Plant milk, why we should be drinking it and how to make it at home!

Recently there has become more and more hype around the environmental benefits of plant milk. So what is all of the hype about? Is drinking plant milk the more sustainable option? 

As we are becoming more aware of our environmental footprint there has been a major shift in the number of people drinking plant based milk over cow’s milk, and rightfully so. The dairy sector is one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, soil degradation, and air and water pollution, not to mention the increasing rate of deforestation due to clearing of land for agricultural purposes. Plant milk is therefore a more sustainable alternative, however which plant milk offers the MOST sustainable option?

There are many variables at play when examining a products environmental footprint from the time the seed sprouts to when we are slurping the milk up through a (reusable) straw. Variables such as water use, greenhouse gas emissions, land use, soil degradation and chemical runoff. Let’s compare the environmental impact of almond, soy, cashew and hemp milk.

Soy Milk

Soy milk has been around for years and is mainly popular because of its high protein count. There is a negative stigma around soy due to the amount of land the soy bean farms are taking up in the world today, however the soy beans grown on these farms are used for feeding cattle; only 6% being used for human consumption. The greenhouse gases emitted from growing/producing soy is much less than that of dairy but relatively equal to almond. Growing soy beans also requires approximately one tenth of the amount of water needed to grow almonds. 

Almond milk

Almonds, like all nuts, grow on trees and have become increasingly popular in the past decade due to both their health benefits and the need for more plant based options in supermarkets. The major downside to growing almonds is the large quantity of water required – especially considering that most of the world’s almonds are grown in drought prone California. One almond grown in California needs approximately 12 litres of water; this one almond is thrown in with a bunch of other almonds, blitzed and filtered to create almond milk. In commercially produced almond milks available on the supermarket shelf, only around 2.5% of it is made up of actual almonds; which means all of the water used to grow the almonds is essentially going to waste. 

Cashew milk

Water’s more favourable contender is cashew milk in comparison to almond. Although still needing more water to grow than legumes and seeds, cashews need a lot less water than almonds to grow. The location in which cashews are grown is more suitable than that of almonds as well meaning that they are the more sustainable choice in this comparison. The amount of land needed to grow cashews is minimal, meaning the crop can yield more cashews in a smaller area. 

Hemp milk

Hemp is a crop that is popular for its many sustainable characteristics, one being the minimal waste associated in growing and processing the plant.

Hemp is not only very versatile, it has actually been proven to benefit the environment. How? Well evidence shows that a hemp crop can absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than a forest (per hectare). Growing a hemp plant prevents chemical runoff as there is no need for pesticides or herbicides to grow, plus its natural irrigation system reduces water use. The roots of the plant help prevent erosion by reaching nine feet below the surface and once the plant has finished growing it decomposes adding nutrients back into the soil for the next crop.

Overall, the move towards being plant based is no doubt a more environmentally friendly approach. Research shows that just one glass of cow’s milk uses nine times more land than one glass of plant milk and produces approximately three times more greenhouse gas emissions. Check out our three favourite plant milk recipes below!

Our recipes

Soy milk:

Ingredients/materials:

• 1.5 cups of dried soy beans, as organic and as fresh as you can find them
• 12 cups (2.8 litres) of tap or filtered water
• 4.5 cups (1 litres) of water for soaking
• 1 colander or similar for draining
• 1 food processor or blender
• 1 Cotton Cheese Cloth
• 1 large boiling pot
• 1 wooden spoon and/or ladle

Method:

