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World War ‘V’: Emissions change if Birmingham became vegetarian and contemporary attitudes towards vegetarianism.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

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<mark>Journal publication date</mark>1/04/2020
<mark>Journal</mark>Routes: The Journal for Student Geographers
Issue number2
Volume1
Number of pages28
Pages (from-to)198-225
Publication StatusPublished
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

This study uses quantitative analysis to assess the current dietary habits of 27 vegetarian and 144 non-vegetarian Birmingham residents. Results suggest that environmental reasons are a more popular motivating factor for becoming vegetarian than in previous studies. Using published nutrition and emissions data, the impact of all residents of Birmingham eating only vegetarian meals, both at-home and when dining in Birmingham restaurants, was assessed. These data show that the average Birmingham resident can save approximately 906 kg of carbon dioxide a year by only eating vegetarian meals totalling 3,924,920,776 KgCO2e (equal to 0.85% of the UK’s emissions output). However, the results indicate that city-wide vegetarianism is not currently feasible for the Birmingham population as some residents do not deem any factors as sufficient motivation.