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What’s your Carbon FOODPRINT?

November 11, 2020 By Valerie Foster Comments are Off

Fact: Approximately 50% of all man-made emissions Worldwide come from livestock agriculture.

 

Right, so we’ve all heard about our carbon footprint, but did you know that the most impactful thing that most of us can do to reduce our emissions is to change our diet?

Let us explain!

Greenhouse gas emissions occur at all seven stages of the general food supply chain.

  1. Land Use Change
  2. Farm
  3. Animal Feed
  4. Processing
  5. Transport
  6. Retail
  7. Packaging
Fact: Food transportation only accounts for approximately 11% of the overall greenhouse emissions involved in food production. This drops to 0.5% of total emissions for beef!

 

The figures show per one kilo of each food how many miles you need to drive to produce the equivalent greenhouse gases.

Figures from the Environmental Working Group’s Meat Eater’s Guide and the EPA’s Guide to Passenger Vehicle Emissions.

We can see that meat, cheese and eggs have the highest carbon footprint while fruit, vegetables, beans and nuts have much lower carbon footprints.

With this in mind it makes sense that a move towards a mainly vegetarian diet, can have a large impact on your personal carbon footprint.

Fact: A third of the food that British and American households buy goes to waste.

If going vegan is too dramatic for you, here are some other ways you can reduce your Carbon Footprint

  1. Reduce animal based consumption. By cutting down on red meats such as beef and lamb you can reduce your Foodprint by a quarter!
  2. Bring back home-cooking. Meal planning and eating leftovers are great ways to reduce food waste.
  3. Cooking smartly. Simmering on a stove-top is the most efficient cooking method. Gas ovens use only 6% of their energy to cook and electric ovens use 12%.
  4. Eat Organic. Organic farming methods for both crops and animals have a much lower impact on the environment than mass production methods.
  5. Save water. Filter your tap water for drinking rather than consuming energy and water-intensive bottled water. Take a shower rather than a bath. Turn off the taps when brushing your teeth.
  6. Shop wisely – And local! A long list of ingredients generally means a product is heavily processed and thus has a high carbon footprint. In general, frozen food has the highest carbon footprint.
  7. Reuse and recycle. Say no to plastic bags and bring your own bags when shopping. Reusable glass jars and plastic containers make great storage options.
Fact: 19 kg of Greenhouse Gas is produced in the production of 1kg of Chocolate!

Carbon Action part of Chris Mee Group is a leading provider of Enivronmental Carbon Emissions Consultancy across Europe.  

Our consultants specialise in Carbon Measurement & Footprinting, Carbon Verification and Auditing, Carbon Trading support, ESOS, EU-ETS Support, GHG Permits and more.

Have a question? Send us an enquiry from the box to the right, Email us at [email protected] or call +44 207 397 8500 for a confidential discussion.

Sources & More info:

https://www.greeneatz.com/1/post/2013/04/earth-day-livestock-and-greenhouse-gas.html

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/visualising-the-greenhouse-gas-impact-of-each-food/

EWG Website: The Environmental Working Group is an American activist group that specializes in research and advocacy in the areas of agricultural subsidies, toxic chemicals, drinking water pollutants, and corporate accountability. EWG is a non profit organization.

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