Why food is the biggest lever
What you eat affects the climate more than whether your food is local. A plant-based day roughly halves diet emissions versus an average omnivore day, and uses far less freshwater and land — because growing crops to feed animals is far less efficient than eating the crops directly.
| Per day of eating | Omnivore | Vegan |
|---|---|---|
| CO₂e (kg) | 5.6 | 2.9 |
| Water (L) | 4200 | 2100 |
| Land (m²) | 16 | 6 |
Common questions
How much CO₂ does going vegan save?
A fully plant-based diet cuts diet-related emissions by roughly half — from around 5.6 kg CO₂e per day for an average omnivore to about 2.9 kg for a vegan. Over a year of full-time eating that is close to 1 tonne of CO₂e avoided.
Where do the numbers come from?
Footprints are based on Poore & Nemecek (2018, Science) — the largest food life-cycle meta-analysis to date, covering 38,700 farms across 119 countries — combined with published diet-level life-cycle studies, served via Our World in Data.
Does part-time veganism still help?
Yes. Impact scales linearly with how often you eat plant-based, so even a few vegan days a week meaningfully cuts your footprint. The calculator shows exactly how much for your number of days.
