The cost of eating greener

A common barrier that many people face when looking to live greener is cost. Many of the things we’re encouraged to do to reduce our carbon footprint, like installing a heat pump or switching to an electric car, come with a big price tag and are not accessible to everyone. Even when we talk about food, we often hear that we need to go vegan, and there is a common misconception that that comes with a price. That is not necessarily the case. In fact, greener food choices are often cheaper! Don’t believe me? Hopefully a few examples will be enough to convince you…

Meat and fish

Meats and fish all have different carbon footprints and can often be swapped for each other without even having to change your recipe!

• Instead of a lamb casserole switch to a chicken casserole; the carbon footprint of chicken is about a quarter¹ of that of lamb! This swap could also save you £2-10² per kg.

• Instead of beef burgers, make pork burgers and save £2-5² per kg (alongside halving¹ the carbon emissions). 

• Swap out the haddock in your fish pie for trout and reduce the emissions by two thirds¹, all while saving £1-5² per kg and not changing a thing about the recipe.

Cheese

Cheese is a big reason that people say they can’t go vegan - it is absolutely delicious. Vegan cheeses are on the up in terms of quality, and coming down in price, but you don’t need to make that change if it’s not for you right now; there is always something you can do. Just like meat and fish, dairy cheeses have a carbon hierarchy, with cheddar emitting more than goats cheese, and parmesan emitting more than cheddar. Instead of topping your risotto with parmesan, try cheddar instead and save yourself £8-11² per kg and 28%¹ of the carbon emissions.

What about a vegan or vegetarian diet?

Vegetarians and vegans absolutely do not need to spend more on the weekly shop, and usually they don’t. Quorn mince is up to £2 cheaper² than beef mince, and beans are even cheaper than that so a Mexican chilli can be a really budget friendly choice. It’s true that some specialty vegan products are more expensive, but given that vegans and vegetarians usually buy more veggies and legumes and omit pricey meat proteins, the average vegan basket actually costs 8%³ less than the omnivorous equivalent!

Does eating seasonally make a difference?

Another big way to eat greener, fresher and cheaper food is to eat seasonally. Out-of-season foods sometimes cost a premium, perhaps because they’ve been flown in from abroad, or perhaps because they’ve been grown in hothouses in the UK which consume a lot of energy, and this cost is often passed on to the consumer. We’ll cover seasonal eating in more detail in a future blog.

Save the planet while you save some money

A greener basket is often a cheaper one, and so reducing the carbon footprint of your weekly shop is something well worth giving a go! You can use EcoTweaks to make these swaps directly in your shopping list so that when you go shopping you don’t even have to think about it; just buy, save money and live greener. If you're interested in sharing ideas and cost savings with others, our Discord community has channels where you can do just that. Get started and see how much money you can save over time just by being kinder to the planet.

Sources

¹EcoTweaks^®, Cozy Mae Studios Ltd

²Average of products at Tesco, Aldi, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s (2025)

³Veganuary (no date) New study finds vegan meals cost 40% less than meat/fish, available at: https://veganuary.com/vegan-meals-cost-40-percent-less-than-meat-fish/ (accessed Oct 2025)