3 ms·

> There are such obvious first steps we could take without a complete understanding of cause if we really cared. Have you tried arguing people against eating m

> There are such obvious first steps we could take without a complete understanding of cause if we really cared. Have you tried arguing people against eating meat? If we can't even talk them out of the main individual contributor to climate change, I don't think we have a good chance to make a positive impact on other areas that depend on conscious effort.

kurthr 3y ago
This doesn't seem to match the data I've seen. Yes, food is a significant portion of energy consumption, but typical transportation and housing (including heat/cool) easily dominate. Going from a daily mixed meat (chicken/fish/beef/eggs) eating diet to a vegan diet saves ~1 ton CO2 per year. Average is about 4-5 tons per year for a person living in a small apartment in temperate climate, who only uses public transportation, doesn't go on vacation, or buy any unnecessary consumer items. A more typical westerner who can afford meat every meal is about 10-20 tons per year. Now, if you're eating 150g of beef every meal 3x every day, you could double your footprint (+20tons CO2). Eating only chicken, fish, and eggs gets you below 1ton/year for meat in meals. Vegan is about a third of that. https://8billiontrees.com/carbon-offsets-credits/carbon-ecological-footprint-calculators/ https://8billiontrees.com/carbon-offsets-credits/carbon-ecol...
- rafaelero 3y ago
  Food corresponds to 10~30% of individual carbon footprint. Dairy + meat amount to 3/4 of total emissions from food production. So going vegan should theoretically reduce from 7.5% to 22.5% total individual emissions[1]. It may not be the largest factor in every situation, but it is still a very important one. [1]https://css.umich.edu/publications/factsheets/sustainability-indicators/carbon-footprint-factsheet https://css.umich.edu/publications/factsheets/sustainability...

kurthr 3y ago

This doesn't seem to match the data I've seen. Yes, food is a significant portion of energy consumption, but typical transportation and housing (including heat/cool) easily dominate. Going from a daily mixed meat (chicken/fish/beef/eggs) eating diet to a vegan diet saves ~1 ton CO2 per year. Average is about 4-5 tons per year for a person living in a small apartment in temperate climate, who only uses public transportation, doesn't go on vacation, or buy any unnecessary consumer items. A more typical westerner who can afford meat every meal is about 10-20 tons per year. Now, if you're eating 150g of beef every meal 3x every day, you could double your footprint (+20tons CO2). Eating only chicken, fish, and eggs gets you below 1ton/year for meat in meals. Vegan is about a third of that. https://8billiontrees.com/carbon-offsets-credits/carbon-ecological-footprint-calculators/ https://8billiontrees.com/carbon-offsets-credits/carbon-ecol...

rafaelero 3y ago
Food corresponds to 10~30% of individual carbon footprint. Dairy + meat amount to 3/4 of total emissions from food production. So going vegan should theoretically reduce from 7.5% to 22.5% total individual emissions[1]. It may not be the largest factor in every situation, but it is still a very important one. [1]https://css.umich.edu/publications/factsheets/sustainability-indicators/carbon-footprint-factsheet https://css.umich.edu/publications/factsheets/sustainability...