Table 3.
Total Environmental Impact of Vegan and Mediterranean diets: Impact Categories and Damage Categories. Aggregated Weighted Average: total environmental load expressed as a Single Score (mPt = milliPoints).
| Impact Category | Unit | Vegan | Mediterranean | Δ Veg-Med | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Global warming, Human health | Pt | 1.57 × 10−1 | 2.04 × 10−1 | −0.47 × 10−1 | −23.21 |
| Global warming, Terrestrial ecosystem | Pt | 2.09 × 10−2 | 2.72 × 10−2 | −0.63 × 10−2 | −23.20 |
| Global warming, Freshwater ecosystem | Pt | 5.71 × 10−7 | 7.44 × 10−7 | −1.73 × 10−7 | −23.20 |
| Stratospheric ozone depletion | Pt | 6.03 × 10−4 | 7.87 × 10−4 | −1.84 × 10−4 | −23.40 |
| Ionizing radiation | Pt | 7.74 × 10−5 | 4.15 × 10−5 | 3.59 × 10−5 | 86.55 |
| Ozone formation, Human health | Pt | 3.89 × 10−4 | 5.23 × 10−4 | −1.34 × 10−4 | −25.69 |
| Fine particulate matter formation | Pt | 1.77 × 10−1 | 2.33 × 10−1 | −0.56 × 10−1 | −24.17 |
| Ozone formation, Terrestrial ecosystem | Pt | 2.48 × 10−3 | 3.34 × 10−3 | −0.85 × 10−3 | −25.55 |
| Terrestrial acidification | Pt | 9.79 × 10−3 | 14.19 × 10−3 | −4.40 × 10−3 | −31.04 |
| Freshwater eutrophication | Pt | 1.67 × 10−3 | 1.75 × 10−3 | −0.08 × 10−3 | −4.70 |
| Marine eutrophication | Pt | 1.66 × 10−5 | 1.97 × 10−5 | −0.32 × 10−5 | −15.95 |
| Terrestrial ecotoxicity | Pt | 3.10 × 10−4 | 3.03 × 10−4 | 0.07 × 10−4 | 2.24 |
| Freshwater ecotoxicity | Pt | 2.91 × 10−4 | 3.00 × 10−4 | −0.09 × 10−4 | −2.90 |
| Marine ecotoxicity | Pt | 4.95 × 10−5 | 4.90 × 10−5 | 0.05 × 10−5 | 0.98 |
| Human carcinogenic toxicity | Pt | 1.72 × 10−2 | 1.79 × 10−2 | −0.07 × 10−2 | −3.74 |
| Human non-carcinogenic toxicity | Pt | 1.15 × 10−1 | 4.09 × 10−1 | −2.94 × 10−1 | −71.95 |
| Land use | Pt | 0.76 × 10−1 | 1.49 × 10−1 | −0.73 × 10−1 | −48.78 |
| Mineral resource scarcity | Pt | 1.76 × 10−4 | 1.87 × 10−4 | −0.11 × 10−4 | −6.03 |
| Fossil resource scarcity | Pt | 8.88 × 10−3 | 9.38 × 10−3 | −0.50 × 10−3 | −5.32 |
| Water consumption, Human health | Pt | 2.33 × 10−2 | 2.26 × 10−2 | 0.07 × 10−2 | 3.13 |
| Water consumption, Terrestrial ecosystem | Pt | 6.58 × 10−3 | 6.23 × 10−3 | 0.35 × 10−3 | 5.55 |
| Water consumption, Aquatic ecosystem | Pt | 2.33 × 10−6 | 2.17 × 10−6 | 0.16 × 10−6 | 7.16 |
| Damage Category | |||||
| Human health | Pt | 4.90 × 10−1 | 8.88 × 10−1 | −3.98 × 10−1 | −44.83 |
| Ecosystems | Pt | 1.18 × 10−1 | 2.02 × 10−1 | −0.84 × 10−1 | −41.50 |
| Resources | Pt | 9.06 × 10−3 | 9.57 × 10−3 | −0.51 × 10−3 | −5.34 |
| Total | Pt | 6.17 × 10−1 | 11.00 × 10−1 | −4.83 × 10−1 | −43.88 |
Note: Impact categories with the highest importance are in Bold Italics.