HOW CAN DIET IMPACT MY ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT?
Ever heard of environmental footprint but never understood exactly what it means?
Put simply, environmental footprint is the effect ie a person, business or activity has on the environment. It can include the amount of natural resources they use or harmful gasses/waste they produce.
Why WE need to reduce our environmental footprint?
Currently, humans are using more natural resources per year than our planet can produce in the same time frame. This article uses a bathtub analogy to explain how this is possible!
So what can we do about it?
When you think about your environmental footprint, diet and the food system may not be the first thing to come to mind.
However, stats suggest that the global food system is accountable for around 25% of greenhouse emissions, 70% water use and 38% land use!
How to lower your environmental footprint through diet
Moderate how much meat you are eating
Animal products have a greater impact on the environment compared to plant-based foods. This is because animals require significantly larger amounts of land, water, and feed for production.
On top of this, harmful gases (methane) are released by livestock. Producing 1 kg of beef emits 60 kg of Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while 1 kg of peas only emits 1 kg of GHG emissions!
Reduce food waste
Ever clean out your fridge and find that leftover meal that has been there for a little too long? Or those vegetables that never quite made it into the soup? You’re not alone, around 1 in 5 grocery bags end up in the rubbish!
Nobody likes to throw out food - not only is it a waste of money but it’s contributing to your environmental footprint. Food waste produces harmful gases that can be up to 25 times more harmful than carbon dioxide in terms of trapping heat in the atmosphere and contributing to global warming.
You can reduce your food waste by having a grocery shopping list and storing food properly. It’s also good to be mindful of best-before or use-by dates and get creative with ingredients before there time is up!
Reduce food packaging by swapping highly processed foods for wholefoods
Almost all processed foods (eg chips, biscuits, lollies) are packaged!
Food packaging for highly processed foods is usually created for single-use and thrown away instead of being recycled or reused, contributing to air, water, and soil pollution.
Compared to a banana peel that takes around 2 ½ weeks to breakdown/decompose, a chip packet can take up to 80 years!
Plus, swapping processed foods for wholefoods such as fruits, vegetables and legumes (ie chickpeas, lentils) provides substantial health benefits such as reduced risks of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure!