Not Going Vegan to Save the Planet
By: Easy Carbon Solutions
Tags: Carbon Footprint, Climate Action, Plant Based Diets, Climate Change Solutions, Environmentalism

Barriers to Veganism

If you’re already vegan, you might think it’s an easy way for people to take action on climate change. But the general public would disagree. Studies show only 9% of people consider veganism to be ‘easy’ [7]. Food has great cultural significance, and family recipes are often cherished. When you ask someone to change their diet, you’re asking them to change deeply rooted patterns of behavior. Many people try to change their diet for health reasons but fall back into their old habits [8]. People struggle to change their diet even when it is for their own direct benefit. So how likely are they to stick with a diet that is for the benefit of the planet? Vegans do stick with it, but realistically that’s only around 0.5% of the world’s population [9]. I think we need to start somewhere else.

A Viable Alternative

Image Credit: easycarbonsolutions.com, data from [10]

What else can you do to reduce your diet’s carbon footprint besides going vegan? The chart above is based on a study [10] that looked at 140 countries and measured the impact of 9 different diet options. These options were compared to the country’s baseline diet, which was scaled to 2,300 kcal to account for different countries eating more or less than the global average.

The 9 diets modelled were:

Meatless day (1 meatless day per week) Low red meat (maximum of 350 g cooked weight per week) No dairy No red meat (no cow, sheep, goat or pig meat) Pescetarian (no red meat or poultry, only seafood) Vegetarian (can eat dairy and eggs) 2/3 vegan (i.e. 2 out of 3 meals a day were vegan) Low food chain (protein from insects, forage fish and mollusks) Vegan (plant based diet)

Based on the data, going vegan would save 1,426kg of CO2 per year. That is a lot. It would take someone about 5 years of committing to a low red meat diet to have the same impact as being vegan for a year.

But think of it another way. Assuming you live in a family of 4, it would only take the 4 of you eating a low red meat around 1.5 years of to offset as much as 1 person being vegan for a year. Alternatively, assume both sets of grandparents are also on board. Now the 8 of you would save around 1,872kg of CO2 per year which is more than just one person in this group going vegan.

Taking action as a group has several benefits. First, moderate actions are more likely to stick because they are less of a change. Second, the group acting together creates a supportive environment that sustains that behavior in the long term. And in the long term, making a commitment you can keep will have a bigger impact than trying veganism for a while and giving up, or not taking any action at all.

The chart below shows different ways people could work together and have a much bigger impact than a single person acting alone. These options include: a couple being 2/3 vegan, a family of 8 being low red meat, a family of 4 being no red meat or vegetarian, or an office of 21 people committing to Meatless Mondays.

Image Credit: easycarbonsolutions.com, data from [10]

Moving Forward

It could be more achievable, maintainable and influential for people to commit to less ambitious diet goals while bringing their family and friends along for the journey. As more people do this, it will normalize people eating less meat and increase vegan options. In turn, more options will make it easier for people to choose and stick with a vegan diet.

This is the path my household took towards veganism. We started out by reducing our meat intake. Then we became mostly vegetarian, but still occasionally ate meat when we went out or on special occasions like Christmas. Now we eat a plant based diet at least 99% of the time.

We need to act on climate change. Adopting a vegan diet is the most effective way of reducing your food’s carbon footprint. But if that seems too daunting, don’t let that stop you from taking steps in the right direction. Do what you can to reduce your carbon footprint and encourage others to do the same. Together, you might just have a bigger impact than if you try to go it alone.