What’s your Carbon FOODPRINT? 

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

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.

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.

 

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Carbon Action is a leading provider of 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 info@carbonaction.co.uk or call +44 207 397 8500 for a confidential discussion.

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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/