Eat more vegetarian
Your choices you make every day make a difference. One simple thing you can do to reduce your carbon footprint is to eat less meat.
Different foodstuffs produce different environmental and climate impacts. Vegetarian food generally has a lower climate impact than meat, fish and poultry.
Eat more vegetarian food
- Consume less meat: The most climate-smart food is vegetarian.
- Choose locally grown: Buy fruit and vegetables that are locally produced.
- Start small: Make it a habit with one or more vegetarian days a week. Then expand.
- Eat protein-rich beans: Beans, lentils and peas, as well as grains and rough vegetables such as cabbage and root vegetables, are high in protein. They also have low climate impact and can be stored for a long time.
- Blend the meat: Mix in more vegetables in the food, for example minced meat mixed with beans, lentils or root vegetables.
- Try meat substitutes: Continue to cook your favourite recipes, but try replacing the meat with vegetarian options – for example, tofu, tempeh or different veggie mince.
- Keep it simple: Find simple dishes you like and make them often.
- Follow the seasons: Choose seasonal ingredients.
- Choose shelf-stable vegetables and root vegetables such as carrots, cauliflower and broccoli. They have a minimal impact on the climate.
- Build your own plate: With the World Wildlife Fund diet calculator, you can easily compare different foods and see how much greenhouse gas emissions each food causes.
Diet calculator, World Wildlife Fund website
If you eat meat or fish
- If you choose meat, eat less – the Nordic dietary guidelines suggest a maximum of 350 grams of meat per week.
- Choose chicken rather than beef. One kilogram of beef causes approximately nine times as many emissions as one kilogram of poultry.
- When you eat beef, choose naturally pastured beef. Grazing animals help keep land open, which is important for biodiversity.
- Reduce the amount of dairy products. Dairy products produce relatively high emissions of greenhouse gases, which are mainly due to the cows' digestion.
- Choose fish and seafoods that are sustainably caught and labeled with MSC (Marine Stewarship Council).
- With the World Wildlife Fund food guide, you get help choosing sustainable meat, fish and vegetables.
