Welcome to Plant-Based University Heidelberg!

57% of food emissions come from animal products

Most of the greenhouse gas emissions from what we eat come from animal products. Meat and dairy alone generate more emissions than all the world's planes, ships, and cars combined.

The reason: animals need huge amounts of feed. Almost 60% of the grain available in Germany ends up as animal feed, not as food for people. On top of that, animals release gases like methane, a greenhouse gas around 27 times more powerful than CO2.

The average person in Germany eats around 145 g of meat a day. A study from the University of Oxford shows that a diet like this causes about 10 kg of CO2e a day. A plant-based diet, on the other hand, causes only about 2.5 kg, a quarter as much.

Start with one meal.

Swapping one meat-based meal for a plant-based one a day saves about 2.5 kg of CO2e, as much as driving 15 km by car.

Heidelberg’s Mensas serve 2.09 million meals a year. Made plant-based, they could save up to 5,400 tonnes of CO2e a year.

Baden-Württemberg wants to be climate-neutral by 2030. This is one of the most direct ways Heidelberg can contribute to getting there.

Yes! By working together.

It’s already happening. In Graz, the university Mensa has gone fully plant-based. In Berlin, 68% of the dishes are vegan.

Baden-Württemberg wants to be climate-neutral by 2030. Going plant-based is one of the most direct ways Heidelberg can contribute to getting there, and set an example far beyond our city.