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Almond milk, oat milk, coconut milk, rice milk, macadamia milk... there have never been so many options to replace cow's milk on grocery shelves. But which one has the smallest environmental footprint?

Of all these options, 鈥渆ach has its advantages and disadvantages. And some are closer to cow's milk,鈥� Vijaya Raghavan, professor in McGill University's Department of Bioresource Engineering, In 2017, Raghavan conducted a study showing that, from a nutritional point of view, soy milk comes out on top, compared with other plant milks.听听

In general, plant-based beverages have a smaller environmental听impact than cow's milk鈥攂ut not听all plant-based drinks are created equal.听

The soybeans and oats used in plant-based beverages are, for the most part, grown in Canada.听

听But that's not the case for almonds, which require a 听lot of water to grow, and on land that often lacks it.听听Similarly, rice milk tops the list of plant-based drinks in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, with almond milk just behind for water consumption, according to data from Our World in Data, a website overseen by Oxford University.听听

Meanwhile, coconut and cashew crops can encourage deforestation in Asia.听听

Other factors to consider include transport, packaging, distribution, and even flavouring (chocolate-flavoured beverages use cocoa beans, which have their own environmental issues).

听At the end of the day, experts say that locally produced and unrefrigerated听beverages made with ingredients that are grown locally鈥攍ike oats and soybeans鈥攚ill have the smallest impact.听听听听听听听

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