Two figures in, a clear answer out. The vegan footprint calculator uses time you’ve been vegan to produce animal lives, forests and water, applying the standard relationship for this problem in the order the calculation actually needs it.
What Is the Vegan Footprint Calculator?
The vegan footprint calculator works out animal lives, forests and water from time you've been vegan.
Biological relationships are usually approximations rather than exact laws, so the output is best treated as an estimate with a sensible range around it.
How the Vegan Footprint Calculation Works
The calculation applies the relationship as published, step by step, so each intermediate value can be checked against the underlying theory.
Keep the units consistent throughout. Mixing a percentage with a proportion is the single most common source of an answer that is out by a factor of a hundred.
Assumptions Worth Knowing
Any relationship used here assumes a constant rate, a representative sample, or a stable population. Real populations rarely meet those conditions for long, so treat the answer as a guide.
Where the inputs are field measurements, a single misread value can shift the result noticeably. Measure carefully and record what you used.
A Worked Example
Working through an example, with time you've been vegan set to 10, the calculator returns animal lives of 10, and water of 11,000, and grain of 400. Substitute your own figures and the same steps produce the same kind of answer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do I need to work out animal lives?
Enter time you've been vegan. The calculator then works through the relationship and reports animal lives, forests and water.
What does the vegan footprint actually calculate?
It takes time you've been vegan and converts them into animal lives, forests and water using the standard relationship for this problem. Each step is applied in turn, so every output is traceable back to the numbers you typed in.
How should I enter time you've been vegan?
Use the value you actually have, in the unit shown next to the field. Enter every value in the same unit system. The calculator assumes the figures you supply are consistent, so it cannot correct a mistake that happens before the calculation starts.
Is the answer exact?
It is as exact as the formula and the inputs allow. The method itself is the standard one for this problem, so the only sources of error are the figures you enter and the precision you ask for.
Do I have to fill in every field?
Only the fields a particular result depends on. If you leave one blank, the results that need it simply show a note instead of a number, and everything else still works.