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Food

Oat milk (1 liter)

Kauramaito (1 litra)

2.1
Truecost score
Data confidence: HIGH

All major metrics from Poore & Nemecek (2018), the most comprehensive food LCA meta-analysis.

One liter of oat milk produces ~0.4 kg CO₂e — about one-eighth of cow's milk. It also uses far less water and land.

Did you know? Switching from cow's milk to oat milk saves more CO₂ per year than giving up driving for a full month (at 1 liter per day).
Transparent calculation

How was this number determined?

The Truecost score is calculated from absolute physical values. Each row below shows the measured value, how it was normalized, and where it comes from.

Dimension Absolute value Score 100 = Normalized Weight Weighted Confidence
Carbon Emissions 0.4 kg CO₂e 9.5 kg CO₂e 4.21 ×0.35 1.47 HIGH
Water Consumption 48.0 liters 3840 liters 1.25 ×0.2 0.25 HIGH
Land Use 0.8 m²·year 51 m²·year 1.57 ×0.2 0.31 HIGH
Waste 0.03 kg 5 kg 0.6 ×0.15 0.09 MEDIUM
Toxicity 0.1 µDALY 162 µDALY 0.06 ×0.1 0.01 MEDIUM
Truecost score (weighted sum) 2.1

Share of your annual planetary budget

Carbon Emissions 0.04%
Water Consumption 0.01%
Land Use 0.02%
Waste <0.01%
Toxicity <0.01%
Source data by dimension

Where do the absolute values come from?

Carbon Emissions
HIGH
Poore & Nemecek (2018): oat milk ~0.4 kg CO₂e per liter (Our World in Data visualization). Clark et al. (2022): 0.45 kg CO₂e/L. Oatly sustainability report (2024): 0.3-0.5 kg CO₂e/L depending on production location. Using 0.4 as central estimate.
  • Poore & Nemecek (2018): Reducing food's environmental impacts — Science 360(6392)
  • Clark et al. (2022): Estimating the environmental impacts of 57,000 food products — PNAS
  • Oatly (2024): Sustainability Update 2024

Well-established. Range 0.3-0.5 kg CO₂e/L. About 1/8 of cow's milk.

Water Consumption
HIGH
Poore & Nemecek (2018): oat milk ~48 L/liter. Our World in Data: oat milk uses far less water than dairy. Oat is rain-fed in most growing regions, minimizing blue water use.
  • Poore & Nemecek (2018): Science — supplementary water data
  • Our World in Data (2024): Environmental impact of milks

One of the lowest water footprints among all milks. Mostly green water (rainfall).

Land Use
HIGH
Poore & Nemecek (2018): oat milk ~0.8 m²·year per liter. Our World in Data: about 1/10 of cow's milk land use.
  • Poore & Nemecek (2018): Science — supplementary land use data

Oats are efficient crops. Much less land than dairy.

Waste
MEDIUM
Tetra Pak carton ~30g per liter. Recyclable in areas with proper facilities. Aluminum + plastic layers make recycling harder than pure paper.

Packaging recyclability varies by municipality.

Toxicity
MEDIUM
Oat farming uses relatively few pesticides compared to other crops. No antibiotic resistance concerns. Minimal toxicity impact ~0.1 µDALY.
  • Clark et al. (2022): PNAS — environmental impacts of food products

Oats are among the least pesticide-intensive cereal crops.

Comparisons

Methodology

Based on Poore & Nemecek (2018) meta-analysis and Our World in Data compilation. Values represent global averages across the full supply chain.

Sources