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Food

15th Aug 2018

This is why sandwiches are actually really bad for the environment

Jade Hayden

Sandwiches are bad for the environment.

Yes, you did read that correctly.

Your daily ham and cheese, egg and mayo, or cheese and onion could actually be destroying the planet as we know it.

Nothing is sacred.

We may as well just give up now.

Or not, because it’s not every kind of sandwich that’s ruining the environment – only the ones that come pre-packaged which, in fairness, is a good lot of them if you’re picking up a sneaky chicken and stuffing for lunch every day.

New research conducted by the University of Manchester has shown that consuming just one pre-packaged sandwich a day has the same effect as eight million cars.

That’s a lot of cars.

And a lot of sandwiches too.

Published in the journal Sustainable Production and Consumption, the study examined the carbon footprint of 40 different sandwiches – some pre-packaged, some not.

Researchers considered the sandwich’s packaging, where its ingredients came from, and the waste involved in its making.

And at the end of it all they discovered that a lot of sandwiches are actually pretty bad.

Who’d have thought it?

According to them, the worst sandwich offenders are:

1) Ready-made all day breakfast

2) Ready-made ham and cheese

3) Ready-made prawn and mayo

4) Ready-made egg and bacon

5) Ready-made ham salad

That being said, sandwiches made at home are considerably less horrific for the environment so work away making those yourself.

You’ll save a good bit of money too.

Chances are we all don’t go for pre-packaged every day anyway, but if you do, maybe it’s time to branch out, try something new, buy some food from a deli or something.

It’s only been sitting out exposed to the elements for about eight hours like, it’s not that bad.