Some of you may have seen this before, but I felt inspired to post it because it’s so quirky: James Cascio over at Open The Future calculated the carbon footprint of a cheeseburger. Here’s how the Seattle Times described it:
“Not just the carbon dioxide created by cooking the burger. But also from raising cattle for beef and cheese, growing and harvesting produce, and transporting and storing all that food. And then there is the methane, a greenhouse gas that cows emit just by living. Crunching the numbers, Cascio figured the average cheeseburger is responsible for about 9.5 pounds of emissions. If you eat one cheeseburger a week, that’s nearly 500 pounds of greenhouse gases a year.”
I find stats like this interesting, but they leave me befuddled. I’m not sure how neurotic to get about every cheeseburger consumed. (Or about all the energy I waste by charging up my laptop to browse cute cat pictures at icanhascheezburger.com.). But clearly the impact adds up… Anyone have any thoughts or energy stats on plant-based vs. burger-based diets?
