There are many reasons why you might choose to stop drinking animal milk.

Lactose intolerance, a decision to go vegan, a general uneasiness with the idea of drinking milk that was intended for baby cows. But you might not have realised that reducing how much cow’s milk you drink could have a hugely beneficial effect on the environment.

Milk production is actually pretty damaging – it generates a colossal amount of carbon dioxide emissions. According to figures shared exclusively with Metro.co.uk, the average amount of milk consumed by a Londoner is 1.61 litres each week, which produces the equivalent emissions of driving 22.4 km in a car every week.

When you combine all of London’s milk consumption, that equates to an incredible 196,848,781 km of driving per week – that’s 1,047,068 times around the M25, and a huge amount of pollution.

As a nation we are slowly but surely becoming more environmentally conscious. Almost two-thirds (62%) of Londoners no longer use disposable coffee cups and 44% now refuse to purchase plastic shopping bags.