Going veggie can slash your carbon footprint: study

August 27, 2008

Tue Aug 26, 11:19 AM ET

Giving up meat could drastically reduce your carbon footprint, with meat-eaters'

diets responsible for almost twice the emissions of those of vegetarians, a

German study said on Tuesday.

A diet with meat is responsible for producing in a year the same amount of

greenhouse gases as driving a mid-sized car 4,758 kilometres (2,956 miles), the

Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IOeW) said.

But the food a vegetarian consumes in 12 months is responsible for generating

the same emissions as driving 2,427 kilometres, the IOeW said in a study

commissioned by independent consumer protection group Foodwatch.

The calculations are based on emissions of greenhouse gases, including methane

produced by the animals themselves, as well as emissions from food production

including manufacturing feed and fertiliser and the use of farmland.

Going vegan -- giving up meat and dairy products -- would cut the emissions

released in making what you eat more than seven-fold, to the equivalent of

driving 629 kilometres, it said.

And if it is all organic, your food footprint is almost a 17th of that of a

meat-eater -- the equivalent of driving 281 kilometres.

Beef is particularly environmentally unfriendly, it said, with producing a kilo

(2.2 pounds) the same as driving 71 kilometres compared with 26 kilometres for

pork.

Switching to organic farming can cut emissions dramatically, " but what counts is

the way we feed ourselves ... production and consumption first and foremost of

beef and milk must be cut drastically, " the study said.

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