Animal Lives and CO₂ Impact: How VegaVriend Makes Your Contribution Measurable

At VegaVriend, we strive for a better world. That’s why we display the number of animal lives you save and the amount of CO₂ emissions you prevent with each purchase. These calculations are based on research by Andrew Knight, published in the study “The relative benefits for environmental sustainability of vegan diets for dogs, cats, and people“. In this text, we explain how these numbers are calculated.

Animal Lives Saved: This number indicates how many animal lives are saved by choosing our products instead of comparable animal-based products.

CO₂ Savings: This value shows how many kilograms of CO₂-equivalents (CO₂-eq.) are saved through your purchase.

The calculations are specifically made for food and snacks. For products such as toys, cat litter, and grooming products, no savings in animal lives or CO₂ emissions apply, as these products typically do not contain animal ingredients.

However, many of these products are designed with sustainability in mind. This means attention is given to the use of recycled materials, minimizing plastic, and efficient production processes that consume less energy and water. This approach makes the products more sustainable than comparable options, not by replacing animal ingredients with plant-based ones, but through conscious choices in material use and production.

The calculation of animal lives saved is based on the number of calories (kcal) in the product, as calories serve as a direct measure of the energy requirements of pets. This allows for a fair comparison, as the energy content determines the amount of food needed.

A small piece of meat often contains more calories than a large volume of plant-based food. By calculating with calories, we can fairly compare how many animals are needed to meet the energy needs of pets.

Significantly more fish are killed than land animals. In Knight’s (2023) study, estimates of these numbers are provided. Of the fish used in pet food, approximately 15% goes to dog food and 85% to cat food. However, the majority of the fish killed is consumed by humans.

According to Knight, it is estimated that only 1% of the fish killed is processed into food for dogs and cats, while the remaining 99% is consumed by humans. The table below combines the first two columns from Knight’s research with additional calculations for the other columns.

The next step is to calculate how many animals are consumed on average by a dog or cat, both per year and per day. To illustrate this, an example calculation is provided below, offering insight into the number of animal lives required for different diets.

Since the average daily calorie requirement is known (1,351 kcal for a dog and 222 kcal for a cat), it is possible to calculate how many animals are consumed per year. This is summarized in the table below.

Daily Consumption Per kcal:

• Dogs: 0.0000461 animals per kcal.
• Cats: 0.0003061 animals per kcal.

Number of Animals Per Product:

Using the values calculated above, we can determine how many animal lives are saved for each product. Below is an example calculation for a 10 kg bag of dog food, where the kibble has an energy content of 350 kcal per 100 grams.

The calculation is based on the amount of CO₂-equivalents (CO₂-eq) saved by choosing plant-based instead of animal-based ingredients. This difference is determined by comparing the average CO₂-eq required for the production of animal-based ingredients versus plant-based ingredients.

The weight of food provides direct insight into the raw materials, energy, and transportation required for production. This makes it a practical measure for calculating the environmental impact of different products. In Knight’s research, CO₂ emissions were calculated per kilogram of product, aligning with the datasets used. These datasets standardly report food impact per kilogram, ensuring a reliable and consistent comparison.

This method does not calculate the specific impact of a single product, but rather the difference in impact between fully plant-based products and an average variant containing animal ingredients. This allows for a clear and fair demonstration of how plant-based products have a lower environmental impact.

Below is a detailed description of the calculations:

1. CO₂ Emissions (Expressed in CO₂-eq) Per Ingredient Type:

The climate impact of different ingredients is calculated based on their CO₂-equivalents (CO₂-eq). Knight references the research by Poore and Nemecek (2018): Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers, Supplementary materials. This study, published in Science, uses an extensive life cycle analysis (LCA) to measure climate impact throughout a product’s lifecycle.

This LCA accounts for:

• Land use: The effect of agricultural land on climate change.
• Animal feed production: CO₂ emissions from producing feed for animals.
• Farm operations: Includes the use of machinery such as tractors.
• Processing: Energy and resources required for processing products.
• Transport: Movement of raw materials and final products.
• Packaging: The impact of packaging materials.
• Retail: Emissions from product distribution and sales.

The tables below present the LCA results for plant-based and animal-based products (measured in kg CO₂-eq).

2. Average composition of diet:

To calculate the average environmental impact of a plant-based diet versus a diet with animal ingredients, researchers analyzed the quantities of food produced. The tables below show the average composition of plant-based and animal-based diets (in tons and percentage share).

Below in the table, the same data for animal-based products.

23. The average climate warming impact of animal-based and plant-based ingredients

With the average impact of the ingredients and their respective shares, a weighted average can be calculated. For plant-based ingredients, the impact is 1.25 kg CO₂-eq, while for animal-based ingredients, it is 12.3 kg CO₂-eq.

To compare plant-based food and food with animal-based ingredients, it is important to know the average proportion of animal and plant-based ingredients in the diet.

