Earth Day, Every Day

Every April 22nd, we celebrate Earth Day. Some may plant trees, some might carpool to work while others may decide to take one small step in incorporating more earth-friendly habits into their daily lives.

While it is important to have one special day to celebrate planet Earth, I believe we should do our best to celebrate Earth Day every day. There are many things we can do as individuals to contribute in helping our planet. We can reduce our time spent in our cars, turn off the lights when leaving the room, turn off the water when we’re not using it, buy eco-friendly cleaning products for our homes and, of course, RECYCLE what we can!

When it comes to the food we eat, it is also important to be conscious of how our eating (and disposal) habits affect our bodies and the environment. Here are a few tips for Earth Day.

Buy Organic:
A new report shows that organic fruits, vegetables and grains are 25 percent more nutritious than conventionally grown plant-based food.
http://www.lohas.com/articles/101166.html

Buy Local:
It is estimated that the average American meal travels about 1500 miles to get from farm to plate. Why is this cause for concern? There are many reasons:
http://www.cuesa.org/sustainable_ag/issues/foodtravel.php

Find a local farmer’s market in your area:
http://apps.ams.usda.gov/FarmersMarkets/

Compost your food scraps and garden waste:
Reduce the amount of waste that goes into your garbage can. Composting enriches soils, helps cleanup contaminated soil, helps prevent pollution and offers other economic benefits:

http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/composting/benefits.htm

http://www.marquisproject.com/composting101/whycomp.html

Practice Conscious Eating:
-Be aware of where your food comes from.
-Cook with a light happy heart, the energy you put into your food is the energy that is consumed.
-Take a moment before eating to give thanks for the food you have before you.
-Eat slowly savoring the flavors and enjoying every bite to the fullest.
-Conscious, relaxed eating promotes better digestion and better health.
-Notice any adverse reactions that you may have to certain foods. Become aware of your body and it’s relationship with the food you eat.

http://www.focalpointyoga.com/conscious_eating.htm

Food storage and buying tips:

· Bring your own bags when food shopping
· When possible buy food in bulk to reduce the amount of packaging
· Look for seasonal local produce and foods that haven’t traveled long distances
· Don’t buy more than what you need!
· Consider purchasing a water purifier for your faucet to reduce plastic bottle waste
· Consider replacing your nonstick pans with stainless steal, copper or cast iron materials
http://www.eartheasy.com/article_healthy_cookware.htm
· Think twice before you throw out your pickle jar! Opt for glass jars when storing food. Plastic containers are known to leach toxic chemicals into food creating possible health problems.

Let's all do our part to help celebrate Earth Day, EVERY DAY!