1. Soak 2 cups of soy beans in 4.5 cups of water overnight (or for at least 8 hours). 
2. Drain the soybeans through a colander or strainer. Thoroughly rise them under a tap. Don’t forget to catch this water with your recently emptied bowl, you can water your garden or plants with it no worries.
3. Add soybeans and water to your blender. The amount you need to add will vary on the capacity of your machine, but my general guide is to use 1 cup of soaked soy beans to 3 cups of water, so you will likely need to process them in batches.
4. Line your colander with a Cotton Cheese Cloth over the large pot. Pour the mixture in to the cheese cloth and allow the raw milk to drain through into the pot. Gather up the corners and edges of your cheese cloth and squeeze it firmly to squeeze out all the available milk.
5. You’ll be left with the soybean pulp in the cheese cloth, called okara. Don’t throw this away, as it can be used in other cooking recipes.
6. Repeat the blending process as many times as required until you have thoroughly blended and milked all of the soybeans.
7. Place the pot on the stove over a high heat, continually stir with a wooden spoon as the milk will form a skin on the bottom and can burn!
8. Keep an eye on the foam level as the milk gets closer to boiling, it can bubble over the edge of the pot. Turn the heat down or carefully take the pot off the heat if it gets too close to boiling over. Return to the heat and aim for a rapid boil for 3-5mins. This is a necessary process to take some of the raw, “planty” taste from milk but also evaporate off some water to give the soy milk a richer flavour.

Cashew milk

Ingredients/materials:

• 1 cup raw cashews
• 3 cups (700ml) water for soaking
• 3 cups (700ml) water for milk
• 1 colander or similar for draining
• 1 food processor or blender
• 1 Cotton Cheese Cloth

Method

1. Soak cashews in water overnight (or for at least 8 hours).
2. Drain the cashews through a colander or strainer. Thoroughly rise them under a tap. Don’t forget to catch this water with your recently emptied bowl, you can water your garden or plants with it no worries.
3. Add cashews and fresh water to your blender and blitz.
4. Line your colander with a Cotton Cheese Cloth over a bowl. Pour the mixture in to the cheese cloth and allow the raw milk to drain through into the bowl. Gather up the corners and edges of your cheese cloth and squeeze it firmly to squeeze out all the available milk. Make sure you save the left over pulp to use in baked or raw treats!
5. Pour milk into a sealed bottle or jar and leave in the fridge for up to a week. 

Hemp milk

Ingredients/materials:

• 1 cup hemp seeds
• 3 cups (700ml) water 
• 1 colander or similar for draining
• 1 food processor or blender
• 1 Cotton Cheese Cloth

Method:

1. Add hemp and fresh water to your blender and blitz.
2. Line your colander with a Cotton Cheese Cloth over a bowl. Pour the mixture in to the cheese cloth and allow the raw milk to drain through into the bowl. Gather up the corners and edges of your cheese cloth and squeeze it firmly to squeeze out all the available milk. Make sure you save the left over pulp to use in baked or raw treats!
3. Pour milk into a sealed bottle or jar and leave in the fridge for up to a week.

Check out our Instagram @sourcedsustainability and watch us make our own plant milk!

References

Good Hemp. (N/D). The facts. Retrieved from Good Hemp: https://www.goodhemp.com/hemp hub/good-hemp-drink-vs-other-drinks/

Good, K. (2021). Why Tofu Consumption Is Not Responsible for Soy-Related Deforestation. Retrieved from One Green Planet: https://www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/why-tofu-consumption-is-not-responsible-for-soy-related-deforestation/ 

Good, K. Milk Life? How About Milk Destruction: The Shocking Truth About the Dairy Industry and the Environment. Available online: https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/the-dairy-industry-andthe-environment/

Haas, R. (2019). Cow Milk versus Plant-Based Milk Substitutes. Sustainability, 1-25.

Rayburn, E. Research Shows No Matter Which Plant-Based Milk You Try, It Will Always Be More Environmentally-Friendly Than Dairy. Available online: https://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/plantbased-milk-try-will-always-environmentally-friendly-dairy/

Vosper, J. (2011). The Role of Industrial Hemp in Carbon Farming. GoodEarth Resources, 1-6.

Willett, W.; Rockström, J.; Loken, B.; Springmann, M.; Lang, T.; Vermeulen, S.; Garnett, T.; Tilman, D.; Declerck, F. The Lancet Commissions Food in the Anthropocene: The EAT—Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems. Lancet 2019, 3293, 447–492.