It’s good for you too! Vegetarians live longer than meat-eaters. Over 3.5 million people get sick from eating ‘dirty’ meat every year in the US. The meat they produce is also polluted with superbugs. Factory farms are heavy polluters of the air and ground. The factory workers also suffer from poor wages and dangerous working practices. It’s good for the animals too! Most animals are raised in factory farms where they live in horrific conditions. The carbon footprint of a vegetarian diet is about half that of a meat-lover’s diet. You can reduce your foodprint by a quarter just by cutting down on red meats such as beef and lamb. A vegan diet has the lowest carbon footprint at just 1.5 tons CO2e (Carbon Dioxide Equivalent). Shrink That Footprint’s chart shows that a meat lover has the highest carbon footprint at 3.3 tons of greenhouse gas emissions. Livestock farming produces from 20% to 50% of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions. Top Tips for Reducing your Carbon Footprint 1. If you move towards a mainly vegetarian diet, you can have a large impact on your personal carbon footprint.įigures from the Environmental Working Group’s Meat Eater’s Guide and the EPA’s Guide to Passenger Vehicle Emissions. Fruit, vegetables, beans and nuts have much lower carbon footprints.
Meat, cheese and eggs have the highest carbon footprint. For example, you need to drive 63 miles to produce the same emissions as eating one kilogram of beef. It also shows how many miles you need to drive to produce that many greenhouse gases. It includes all the emissions produced on the farm, in the factory, on the road, in the shop and in your home.
The following table shows the greenhouse gas emissions produced by one kilo of each food. Many of these changes will also save you money, improve your health and even keep you fit! Have a browse of How You Can Fight Climate Change for more ideas on taking action to save our beautiful planet. And reduce pollution, preserve the environment and slow global warming. Worldwide, new reports suggest that livestock agriculture produces around a half of all man-made emissions.Ĭhanging the foods that you eat can have a big impact on your carbon footprint. Food produces about 8 tons of emissions per household, or about 17% of the total. Transport, housing and food have the three largest carbon footprints. In the US, each household produces 48 tons of greenhouse gases. Food’s carbon footprint, or foodprint, is the greenhouse gas emissions produced by growing, rearing, farming, processing, transporting, storing, cooking and disposing of the food you eat.