How to eat more sustainably

Emissions from the typical Kiwi diet could drop by 7%1 if we ate vegetables instead of meat for one meal a week — while still meeting an adult's dietary needs. 

Learn more and find other ways to eat a lower carbon, sustainable diet.

Switch meat for veggies one meal a week

To make climate-conscious decisions about your diet, think first about the type of food you eat. Food that takes more steps to produce generally uses more energy and generates more Greenhouse gas emissions. Meat takes a lot of steps to produce, especially red meat. For example, you have to grow plants to feed the animals, so it's a lot simpler to grow plants to feed yourself.

Veggies aren't just healthy, they use less energy. Emissions from most plant-based products are 10-50 times lower than most animal-based products, so filling up on pulses and veggies is definitely the climate-friendly option.

Ways to eat more veggies

  • Do meatless Mondays
  • Swap half the meat for beans, veg or lentils in stir-fries, curries, stews or pies
  • Try alternatives like tofu, quorn or dairy substitutes
  • Pick a veggie meal when you eat out
  • Look for tasty ideas on recipe websites

Emissions from most plant-based products are 10-50 times lower than most animal-based products.

Source: University of Otago - Healthy and climate-friendly eating patterns in the New Zealand Context

Plan your food, eat it all

New Zealanders throw away over 75,000 tonnes of food each year – that's 32kg each – worth $560 per household. It wastes the carbon used to produce it and creates potent greenhouse gas if it rots in landfill.

Tips for reducing food waste

  • Plan your meals - Buy the ingredients you need for a certain number of specific meals.
  • Keep foods fresh - Use jars, plastic containers and wax wraps to keep them tasty for longer.
  • Cook the right portions - Foods like rice and pasta expand, while some vegetables shrink. But if you cook too much, that's lunch sorted.
  • Compost veggie waste - It produces far less climate-changing methane than when it rots in landfill.

Grow your own

Seasonal food is lower carbon – and there’s no better way to get in touch with the seasons than growing your own food. It might inspire you to eat more veggie-based meals – and could mean fewer car trips to the supermarket.

What's in season(external link) 

Consider your meat options

A study of the American diet found replacing beef with chicken would cut people's dietary carbon footprint in half.

Read the study(external link)

  • What's the impact of transport?

    Getting food to your plate means growing, processing, packaging, storing, transporting, and retailing – stages that take energy and create emissions. Transport is a relatively small piece of the pie – less than 10% for most foods, and a tiny fraction of the most carbon-intensive foods. Still, eating locally-produced food means you’re more likely to eat fresh, and can find out more about how it’s made.
  • Work out the carbon footprint of your diet

    If you're struggling to know where to start making changes, it's helpful to work out the footprint of your own diet. This article by the BBC includes a handy tool to calculate the impact of many standard food and drink items.