24. The average composition of food

According to the book Dog.Eat.Plant., the average dry food for dogs consists of 35% animal-based ingredients and 65% plant-based ingredients. Plant-based food, of course, consists entirely of plant-based ingredients (100%).

For cats, the proportion of animal-based ingredients is slightly higher, between 30% and 50%. For calculations, an average of 40% animal-based ingredients has been used.

In wet food, which generally contains more moisture, the proportion of animal-based ingredients is higher: between 40% and 75%. For calculations, an average of 58% animal-based ingredients has been used. No distinction has been made between wet food for dogs and cats.

5. Moisture content in food

The moisture content varies significantly between products. In the production of dry food, a large part of the moisture disappears during heating, resulting in an average kibble moisture content of 11%. In fresh meat, however, the moisture content at slaughter is around 70%. For plant-based ingredients, the moisture content can vary considerably. The moisture content has been determined per product, and a weighted average of 57% moisture has been calculated.

Meat, therefore, contains a lot of moisture. If dog kibble contains 35% meat ingredients, a much larger quantity of meat was needed than the weight present in the kibble. To determine how much meat was required, you have to work backward. For a 10-kilogram bag of kibble, as much as 10.6 kilograms of meat was needed.

6. Calculation of climate impact

Now that we know the moisture content of different products, the share of animal and plant-based ingredients, and the average climate impact of these ingredients, the impact per kilogram can be calculated.

Calculation for food with animal ingredients

The calculation consists of two parts:

• From the animal ingredients
• From the plant-based ingredients

1. Calculation of the climate impact of animal ingredients

For average dog kibble containing animal ingredients, the following calculation can be made:

The meat in animal-based food had a moisture content of 70%. The dry matter content of meat is therefore 100% – 70% = 30%.

The kibble has a moisture content of 9%. The dry matter content is therefore 91%. This means that more than three times the amount of animal ingredients is needed (91% ÷ 30% = 3.03).

The percentage of animal ingredients in dog kibble is 35%. For one kilogram of dog food, you therefore need 0.35 kilograms x 3.03 = 1.06 kilograms of meat.

The impact of 1 kilogram of meat is 12.3 kg CO₂-eq. For 1.06 kilograms, the impact is therefore 1.06 x 12.3 = 13.1 kg CO₂-eq.

2. Calculation of the climate impact of plant-based ingredients

For the 65% plant-based ingredients, a similar calculation can be made: 100% – 57% = 43% dry matter.

Thus, 91% ÷ 43% = 2.11x as many plant-based ingredients are needed. For 1 kg of dog kibble, you need 0.65 kilograms x 2.11 = 1.37 kilograms of plant-based ingredients.

The impact of 1 kilogram of plant-based products is 1.25 kg CO₂-eq. For 1.37 kilograms, the impact is 1.37 x 1.25 = 1.71 kg CO₂-eq.

Climate impact of both animal and plant-based ingredients

The total impact of one kilogram of dog kibble with 35% meat and 65% plant-based ingredients is therefore 13.1 + 1.71 = 14.8 kg CO₂-eq.

Calculation for food with plant-based ingredients

The same calculation can be made for kibble with only plant-based ingredients. For this, you only need to calculate the amount of plant-based ingredients.

For 100% plant-based ingredients, we already saw that 2.11x as many plant-based ingredients are required. For 1 kg of dog kibble, you need 2.11 kilograms of plant-based ingredients.

The impact of 1 kilogram of plant-based products is 1.25 kg CO₂-eq. For 2.11 kilograms, the impact is 2.11 x 1.25 = 2.6 kg CO₂-eq.

Calculation of the difference between food with animal and plant-based ingredients

The difference between average dog kibble with animal ingredients and dog kibble with plant-based ingredients is therefore 14.8 – 2.6 = 12.2 kg CO₂-eq per kilogram. By choosing plant-based dog kibble instead of kibble with animal ingredients, you save 12.2 kg CO₂-eq per kilogram.

To better understand the impact of CO₂ equivalents (CO₂-eq), this can be compared to the emissions of a passenger car. A car emits an average of
0.149 kg CO₂ per kilometer driven
(Source: Milieu Centraal).

The 12.2 kg CO₂-eq saved by choosing one kilogram of plant-based dog kibble instead of kibble with animal ingredients is equivalent to a car covering a distance of: 12.2 kg CO₂-eq ÷ 0.149 kg CO₂ per km ≈ 82 kilometers.

In other words, choosing one kilogram of plant-based dog kibble saves as much CO₂ as the emissions from a car trip of 82 kilometers.

The table below contains the key results of the calculations, based on the assumptions explained above. These results have been applied to all VegaVriend products.

Do you have any questions or would you like to know more about our calculations? Feel free to contact us! We are always ready to help you. You can reach us via our contact page.