While I don't disagree that vegans are mostly hypocrites, there are vast differences in the type of meat and produce:



The carbon footprint of a Big Mac is approximately 2.35kg CO2e, which is comparable to driving about 7.88 miles in an average car. The majority of this impact comes from the beef patty, which accounts for about 2.11kg of the total emissions.

A kilogram of popular cheeses like cheddar can produce the equivalent 6.5 to 12.8 kg of CO2e. Harder cheeses have a larger footprint than softer, water-rich cheeses, and cheese generally has a higher carbon footprint than other proteins like chicken and pork.



And while Tofu, nuts and Coconuts have a lower carbon footprint, you are correct:

Soybean production's most significant impact is deforestation, particularly in the Amazon and Cerrado regions of South America, as large areas are cleared for cultivation. This leads to biodiversity loss and high greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to land-use change.

(However over 75% of Soy Beans are used for animal feed...)

Coconut farming poses a severe threat to biodiversity on tropical islands. Coconut trees are less efficient at producing oil per hectare than oil palm, requiring more land to meet demand, which drives deforestation in unique, biodiverse ecosystems.

Nut production generally has a lower GHG emission and land use impact than animal proteins. However, certain nuts, particularly almonds and pistachios grown in water-stressed regions like California, have an extremely high water footprint.

There's no way around it, humans run on protein, got to get it somewhere.
(The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein is a modest 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, or 0.36 grams per pound)

However the most environmentally friendly sources of protein are:

The most environmentally friendly protein sources are nuts, peas, and beans, with nuts having the lowest carbon footprint per 100g of protein at approximately 0.26kg CO2e. Peas emit about 0.4kg CO2e per 100g of protein, while beans are also very low-impact.



Compared to driving:

100 grams of beef protein is equivalent to driving 124.7 miles (average passenger car emits 400 grams per mile)
100 grams of Nuts protein is equivalent to driving 0.65 miles.

The average price for 400 grams of beef varies significantly, but generally ranges from about $13 to $26 (Beef has about 25% protein)
The average price for 500 grams (about 1.1 lbs) of nuts in the US generally ranges from $10 to $30 (Avg 6 grams per ounce = 21% protein)

100 grams of protein is enough to sustain humans up to 125 kg / 275 pounds. 


A broccoli salad with fresh peppers and cashews is delicious. Of course add cheese, raisins, dressing, it all adds up, but beef is indisputably much worse. Even though beef cattle only get to live 18 to 24 months on average, they still only convert approximately 4% of the feed protein to edible beef protein, making them 25 times less 'efficient' by default, compared to simply eating the source protein. (Going up to 175 times less efficient compared to eating nuts for protein)


But land use is a big factor as well. Also a reason why methanol is not a good alternative to fossil fuels.


Does that all put the 312g to produce a physical game into perspective :p (1 Big Mac ~ 7.5 games ~ 42.7 hours of streaming)

But how many of those SUV carbon tons come from SUV owners driving to purchase those physical games? And those employees with SUVs working at BestBuy to sell those discs to you? Ha got ya!

That's a problem created by the move to digital :p

You used to be able to buy physical games in Video stores, Music stores, Electronics stores even some Supermarkets. Walmart still sells them next to groceries. Digital makes you have go further to buy games or get them delivered :p

I used to just be able to buy games on my commute back home, plenty stores selling games along the way.

Also all those employees are now browsing and streaming on their phones between fewer and fewer customers. Got ya back!


What's the carbon footprint of all the servers needed to check your digital licenses every time you turn on your console or start a digital game ;)

Not MY soya beans ;)

You are right, though, land is destroyed with monoculture soybean plantations, to feed livestock, and after the land is destroyed they put more livestock there, and then repeat the process with another land in this destructive cycle. But hey, I'm glad that you got to learn that!

Edit: well, SvennoJ already did a much more detailed explanation of how things work, thanks for that, I personally don't have the patience for that anymore.

Haha now you're feeding into the stereotype vegan diets make miserable (impatient) people. jk.

Damn 97% of US Soybeans are for cattle... 

Fits with these stats

Globally, about 26% of the Earth's land surface is used for grazing, which is roughly the size of the entire Americas. This excludes cropland used for animal feed, which takes up an area as large as China. In total, livestock accounts for around 80% of all agricultural land use

A 2020 study found that the current pastureland alone could only support about 27% of the global beef supply, requiring supplemental feed from cropland to produce more.

Free-roam feeding all the cattle in the world would require a vast amount of land, estimated to be around 32 million square kilometers (12.3 million square miles), or an area roughly the size of the entire continents of North and South America combined. The current global cattle herd is approximately 1.5 billion head.

Then there are 26.5 billion chickens, about 1 billion pigs, 1.2 billion sheep, 1.2 to 2.2 trillion fish harvested yearly, about 109 billion farmed yearly, all to feed and sustain 8.1 billion people.

And if you swap Beef for Nut protein (100g) for 1 meal, you've saved the production equivalent of 140 physical games! (and about 0.6% of a full grown cow spared, the protein from one adult cow can feed you for 168 days, eat beef every day takes over 2 cows a year, eat chicken every day you kill 222 chickens a year, more if you only eat chicken breasts)


Yeah people don't like vegans because they are right :/ Uncomfortable truths.

(Of course there are still challenges with B12 and Omega-3s in a vegan diet, but red meat diet carries its own risks which are arguably much worse. Plus B12 and Omega-3 are easily produced with plant based fermentation and algea, same way cows and fish make it)

Anyway you likely know all this, not directed at you, just some more food for thought for this thread :)

And yeah I'm a hypocrite as well as I finish my sirloin steak dinner in a heated home while browsing the internet with the TV on in the background streaming :/

Honestly man... i couldnt care less.

This is extremely alarming.
We need to put a stop to future physical media asap.
And on that green environmental note, just imagine how much worse future physical hardware is for the planet...
We need to stop next gen hardware from ever being shipped, manufactured, heck even designed, for the good of us all !!!

A well, I just hold my breath for ten seconds every hour or so. I'm doing my bit.

*cough* yeah I don't care, still gonna buy physical games.

I do care about my Carbon Footprint... And unfortunately as a side effect of my career choice, I do add a significant amount of Carbon to the environment... 
For example, this photo I took is a regular training exercise on a Sunday (Stuff going to Church when your office is this!):



But that doesn't mean I don't make efforts elsewhere to minimize my footprint, I reduce, reuse and recycle where possible and I take greener modes of transport when it makes sense and where possible. (I.E. Motorcycles.)
I also have solar photovoltaic cells on my home with a battery... Which takes advantage of the plentiful sunlight in Australia - In conjunction with a hybrid heat pump water system which is also supported by a dedicated hot water solar thermal panel.

And of course, I have a self-sufficent drought-tolerant garden which requires minimal maintenance and upkeep whilst supporting native flora and fauna.

I still refuse to give up physical. - When I can't buy physical with consoles is the day I am strictly a 100% PC gamer.