1. Reduce Animal Products
Date: 30-Nov-2007
Don't worry! We're not asking you to give up your favourite foods! Meat and dairy can be part of a healthy, sustainable diet, but just don't overdo it.
Even by developed country standards, Aussies eat a lot of meat - around 110kg* per person per year, not counting canned meats or seafood! University of Sydney researchers have found that to produce a single 150g serve of meat (say, one small steak) can take over 200 litres of water - mainly in growing animal feed and washing abattoirs. The same steak creates 5kg of greenhouse pollution, including emissions from haulage, storage and packaging. You can reduce environmental pressures by choosing pasture or grass-fed beef instead of grain-fed.
When shopping for seafood make sure that you’re not unwittingly putting more pressure on already unsustainable fisheries. It’s also best to avoid fish grown in fish farms (aquaculture) as these often require more caught fish (from the wild) to feed the fish than are actually produced at the farm. This is especially so for carnivorous fish (such as prawns, salmon, snapper, barramundi and tuna) which can take between 1kg and 12kg of fish meal to produce 1kg of aquaculture fish.
For good advice on which fish or shellfish is a better choice, order a copy of Australia’s Sustainable Seafood Guide from The Australian Marine Conservation Society.
GREENHOME FACT: If you reduced your dairy intake by just 2 cups of milk (or equivalent) per week, you would save 13,000 litres of water and 250kg of greenhouse pollution in a year.
*All figures were correct at the time of publication.