Going vegan or vegetarian is one of the easiest, highest-impact ways to reduce your climate change impact[1]
As individuals, choosing a plant-based diet is one of the easiest and most effective things we can do to reduce our environmental impact. It’s low cost, easy to start or re-start, and unlike buying an electric car or triple glazing, it isn’t an all-or-nothing risk. Every meal counts.
You could just go all-in and go vegan overnight, but most people would find that very difficult – there are a lot of new foods to discover and changes to be made!
So here’s a list of steps that will get you from committed meat-eater to vegan as quickly as you’re able to go – just jump in at whatever point you’re at, and go from there.
Step 1 – go meat-free a few times a week
Avoiding meat and dairy products is one of the most effective things you can do to reduce your environmental impact.[1] But completely cutting out meat and dairy isn’t easy if you and your family are used to eating them as a big part of your diet, and even harder if you aren’t comfortable cooking from scratch. Going meat-free a few times a week is an easy way to introduce die-hard meat-eaters to alternative foods without making them feel too cheated and resistant.
Read more about going meat-free a few times a week
Step 2 – stop eating beef altogether
Cutting out beef (and dairy) is the most effective way to reduce your environmental impact, according to Oxford University research into the environmental impact of farming [2]. That’s because beef production causes more greenhouse gases than any other type of food. With vegan alternatives becoming really tasty and widespread, it’s also a really easy action to take, that doesn’t take much effort and can even save you money!
Read more about cutting out beef
Step 3 – cut out dairy
The dairy industry has spent decades convincing us that we need cows’ milk to keep us healthy, but it just isn’t true – in fact, 68% of the world’s population is lactose intolerant[3], avoiding dairy products altogether! There are plenty of dairy alternatives available, and lots of other sources of calcium.
Read more about cutting out dairy
Step 4 – go completely vegetarian
Cutting out all meat (including chicken and fish) is the next step after beef (and/or dairy). There are many reasons to adopt a vegetarian lifestyle – improving your own health, stopping cruelty to animals, reducing your impact on the environment, and saving money. Plus there are so many delicious alternatives to meat.
Don’t worry if you slip up sometimes. 95% successful is better than giving up altogether after one failure. Do what works for you, but work towards the goal.
Read more about going completely vegetarian
And finally…
Step 5 – choose a vegan diet
Removing all animal products from your diet is the best way to reduce the huge environmental impact caused by commercial animal farming.
It’s also quite hard – which is why we’re suggesting you get there in stages, particularly if you don’t know any other vegans to help you work out what you’re doing. There’s no shame in starting off as a part-time vegan (e.g. just at weekends, when you have more time to cook from scratch; or just when you go out, so someone else does the hard work for you).
Any progress is good, and better than making things too hard for yourself and quitting.
Try joining helpful Facebook groups like Accidentally Vegan UK or Cheap Vegan Food to learn from other people’s recommendations and mistakes.
Read more about choosing a vegan diet
“But I can’t give up cheese/bacon/ice cream!”
No problem! If just one thing is causing you to give up, go nearly-vegetarian, or nearly-vegan instead, and keep eating it. Anything is better than nothing, and everything helps.
Cooking
Learn to cook from scratch
Learning to cook is a really helpful stepping stone to eating more sustainably and with more variety, and it will save you money too.
If you already know how to cook, teach others in your family or community.
Plan your meals
Planning your meals means you’ll only buy what you need, and can use up left-over food – preventing food waste and saving money.
Plan ahead
If you’ve planned your meals, you already know what you’re eating tomorrow. Instead of wasting energy cooking from frozen, or defrosting in the microwave, simply defrost your ingredients or ready meals overnight in the fridge. For example:
- Defrosting overnight saves 55 kW per year compared to defrosting the same item for 10 minutes in a 900-watt microwave
- Assuming a meal takes 50 minutes to cook from frozen but only 30 minutes to cook from chilled, defrosting overnight would save 304 kW per year versus cooking from frozen in a 2.5 kW oven
Learn when food is safe to eat
A best-before date is different to a use-by date.
“Use by” dates indicate the likely date by which the food will probably go bad, whereas “best before” simply means it might not taste quite as good after that date, but it should still be safe to eat.
Your eyes and nose should tell you whether food that’s past its best-before date is still safe to eat. Either way, use common sense. If it looks or smells wrong, or if it’s past its date and you have a compromised immune system, don’t eat it.
Read more about use-by dates and best-before dates
Eat seasonally
Eating seasonally simply means eating fruit and vegetables that would normally grow in your area at that time of year, so fewer emissions are generated transporting your food to you. For example, in autumn and winter, you could fill up on satisfying comfort food like roasted root vegetables, rather than choosing raw summer vegetables that have been grown in industrial greenhouses or flown in.
If you’re not sure what’s in season and need inspiration, check out Riverford or Abel & Cole’s seasonal veg boxes (see what’s in the box, then buy it from your local shop if that suits your budget better).
