(GRE) DAIRY VERSUS PBM

Environmental footprint of dairy and plant-based milk 

Eutrophication is the process in which a water body becomes overly enriched with nutrients, leading to the plentiful growth of simple plant life. The excessive growth (or bloom) of algae and plankton in a water body are indicators of this process.

Dairy has by far a higher carbon footprint than any plant-based milk alternative. In terms of land use, cow’s milk uses 8.95 sq m of land per litre – over 11 times higher than the next on the list, oat milk. Dairy also uses 628 litres of water for one litre of milk (almond milk, at 371.5 litres, is next), and emits 3.15kg of CO2e, nearly three times as much as rice (1.18kg).

In terms of the dairy alternatives, rice milk uses the least land (0.34 sq m), but has the highest emissions. And while almond milk has the lowest emissions, it uses the most water (soy milk uses the least). More of this article (green queen) - link - more like this (EU animal husbandry) - link - more like this (plant based milk) - link