The Impact Of A Vegan Diet On Your Carbon Footprint

It is no secret that a vegan diet is less harmful to the environment than a normal diet. However, many are not aware of how much it can actually impact your carbon footprint and reduce your personal carbon emissions. But why is that? Well, animal agriculture plays a big role in the greenhouse gas emissions that are released every day and contributes greatly to the climate crisis. To completely understand it, let’s start at the beginning of how we get animal products to consume. Firstly, animals, such as cattle need space to live, and because of that, we make space by engaging in deforestation in big parts of the world. For example, around 80% of the deforestation of the Amazon has been caused by cattle ranchers. Here it is also important to note that forests can absorb greenhouse gas emissions and we destroy them and cause even more emissions. Further, the animals themselves release more greenhouse gasses through their digestion system. Making space for farming cattle takes in a big part of our emissions in the atmosphere.

 

As stated by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals):

“it takes, on average, about 11 times as much fossil fuel to produce a calorie of animal protein as it does to produce a calorie of grain protein, considerably more carbon dioxide is released. Researchers acknowledge that it is more ‘climate efficient’ to produce protein from vegetable sources than from animal sources.”

Further, farming cattle is not the only key contributor to our climate crisis. All around the world, we engage in massive farming of other animals, such as cows, sheep, pigs, and more (basically every animal that we like to eat). They live in small spaces among each other and release even more gas through their digestive system. 

Here are some facts to think about:

• Cattle are the animal species responsible for the most emissions, representing about 65% of the livestock sector’s emissions.

• Feed production and processing and enteric fermentation from ruminants are the two main sources of emissions, representing 45 and 39 % of total emissions, respectively. Manure storage and processing represent 10%.

• Beef and cattle milk are responsible for the most emissions, contributing 41% and 20% of the sector’s overall greenhouse gas emissions.

• Pig meat contributes to 9% of emissions, buffalo milk, and meat to 8% and chicken meat and eggs to 8%.

The consumption of meat, dairy, and eggs has been proven to cause massive amounts of emissions every day. Therefore, we should find ways to consume more climate-friendly food, by changing some of our eating habits. You do not have to go hardcore vegan immediately, but small changes every day in reducing your meat and dairy consumption can have an impact. As stated by The Economist: 

“Giving up meat makes a big difference. For instance, compared with an American who eats 2,300 calories of a typical mix of foods, one who became vegetarian would knock 30% off their annual greenhouse-gas emissions from eating. But dairy, produced by methane-emitting cows, is still costly. A better option still would be go to vegan for two-thirds of meals, while still occasionally indulging in animal products. Doing so would cut food-related greenhouse-gas emissions by nearly 60%. Absolute veganism, unsurprisingly, is the most environmentally friendly. Die-hard leaf-eaters can claim to have knocked off 85% off their carbon footprint.“

It has been proven by many scientists and research projects that a vegan diet is more climate-friendly and if more people would commit to one, we would be able to reduce some of our greenhouse gas emissions. 

Calculate your personal carbon footprint and see where you can make a change: Carbon Footprint Calculator