Personal impact calculator

What would one change add up to?

Say where you live, roughly what you eat, and the change you are considering. We show the difference over a year as a range, never a single number, with every factor listed.

Sample data. The figures and sources on this page are demonstration records showing how evidence will be presented. They are approximate and have not yet been through our review process. Read about how we will verify evidence.

1Where do you live?

Global average factors and a world-average diet.

2What do you eat in a typical week?

Prefilled with a world average diet. Adjust to yours. Servings per week; one serving is a typical portion (150 g meat, 140 g fish, a glass of milk, 30 g cheese, two eggs).

BeefLambPork (incl. bacon, ham)Chicken and other poultryFish and seafoodMilk (glasses, incl. in tea and cereal)CheeseEggs (pairs)

Averages hide enormous variation between and within countries.

3What change are you considering?

Over a year, that would be

Sample data

Removing about 40 kg of animal foods a year, replaced with about 52 kg of lentils, tofu and chickpeas for the same protein.

Greenhouse gas emissions

kg CO₂e per year

About 270 kg CO₂e less(range 130–420)

That is about 1600 km of driving.

Now

1,100

After

780

All greenhouse gases released producing the food, from land clearing to retail, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalents.

Land use

m² per year

About 1,200 m² less(range 700–1,600)

That is about 4.5 tennis courts of farmland.

Now

4,400

After

3,200

Farmland needed to produce the food, including grazing and land for animal feed.

Freshwater use

litres per year

About 38,000 litres less(range 23,000–53,000)

That is about 582 eight-minute showers.

Now

130,000

After

93,000

Not scarcity-weighted; see the row below where available.

Scarcity-weighted water use

litres eq. per year

About 350,000 litres eq. less(range 210,000–490,000)

Now

1,400,000

After

1,100,000

Weighted for water scarcity where each food is produced. Your country's own stress score (medium-high) is context, not an input.

Animals not slaughtered

animals per year

About 5 animals fewer(range 3–7)

Now

After

9.9

Approximate number of animals slaughtered for this amount of food. Small fractions mean one animal yields many portions. Zero for plant foods; dairy and eggs involve animals indirectly. Dairy and eggs are shown as zero because no animal is slaughtered per unit sold, but both systems involve animals; this metric only counts direct slaughter.

Factors used in this calculation

Every number below is per kilogram of food as eaten. Full assumptions are on the methodology page.

Food	Metric	Value per kg	Range	Geography	Source
Beef	Emissions	60 kg CO₂e	20–110	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Lamb	Emissions	24 kg CO₂e	14–34	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Pork	Emissions	7 kg CO₂e	4.2–9.8	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Chicken	Emissions	6 kg CO₂e	3.6–8.4	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Farmed salmon	Emissions	5 kg CO₂e	3–7	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Cow's milk	Emissions	3 kg CO₂e	1.8–4.2	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Cheese	Emissions	21 kg CO₂e	13–29	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Eggs	Emissions	4.5 kg CO₂e	2.7–6.3	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Lentils (replacement)	Emissions	0.9 kg CO₂e	0.54–1.3	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Tofu (replacement)	Emissions	3 kg CO₂e	1.8–4.2	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Chickpeas (replacement)	Emissions	0.8 kg CO₂e	0.48–1.1	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Beef	Land	326 m²	200–460	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Lamb	Land	370 m²	220–520	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Pork	Land	11 m²	6.6–15	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Chicken	Land	7 m²	4.2–9.8	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Farmed salmon	Land	4 m²	2.4–5.6	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Cow's milk	Land	9 m²	5.4–13	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Cheese	Land	41 m²	25–57	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Eggs	Land	6 m²	3.6–8.4	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Lentils (replacement)	Land	7.5 m²	4.5–11	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Tofu (replacement)	Land	3.5 m²	2.1–4.9	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Chickpeas (replacement)	Land	6 m²	3.6–8.4	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Beef	Water	1,450 litres	870–2,000	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Lamb	Water	1,800 litres	1,100–2,500	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Pork	Water	1,800 litres	1,100–2,500	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Chicken	Water	660 litres	400–920	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Farmed salmon	Water	2,000 litres	1,200–2,800	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Cow's milk	Water	630 litres	380–880	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Cheese	Water	5,600 litres	3,400–7,800	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Eggs	Water	580 litres	350–810	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Lentils (replacement)	Water	50 litres	30–70	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Tofu (replacement)	Water	150 litres	90–210	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Chickpeas (replacement)	Water	130 litres	78–180	Global average	Poore et al. (2018)
Beef	Scarce water	34,000 litres eq.	20,000–48,000	Global average	Kuzma et al. (2023)
Lamb	Scarce water	48,000 litres eq.	29,000–67,000	Global average	Kuzma et al. (2023)
Pork	Scarce water	21,000 litres eq.	13,000–29,000	Global average	Kuzma et al. (2023)
Chicken	Scarce water	7,800 litres eq.	4,700–11,000	Global average	Kuzma et al. (2023)
Farmed salmon	Scarce water	4,200 litres eq.	2,500–5,900	Global average	Kuzma et al. (2023)
Cow's milk	Scarce water	6,300 litres eq.	3,800–8,800	Global average	Kuzma et al. (2023)
Cheese	Scarce water	56,000 litres eq.	34,000–78,000	Global average	Kuzma et al. (2023)
Eggs	Scarce water	7,000 litres eq.	4,200–9,800	Global average	Kuzma et al. (2023)
Lentils (replacement)	Scarce water	1,500 litres eq.	900–2,100	Global average	Kuzma et al. (2023)
Tofu (replacement)	Scarce water	3,300 litres eq.	2,000–4,600	Global average	Kuzma et al. (2023)
Chickpeas (replacement)	Scarce water	2,500 litres eq.	1,500–3,500	Global average	Kuzma et al. (2023)
Beef	Animals	0.004 animals	0–0.01	Global approximation	Nations (2024)
Lamb	Animals	0.05 animals	0.03–0.07	Global approximation	Nations (2024)
Pork	Animals	0.017 animals	0.01–0.02	Global approximation	Nations (2024)
Chicken	Animals	0.7 animals	0.42–0.98	Global approximation	Nations (2024)
Farmed salmon	Animals	0.33 animals	0.2–0.46	Global approximation	Nations (2024)
Cow's milk	Animals	0 animals	0–0	Global approximation	Nations (2024)
Cheese	Animals	0 animals	0–0	Global approximation	Nations (2024)
Eggs	Animals	0 animals	0–0	Global approximation	Nations (2024)
Lentils (replacement)	Animals	0 animals	0–0	Global approximation	Nations (2024)
Tofu (replacement)	Animals	0 animals	0–0	Global approximation	Nations (2024)
Chickpeas (replacement)	Animals	0 animals	0–0	Global approximation	Nations (2024)

Sources: Poore et al. (2018); Nations (2024); Kuzma et al. (2023).