Sustainable Devizes is a community group seeking ways to strengthen the local economy, reduce our environmental impact, and build resilience for a future beyond cheap energy and a changing climate. We are part of the Transition Network “A movement of communities coming together to re-imagine and rebuild our world”.
For more details of our aims and activities see the About page.
This month we are exploring the extent to which changes in diet can reduce our carbon footprint, in particular what effect switching to a vegetarian or vegan diet might have. The Resurgence carbon calculator presents the following options for diet:
I eat meat, fish, eggs and dairy products: Annual emissions
Very often (meat around twice a day) 1250 kg CO2/year
Quite often (meat once a day, eggs/dairy often) 750 kg CO2/year
Not often (meat rarely or vegetarian) 300 kg CO2/year
Never (vegan) 100 kg CO2/year
Thus there is potential for a big reduction in our footprint by reducing meat and dairy consumption. As pointed out by the British Dietetic Association:
“In the UK, it is estimated that well-planned completely plant-based, or vegan, diets need just one third of the fertile land, fresh water and energy of the typical British ‘meat-and-dairy’ based diet. With meat and dairy being the leading contributor to greenhouse (GHG) emissions, reducing animal based foods and choosing a wide range of plant foods can be beneficial to the planet and our health.”
So not only does moving to a plant based diet reduce carbon emissions it also frees up land for carbon capture and growing of crops for fuel, whilst potentially making us more heathy!
Here are some links for those interested in trying out a vegan or vegetartian diet:
Go Vegan: vegansociety.com/go-vegan
Vegan Starter Kit: veganuary.com/starter-kit
Vegan recipes: bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/vegan
Vegan products in supermarkets: myvegansupermarket.co.uk
The vegan diet Eat Well: nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/the-vegan-diet/
Evidence for benefits of plant based diet: nutritionfacts.org (+ YouTube channel)
Vegan 2019 YouTube video: from Plant Based News channel
The Low Energy team is tapping into local opportunities to encourage various ways of using energy more efficiently.
Read more...
Members of the Living Food Team are involved in various aspects of local food production: allotments, permaculture, markets, good food shops and seed swaps.
Read more...
The transport team is involved with air pollution from too many cars and pressing for solutions for all modes of green transport.
Read more...
C.U.D.S. folk clean up neglected corners of Devizes and plant up areas of wasteland with wild flowers and bulbs. Sustainable Devizes is forming a group to tackle waste more generally
| 08 Jan 2020 07:30PM - 09:30PM Repair and Reuse |
| 08 Jan 2020 07:30PM - 07:45PM Annual General Meeting |
| 05 Feb 2020 07:30PM - Reducing Energy Use in Homes |