5 Ways To Eat Eco-Friendly For Earth Day!
By Megan Roosevelt, RDN & Founder of HealthyGroceryGirl.com
I love spring; the days are longer, the weather is warming up, and plants are blooming! Another great part of spring is Earth Day. The goal of Earth Day is to bring awareness to the environment as it is now and how we can help protect the environment for future generations. Did you know that what we eat also impacts the earth and our environment?
Bringing food from the farm to our table requires a lot of resources such as energy, water, transportation, and chemicals. The type of food we eat and reducing our food waste can lead to a more eco-friendly and climate-friendly lifestyle. According to the USDA, 27% of all food made for human consumption is either thrown away or used as animal feed. This is an extremely high number and one we can help lower through our everyday food choices! Below are 5 Eco-Friendly Eating Tips to help create more sustainable food practices that are better for us and the planet.
5 Eco-Friendly Eating Tips!
1. Use Foods in Multiple Ways - If you used half of a lemon to add juice to your water, don’t toss it! Instead of throwing out the peel, zest the lemon to add flavor to recipes from oatmeal, yogurt, baked treats, and more! You can also use a lemon half as a scrubber to clean your sinks, cutting boards, and countertops!
2. Swap for an Eco-Friendly Sweetener - Purecane Sweeteners work to be more sustainable through lower water consumption (potentially 40x lower), only using 1/10th of agricultural acreage compared to other leading products, recycling the byproduct for fertilization, using carbon-neutral shipments, and using unused electricity to power local communities! It’s a sweetener that is better for you and better for our environment!
3. Support Local Farmers - Buying food from local farmers not only supports your local agriculture community, but it also means that less resources are used to transport that food! Shopping locally can potentially reduce hundreds and hundreds of miles of transportation.
4. Swap Out the Plastic - It’s so easy to use little plastic baggies for lunches, food storage, and more; however, one-time-use plastic items are not great for our planet. One simple eco-friendly swap is to switch to reusable silicone bags, glass storage containers, or unbleached paper bags.
5. Use Wilted Produce - Have produce that’s about to go bad? Blend and freeze in an ice-cube tray, and then add to future smoothies or sauces. Remember, this tip is for wilted produce not moldy produce.
Have a happy and healthy day!
You can stay connected with Megan Roosevelt, RDN on Instagram at @HealthyGroceryGirl, watch recipe videos at YouTube.com/HealthyGroceryGirl or visit her recipe and wellness blog at HealthyGroceryGirl.com
See how Purecane stays healthy on Facebook and Instagram
Photos by Evan Wise on Unsplash, Shelley Pauls on Unsplash, Moritz Nie on Unsplash
Resources:
https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/eatgreenfs_feb2010.pdf
