• Eating one small hamburger is like cutting down 55 square feet of a tropical rainforest, according to the Rainforest Action Network.

The AICR isn’t necessarily advocating a completely vegetarian diet for all people, all of the time. However, there is convincing evidence that reducing meat consumption, either portion size or by going meat free for a meal or two each week, can have a significant impact on both personal and global health.

Here are some tips for “greening” your diet this Earth Day:

1. To reduce meat consumption (without actually giving it up), divide your plate into 2/3 plant foods and 1/3 meat. Remember that a serving of meat should be no larger than the size of a deck of cards.
    
2. Use Earth Day to begin a new habit of creating at least one meat-free day each week, such as “Meatless Monday”, an initiative of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health which encourages the reduction of meat consumption for each person by at least 15%.
    
3. Complement your new green diet with increasing physical activity and relying less on motorized transportation. In other words, don’t use the car to get your newspaper each morning or to visit a neighbor three houses down.

Need help with menu ideas that will satisfy your entire family, including meat-loving men and nugget-hungry children? The Veggie Table offers a recipe section that is kid-friendly, and a section of comfort foods that are meat-free. Naturally Vegetarian Recipes also has a section dedicated for kids meals. Both Vegan Meat and Earth Easy offer recipes that even die-hard meat lovers will enjoy, including Salisbury “steak”, “meat” loaf, and “beef” stew.