Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Carbon Footprint of Orange Juice

How much does your morning glass of orange juice contribute to global warming?

PepsiCo finally came up with a number: the equivalent of 3.75 pounds of carbon dioxide are emitted to the atmosphere for each half-gallon carton of orange juice.

As was the case with Walkers, Tropicana hired an outside auditor, the Carbon Trust, to review its calculations and certify its footprint.

Making orange juice is relatively straightforward: the oranges are picked by hand, trucked to the plant, squeezed, pasteurized and packed into cartons and shipped by train to distribution points around the country.

Growing the oranges accounted for a larger share — about a third — than PepsiCo had expected, almost entirely because of the production and application of fertilizer.
Interesting to see where in the life cycle most of the CO2 is emitted. Looks like fertilizer use is the largest portion accounting for 35% of the total.

via NY Times

3 comments:

Audacious Epigone said...

Note to self: Buy more orange juice. I'm sick of going weeks without ever breaking freezing. I live in Kansas City, not Fairbanks.

Fat Knowledge said...

AE,

Actually, I think you are going to have to make bigger sacrifices if you want to make a difference. Your current driving and eating habits are not conducive to warming the Earth. Instead of orange juice, I would suggest milk, or better yet, skip the drink and just eat more meat. Instead of eating at the table, you will want to think about doing so while driving in a Hummer. I realize this will require a major change in lifestyle, but this Earth isn't going to just warm itself. :)

Audacious Epigone said...

Hehe, I'm flattered by the sharpness of your memory. Actually, though, I like living frugally (for an American, anyway) and I'm not a fan of the heat. But sometimes when the cold seeps in and won't relent for so long, it's hard to shake yourself of it. So I'm going to pass on your suggestions!

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