From an environmental perspective, any plant-based milk is a better choice than milk from an animal. (Yes, even almond milk, which uses more than 1.5x less water per litre of production than milk from a cow). When assessing a multitude of factors, oat milk has the lowest, overall, environmental impact of any plant-based milk - and it's deliciously creamy - making it a great option for coffee!
Aside from environmental concerns, from an ethical perspective, there is a common misconception that (some) dairy cows live a happy life. Unfortunately this is a misconception as dairy cows start by being milked and end up as meat. As they haven’t been bred for meat production, they are usually turned into low grade products such as mince.
Due to the enormous toll continuous milking takes on their bodies, the lifespan of a dairy cow is reduced from a possible 20 years to as little as four or five, with only a few surviving past the age of seven. This is the equivalent of someone who could potentially live to 80, being so broken through overwork, that they are shot for being economically worthless at just 16 or 20 years old. In addition to this, the vast majority of calves that are born as part of the milk production cycle are also killed, with 300,000 or more male calves (known as bobby calves) butchered in Australia every year at just five days old.
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