Maya Reports

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October 23, 2010 • 2:16 PM 1

What’s your burger’s carbon FOODprint?

A popular food chain in Sweden – Max Burgers, which is second-largest to McDonald’s in its area, is taking food labeling to that next level.

Richard Bergfors, CEO of Max Burgers says

…adding the carbon footprint to the chain’s menuboard was a way for the company to be honest about its affect on the environment.

According to an article in Scientific American Magazine, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report found that with regards to beef production,

…current production levels of meat contribute between 14 and 22 percent of the 36 billion tons of “CO2-equivalent” greenhouse gases the world produces every year.

In layman’s terms:

…producing half a pound of hamburger for someone’s lunch a patty of meat the size of two decks of cards releases as much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere as driving a 3,000-pound car nearly 10 miles.

[A Jeep Cherokee weighs nearly 3,000 lbs… just for visual reference.]

Trying to show its customers that there are yummy alternatives to beef burgers

Max Burgers has rolled out several alternative, climate-friendly burger options, including vegetarian, falafel, and salmon burgers. Since putting carbon dioxide emission counts on the menuboard—an act that made it the first restaurant chain in the world to do so—sales of these types of menu items have gone up 20 percent.

In addition, Max Burger offsets its carbon emissions by planting trees in Africa, uses recycled packaging, and gets its electricity from wind and solar power.

Like it or not, climate change is definitely a big issue that needs to be dealt with. I’m hoping that other countries follow Sweden’s lead.

Bra jobbat Sverige! (Good job Sweden! …thank you Google Translate).

Filed under: Business, Green, Africa, beef, beef burgers, beef production, carbon dioxide emission, carbon foodprint, carbon footprint, climate change, CO2, Environment, FAO, Food, Food and Agriculture Organization, food labeling, google translate, greenhouse gas, Jeep, Jeep Cherokee, Max Burgers, McDonald's, Richard Bergfors, Scientific American magazine, Sverige, Sweden

June 16, 2010 • 8:30 AM 2

Whale poo, a study

A bunch of scientists at Flinders University in Southern Australia have led a study on how “Southern Ocean sperm whales offset their carbon footprint by defecating…”

Take a moment, if you must, to compose yourself.

The study is actually really interesting. Apparently 1 whale releases about 50 tons of iron a year. The iron released is their natural fertilization stimulating the process of photosynthesis. While whales eat in the deep ocean, they use the “facilities” in the upper portion of the water. It is there that phytoplankton grows, having access to sunlight, and absorbs the carbon dioxide. When the phytoplankton dies, the trapped carbon sinks to the deep ocean.

So how does this offset work? There are approximately 12,000 sperm whales currently inhabiting the Southern Ocean, that absorb about 400,000 tons of carbon each year. So the 12,000 whales release approximately 600,000 tons of iron which then offsets the 400,000 tons that they absorb per year.

Got it?