With your diet you can make a contribution to climate protection – provided you make the right decisions when buying groceries. We will show you how to protect the climate in the kitchen and eat in a more environmentally friendly way.
A fifth of all climate-damaging greenhouse gas emissions in this country are caused by what we eat. As consumers, we can therefore make a significant contribution to climate protection with our decisions in the supermarket. The following tips will help you make greener choices more often.
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Sustainable nutrition: How to eat more environmentally friendly
1. Vegetable instead of animal products
If you want to protect the climate, you should significantly limit your consumption of animal products. Nobody has to give up meat or milk completely. But we should all be aware that the majority of greenhouse gases from food come from raising livestock and animal husbandry. Anyone who no longer eats meat or significantly reduces their daily consumption saves a lot of CO2. An example illustrates how a predominantly or purely plant-based diet benefits the environment: The production of 1 kg of beef causes around 14 kg of carbon dioxide, 1 kg of vegetables, e.g. B. beans, but only 150 g.
2. Organic instead of conventional cultivation
Fresh fruit and vegetables should come from organic farming whenever possible. Because organic farming uses only a third of fossil energy compared to conventional farming, mainly because it does not use synthetic fertilizers and pesticides . In addition, organic foods contain more phytochemicals that are beneficial to health.
3. Natural foods instead of ready-made products
In addition to the health benefits, fresh, unprocessed foods also have a lower carbon footprint than ready meals. Because each industrial processing step requires additional energy and the transport between the production sites causes further emissions. If you can’t avoid processed foods, add as few additional ingredients as possible and the end product should only be changed by a few processing steps.
4. Regional instead of imported
Give preference to local food that is in season to fruit and vegetables flown in from far away. Apples from New Zealand, avocados from America – long-distance transport by plane or truck causes large amounts of greenhouse gases. On the other hand, anyone who buys fresh fruit and vegetables at the weekly market directly from the producer saves emissions from transport and also strengthens the local economy.
Don’t forget: the way you shop also needs to be included in the bill. Therefore, it is best to use public transport, ride a bike or go shopping on foot.
5. Unpackaged instead of wrapped in plastic
We generate almost 19 million tons of packaging waste every year. Some products have a protective cover for hygienic reasons, but many can do without it. We can all avoid plastic at the market, in the unpacked shop or with the subscribed organic box. And many supermarkets now offer reusable nets or bags for weighing. Reusable products also save resources and contribute to more sustainable consumption.
Tip: You can find out here >> which foods are particularly climate-friendly
Climate-friendly cooking: 5 tips for saving energy in the kitchen
We use a lot of energy every day in the kitchen. With these 5 simple tips you can reduce your energy consumption and cook more climate-friendly:
- The right lid on the pot saves up to a third of the energy.
- Kettles heat faster and more economically than kettles.
- Food cooks particularly efficiently in the pressure cooker.
- Turn off the hotplates in good time and use the residual heat.
- Induction cookers use 15 to 20 percent less electricity than a glass ceramic hob.
