November 10 is National Vanilla Cupcake Day! If you’re looking to celebrate this obscure yet delicious holiday, why not consider a plant-based cupcake with the same great taste and a gentler impact on our climate? There are many recipes online, but this one’s a proven winner – just ask our Plant-Based Eating Coaches! Let’s take a look at how the main ingredients stack up when it comes to our climate.
Dairy-based butter has a significantly higher environmental impact, roughly 3.7 times more damaging than plant-based alternatives across most major metrics. This is primarily due to methane emissions from cows, land use, and feed production. While dairy-based butters emit an average of 12.1 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents (CDE) per kilogram of product, plant-based butters emit an average of 3.3 kilograms of CDE per kilogram. Switching from a pound of dairy butter to a pound of plant-based butter saves roughly 3.5 kg of greenhouse gas emissions. The same goes for making the switch from a dairy-based milk to a plant-based milk, the two most resource intensive ingredients in the list. Small changes really do add up over time.
Try out these amazing vanilla cupcakes and let us know how they turned out. Not into baking? Swing by the Sustainability Cafe at the Newton Free Library this Saturday, November 14 between 10:30-12:30pm and you can test them out yourself. Make sure you come early, we know they won’t last long!
Source: “Dairy Butter Is Nearly Four Times Worse For The Planet Than Plant Based Butter.” (Vegnews, March 16, 2020)
“Upfield Plant-Based Spreads and Margarines vs. Dairy Butter.”(Flora Food Group, March 2020.)
Learn how to reduce your environmental footprint through plant-based eating by visiting the Plant-Based Eating page on Green Newton’s website or connecting with a volunteer Plant-Based Eating Coach.