Read more about eating seasonally
Reduce your food waste
We’ve been trained by supermarkets, TV cooking shows and cautious parents to only eat food that looks “perfect”. Once you change your way of thinking, you’ll be amazed at how much edible food you used to waste.
Learn how to reduce food waste at home
Use jam jars to freeze extra portions
Cooking from scratch is an important skill for living sustainably, but it takes a big chunk of time out of your day. It makes sense to cook more than you need, then save the extra portions so you can have a quick meal another day.
Learn how to freeze food using jam jars without getting broken glass and food everywhere
Use the right pan
Cast-iron cookware, like Le Creuset (or cheaper alternatives), holds the heat really well, so you can save energy by cooking with a gentle heat. They’ll also last a lifetime making them a responsible, buy-it-once choice.
But whatever you cook with, use a lid to keep the heat in, and make sure you choose the right-sized ring for the pan so you don’t waste heat. And if you can see the flame up the sides of the pan, turn it down – that’s wasted heat too.
Switch off your oven 5 to 10 minutes before the end of cooking time
Ovens are well insulated – just see how long they hold the heat after you’ve turned them off.
You can make use of that residual heat by turning off your oven 5 to 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time. It should easily hold the heat long enough to finish cooking your meal. The longer the cooking time, the less you’ll notice any effect.
Assuming your oven uses 3kW per hour, turning it off 10 minutes before the end of cooking time will save 182.5 kW per year.
This isn’t recommended for cakes, meringues and soufflés (where getting the mixture and temperature right are really important to the end result) but it should work fine for things like baked potatoes, or meals cooked in the oven.
Make your own lunch
Use last night’s leftovers to prevent food waste, and amaze your colleagues with the unending variety of your lunches.
Get some unusual lunch ideas here
Learn which bits of plants are edible
You’ll be surprised how much you’ve been throwing away. For example, you can eat broccoli stems, carrot tops, beetroot leaves, squash seeds, and the leafy green bits of spring onions (which can be used in salads or like chives in omelettes). Even potato peelings can be baked into crisps (chips).
Freeze food in portion sizes
Cut up food like meat, pizza, and bread when you buy it, and freeze it in portion sizes. This means you only have to defrost what you need, which cuts down on food waste.
Make your own bread
It saves a trip to the shop and unnecessary packaging, and you can make it from organic and/or vegan ingredients.
Make your own yoghurt
Avoid unrecyclable plastic by making your own yoghurt; or even better, make your own plant-based yoghurt.
Make your own vegan cheese
While there are good alternatives out there, it can be hard finding vegan cheese that looks, tastes and acts like the cheese you’re used to. (See our eco-friendly alternatives pages for our latest recommendations, or if you want to make your own, try these recipes for vegan camembert and vegan blue cheese from Fullofplants. If you have a favourite recipe, let us know!
Shopping
Shop sustainably
However lovely it might be, you can’t always buy your food direct from a local organic farmer. So how can you make the best choices from what’s available? We’ve got plenty of tips on how to buy green, whether that’s at your local zero-waste shop, the supermarket or online.
Learn more about shopping sustainably
Reduce your food miles
Food miles are the distance your food travels, from where it’s produced to your plate. Every mile travelled increases the greenhouse gases emitted.
It’s better for the environment if you eat plant-based food, no matter how far it’s travelled.[2] But when choosing between similar foods, buy the one that’s grown and processed as close as possible to your home, without the aid of a heated greenhouse. For example, if you live in the UK, tomatoes grown outdoors in Spain are definitely better than tomatoes grown in South America, and very likely to be better than tomatoes grown in heated greenhouses in the UK in winter. But in this case, it’s even better to eat seasonally, choosing tinned, frozen or dried tomatoes instead of fresh ones.
Read more about reducing your food miles
Buy from a zero-waste shop
Zero-waste shops sell everyday items, like groceries and cleaning products, without packaging, so you can avoid unnecessary waste. You can bring your own containers, or buy reusable containers from them the first time you buy something. They also act as green hubs for recycling and sharing tips, making them a great place to feel part of a local green tribe.
Read more about how zero-waste shops work here
Choose loose fruit and vegetables to minimise packaging
This one can be challenging because you often have to choose between “loose” or “organic”. If you have an all-organic store nearby that solves that problem. Failing that, choose the least damaging packaging you can find; cardboard, compostable pouches, or potato starch wrappers. Or if it’s within your budget, buy from an online organic supplier like Riverford or Able & Cole.
Buy bigger packs
Most yoghurt/cream pots aren’t recyclable. It sounds counter-intuitive, but you can minimise overall waste by buying your food in the biggest pack that makes sense for your needs. That’s because bigger packs have a better packaging-to-product ratio than smaller ones. Bigger packs are usually better value for money too, if you can afford the initial cost.
Use a reusable coffee cup and water bottle
There are plenty of really nice reusable coffee cups and water bottles on the market now, and many of them are plastic-free as well. Plus they’re priced nicely for birthdays, Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, if you know a coffee drinker who needs a nudge.
