The average environmental impact of a meal, based on 3 diners , is no more than 25kg
Carbon Free Dining calculate the average environmental impact of a meal based on 3 diners as being no more than 25kg. This is based on the UK government-funded Carbon Trusts research, which worked out that an average restaurant meal generates 8kg of CO2e per diner.
For instance, an Argentinian steak restaurant that flies its meat into the country versus a vegan restaurant with locally sourced produce will have a very different impact, so we work on averages using the Carbon Trust's figures.
A restaurant that serves 30 covers in a sitting, with an average of 3 diners per table, would be offsetting 30,000 kg, while the impact of the 90 diners would be 720kg, meaning the trees would sequester 40x the impact of the service.