by Jeanne M. Robinson
Have you ever thought that the way you eat can help improve our environment?
One way is to eat less meat. Livestock herds account for about 10% of all greenhouse gases, especially methane gas. Their ever-growing population is unsustainable to our earth. The waste produced is estimated at 13 billion tons and contributes to pollution of land, water and air. Runoff to our water supply is especially devastating. There are also local effects such as rainforest destruction in Central and South America. Does this mean you have to give up meat entirely? No, just cut back where you can. You could go meat-free at lunch or skip meat one or two dinners a week. If a lot of people did this, the demand for meat would decrease to help reduce affects to our environment. Also, there are health benefits to eating less meat. There are many ways to get protein besides meat.
Eating locally grown food also helps our environment. The average fresh food item on our dinner table travels 1,500 miles to get there. (source: Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture). Buying locally produced food eliminates the need for so much energy to transport the food and usually results in less packaging. The food is usually grown with less pesticides and is more tasty and nutritious.
And when you are purchasing your food, what kind of bag do you put it in? Plastic bags litter our soil and water. Many animals think floating plastic bags are food and die after trying to eat them. Plastic bags that end up in landfills may take up to 1,000 years to break down, and they separate into smaller and smaller toxic particles that contaminate soil and water. Producing plastic bags consume millions of gallons of oil. Paper bag also have problems such as the number of trees required to produce them. What should you pick? Reusable shopping bags made of materials that don’t hurt the environment while being produced are the best option. If you still choose to use plastic or paper bags, be sure to re-use them for as long as possible and then recycle them.
And what about the packaging the food comes in? Look for the least amount of packaging and packaging that is biodegradable or recyclable. Less is more.
These are small steps but can have big impacts if we all do our part.
