One Quarter Pounder does the same damage to the environment as a 10-mile drive
We all love Maccies. My personal hungover McDonald’s order is not a source of shame, it is a source of pride. 20 chicken nuggets, sweet chili chicken wrap, fries and a double cheeseburger. What do you think? It both revives me and kills me after every night out. Well, at least it was a source of pride until I saw the statistics on how damaging items from the McDonald’s menu are on the environment, and now I sheepishly feel like I might singlehandedly cause The Day After Tomorrow every time I want a scran. Ever wanted to know which McDonald’s menu items are worst for the environment? This calculator has helped us to get a good idea.
There’s a carbon calculator online called Plate up for the PlanetIt calculates the carbon emissions for each item in the menu so you can see the extent of the damage your Maccies are causing to the planet. Are you ready to feel a little guilty?
It’s not good news for the Double Big Mac
Anything meaty on your order is putting you in the environmental bad books – that’s the facts you need. A Double Big Mac is the worst thing you can order for the planet. It’s the equivalent to taking your petrol car for a 15-mile drive. All for ONE MEAT. Thankfully the Double Big Mac isn’t a permanent menu addition – but the Quarter Pounder is, and that produces the emissions of a 10 mile drive. A regular Big Mac isn’t great either, with close to an 8 mile petrol car drive equivalent.
Double Big Mac. Via McDonald’s
The McPlant and fries are the best options if you’re trying to be green and still enjoy Maccies. Chicken options come somewhere in the middle on the McDonald’s menu items that are worst for the environment. Here’s a list of some of the more popular menu items:
- Double Big Mac: 4.46kg CO2e 14.95 Miles in an average British petrol vehicle
- Quarter Pounder : 2.99kg CO2e 10.03 miles
- Bacon double cheeseburger: 2.87kg CO2e 9.63 mi
- Big Mac : 2.35kg CO2e 7.88 miles
- 20 McNuggets – 2.13kg CO2e. -7.15 miles
- Chicken Legend with mayo – 0.9kg CO2e 3.02 Miles
- Three Chicken Selects: 0.86kg CO2e 2.88 Miles
- Fillet OFish : 0.82kg CO2e 2.75 miles
- McPlant : 0.29kg CO2e 0.97 miles
- McFlurry – 0.17kg CO2e 0.57
- Large fries – 0.15kg CO2e 0.5 Miles
All calculations are not official because of variations in food production. Nonetheless, it’s greener to cut down on the meat and order the veggie options at McDonald’s, or at least try and get chicken or fish options instead.
A McDonald’s spokesperson told Metro the following regarding the statistics on the worst McDonald’s menu items for the environment: “We take our responsibility around the climate incredibly seriously, and recently launched our Plan for Change which sets out a series of ambitious goals that will help us accelerate our efforts to reduce our impact on the planet. This includes our goal to achieve net zero emissions in our entire business and value-chain in the UK & Ireland by 2040.
“We are committed to leading the change on beef sustainability; Our Better Grazing research project is helping us understand the benefits of using regenerative principals when it comes to beef farming, and we were founding members of both the UK Cattle Sustainability Platform and the European Roundtable for Beef Sustainability.”
Featured Image viaJennifer GriffinOn UnsplashBefore editing.
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