Should I Worry About the Carbon Footprint of My Orange Juice?

You may have read over on TreeHugger how Tropicana has released statistics on the carbon footprint of orange juice, and how this compares to bottled water. Which may have you wondering if you should be concerned about how much orange juice you are drinking.

Well, here's the short(ish) answer; Though bottled orange juice has a significantly higher carbon footprint that water, in the scheme of your overall emissions it really doesn't factor heavily. Simply making the choice to eat one meal without meat per week would have a greater impact on your carbon footprint over the year than giving up OJ would. As always, I would recommend choosing organic orange juice over non-organic: The greatest part of the carbon footprint of non-organic orange juice comes from the fertilizers used, and in addition the environmental benefits of organic farming itself, you can further reduce the carbon footprint of your daily dose of Vitamin C by doing so.