Influence and society
Lobby your MP about food waste
Write to your political representative asking what they’re doing to make supermarkets take responsibility for the food they reject, and to help them pass on unwanted food to people who need it.
See our Influence page for more ways to influence companies, politicians and people you know.
Join a food collective (e.g. Olio or Too Good To Go)
Olio connects people with each other and with local shops & cafes so surplus food and other items can be shared, not thrown away. You can also share non-food items. Learn more about Olio and sign up here.
Too Good To Go links you to restaurants and shops that have excess food, which you can buy at a fraction of the cost late in the day. Learn more about Too Good To Go and sign up here.
Start or join a Community Fridge
Community fridges allow individuals and businesses to donate or receive surplus food. According to Hubbub, the environmental behaviour change charity, each fridge can save more than 2 tonnes of food every month.
At the time of writing, Hubbub has helped set up 300 Community Fridges in the UK, with more being started all the time. Find your nearest community fridge here. (The fridge icons are pale blue rectangles and very hard to see, but there is a list on the left-hand side where you can look up your town by name.)
Eat the right amount
Our relationships with food can be very complex. But, looking at our food consumption from a purely environmental point of view, many of us could reduce our impact by simply eating the right amount for our sex, height and activity level.
By avoiding snacks and reducing portion sizes, you could save money, reach a healthy weight, reduce packaging waste and reduce emissions from producing and transporting food – all at the same time.
In the garden
Grow your own food
Every piece of food that you grow yourself saves you money, has zero food miles, zero packaging waste, gets you outside in the fresh air, and gives you a massive sense of achievement. You also get the satisfaction of eating seasonally and learning to store and use your own produce, and you can do it on a small or large scale.
Read more about growing your own food here
Join a growers’ collective or gardening club
Gardening clubs and growers collectives provide opportunities to swap seeds, seedlings, produce, and advice to help your crops flourish. They may also give you discounts at your local garden centre.
Compost your food waste
Any bits of fruit and vegetables you really can’t use can be composted. Your local council might collect this kerbside (ours collects in plastic caddies, a little one inside the house and a bigger one which goes out to the road).
We collect ours in a heavy-lidded casserole dish instead. The heavy lid seals it and keeps the smell inside (even in summer). Then we dump it on the compost heap and forget about it – composting is only as hard as you make it! One to two years later, you’ve got free compost in which to grow your vegetables.
Use vertical space
Vertical spaces like fences, sunny walls, and support structures can be used to grow more fruit and vegetables. For example, fruit trees like apricots do well against sunny walls; herbs and veg can be grown in containers fixed to a fence; and beans and tomatoes can be grown up frames made from bamboo sticks.
Make the most of what you have
Don’t waste food that grows naturally. Use the blackberries, wild strawberries and nettles that grow in the far corners of your garden, and help yourself to the apples and courgettes that people leave in baskets by their gates.
If you are foraging, learn from someone who knows what they are looking at and use a good field guide. Many plants look similar to dangerous ones, so only eat something if you’re certain it’s safe. Always pick from areas that are away from pollution sources, and only take what you need.
[1] Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single biggest way’ to reduce your impact on Earth, The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/31/avoiding-meat-and-dairy-is-single-biggest-way-to-reduce-your-impact-on-earth (Accessed: February 20, 2023).
[2] Poore, J. and Nemecek, T. (2018). Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science, 360(6392), pp.987-992.
After researching five environmental indicators, 38,700 farms, and 1600 processors, packaging types, and retailers, the researchers found that “Most strikingly, impacts of the lowest-impact animal products typically exceed those of vegetable substitutes, providing new evidence for the importance of dietary change.”
[3] Definition & facts for lactose intolerance – niddk (2018) Definition & Facts for Lactose Intolerance. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases / U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Available at: https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/lactose-intolerance/definition-facts (Accessed: March 19, 2023).
Image credits:
Small dishes of guacamole, tomatoes etc – photo by Ralph (Ravi) Kayden on Unsplash
Tomato open sandwich – photo by Monika Grabkowska on Unsplash
Pizza – photo by Sahand Hoseini on Unsplash
Cooking with a stainless steel pan – photo by Le Creuset on Unsplash
Containers in a fridge – photo by Ello on Unsplash
Red peppers – photo by Tamara Malaniy on Unsplash
Stainless steel pans with glass lids – photo by Frank Zhang on Unsplash
Wraps – photo by Vije Vijendranath on Unsplash
Wholemeal bread – photo by Nha Van on Unsplash
Gravity dispensers in a zero-waste shop – photo by Benjamin Brunner on Unsplash
Vegetables displayed in wicker baskets – photo by Raul Gonzalez Escobar on Unsplash
Woman holding oranges – photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash
Vegetable garden – photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
Two hands holding compost – photo by Gabriel Jimenez on Unsplash