Sandwiched Between Emission & Preparation

Sandwich Can be Consumed During Any Time of Day

Dal chawal, roti subzi, idli, dosa and variety rice are being substituted with easy-to-grab sandwiches. It is not of concern whether you bring your own sandwich from home or buy one for lunch. The carbon footprint in the sandwich might play a diversified role in greenhouse gas emission, according to a new study.
​
The A-Z of a sandwich was considered while calculating carbon footprint for the same, right from ingredients procurement, preparation of sandwich and its packaging and food waste produced at home or outside home.

1,2, 3,4,5 Once I Make a Sandwich Light
More than 40 different sandwiches and their fillings were examined. Finally, it was concluded that the highest carbon footprints existed for those with port meat (bacon, ham or sausage), cheese or prawns.

Many prefer to eat a sandwich for breakfast/lunch/dinner for its easy preparation, less time consumption, variety of ingredients and health quotient. Not one of us could imagine this versatile food to be high in carbon footprint. Sandwich made of eggs, bacon and sausage is said to contain maximum carbon footprint, around the same quantity of CO2 that gets released when you take your car for a 20-kilometer drive. On the contrary, the sandwich with the least carbon footprint includes one of the most adored and easy-to-prepare homemade ham and cheese sandwich. Also, the study found that preparing your own sandwich at home can help reduce carbon emission by 50% compared to the ready-to-eat ones available outside.

British’s Greatest Contribution
The sandwich food was discovered in Britain and introduced to the world. Obviously, UK is the greatest contributor to this carbon emission consuming more than 11.5 billion sandwiches and contributing to more than 9.5 million tons of CO2 emission, that is equivalent to the emission of more than 8.6 million cars. Isn’t this intriguing?

The main factors that increases carbon emission in a sandwich include:

1. Rather than the preparation of the sandwich, the main contributor to sandwich’s carbon emission includes the agricultural production and processing of ingredients.
2. Keeping sandwiches chilled in the supermarket/shop which account for quarter of the greenhouse gas emissions
3. The packaging materials used account for up to 8.5%
4. Transporting materials and refrigerating sandwiches themselves add another 4%.
5. Ingredients such as tomato, lettuce, cheese and meat have higher carbon footprints. Reducing the intake of such ingredients can help reduce greenhouse emission and decrease calorie addition (cheese and meat) as well, thereby helping to promote a healthier lifestyle.
   ​

These emissions can definitely be reduced by at least 50% of the current emission rates by doing a few alterations to the recipes, packaging and waste disposal methods. Even sell-by and use-by dates can be extended to prevent wastage by as much as 2000 tons and enhance usage. Usually, commercial sandwiches stay healthy far beyond the use-by date and are safe for consumption even after the use-by date.
​
Mankind is never going to leave this versatile food for such reasons and the only way in which we can cut down emission rates is to ignore a few ingredients and prepare your own sandwich at home. Read more on sandwiches and their different preparation methods available at www.firsteatright.com.