The C02 labelling on the menu of one Dublin bar has gone down a storm with punters.
Green Party TD Marc Ó Cathasaigh told Dublin Live he discovered the "useful" information on BrewDog's Outpost menu after popping in to eat after working at the Dail.
The Waterford teacher's usual haunts were off the cards after he went vegetarian for Lent so after taking some advice from those in the know, headed down to the Outpost.
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And what he found when he got there has gained a lot of traction online.
Marc told Dublin Live: "Most of the replies were really positive but some people said they found it kind of preachy.
"I liked that it wasn't one bit preachy at all - it's just information. It's not that they don't serve beef burgers - they serve them and they look absolutely delicious.
"But it just gives you another piece of information. Some times that would make a difference to what I order and sometimes it won't but it's very empowering to have the information... and presented in the completely neutral way of 'this is just something extra for you to know about'."
Marc admits smaller pubs, restaurants and cafes might find it difficult to follow BrewDog by adding the carbon footprint of their dishes to the menu but said "it's a very interesting idea".
"Duncan Smith had a private members motion about carbon labelling but you have to be careful of small producers," he added.
"BrewDog are a bit outfit, it's very much part of their brand and they have the resources to have this goal of not just being carbon neutral but being carbon positive. But you have to be mindful of particularly small outfits.
"The other thing is if you have a rapidly changing menu. I'd accept all of the difficulties but I would love to see it and it did give me something to think about before I ordered."
The unusual C02 labelling on the menu also caught the eye of Irish Doctors for the Environment, who also posted their admiration on social media.
"Great seeing that the delicious veggie double cheeseburger has 24 times less emissions than its meat counterpart!" they said. "Lots of hitherto meat eaters at the table happy with their indistinguishable-from-meat choices!"
A BrewDog spokesperson said: "As a B-Corp and the world's first Carbon Negative Brewery, at BrewDog we are committed to reducing our carbon emissions. So the move to include the amount of carbon we remove for each dish on our menu was a no-brainer! Customers learn a bit more about our emissions, (and their own too), which hopefully encourages more sustainable choices in the process!
"The reaction from customers has been really positive, often followed by a genuine interest in learning more, which is why on our newest menus we will be placing a QR code that links to a web page where we can include more information.
"All of our footprint calculations have been worked out with help from Small World Consulting, verified by Professor Mike Berners-Lee."
Maynooth University climate analysis professor, John McSweeney, believe we need to change how we eat as the "planet cannot support its present population on a European/North American diet and hope to comply with the Paris Agreement".
"The recent IPCC report makes clear the necessity to reduce methane emissions as part of radical reductions by 2030 if we are to avoid the 1.5deg threshold.
"So reductions in meat and dairy production and consumption are absolutely necessary," he added.
"Global food production is the single largest driver of environmental degradation, climate instability and the transgression of planetary boundaries," according to scientists behind the EAT Lancet report.
In it they found dietary choices in G20 countries are "destroying the planet" and urged world leaders to integrate both health and environmental sustainability in their national dietary guidelines to optimize human health while reducing environmental impact.
Prof McSweeney supports the changes advocated in the report.
They include:
Doubling the consumption of fruit, veg, nuts and legumes
Halving consumption of red meat and sugar
Drastically reducing dairy, eggs and other meats like chicken
Read the full report here.
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