We all know that buying organic meat is better for our health. Organic meat means we’re not ingesting harmful antibiotics, hormones or herbicides and pesticides. However buying organic isn’t just good for your immediate health, it’s better for the environment. Here are 10 green reasons to buy organic meat.
You lovingly pack your child’s lunch for school. Filling that adorable Hello Kitty or Snoopy lunchbox with healthy items, tasty treats and enough nutrition to get them through the day. Unfortunately, that adorable lunch box may be poisoning them and actually hindering their learning experience – the exact opposite of what you’re trying to accomplish. Here are a few safe lunchbox alternatives, lead free and still completely adorable.
Mango trees are best known for the succulent, juicy fruits they produce. However, mango wood is being discovered as a lovely, richly-grained wood that works well for a variety of projects. Here is why mango wood is a sustainable choice.
Mango trees grow to large sizes, reaching heights of 60 to 100 feet with girths up to 5 feet in diameter. It takes a mango tree about 20 years to reach this size, and at that point, the tree stops producing fruit (or produces far less). Mango farmers then cut down the tree and plant younger trees so that they can continue to produce and sell fruit.
Have you ever thought about the fuel it takes to get food to the grocery store? Produce from large farms is harvested using gas-powered machinery. It is then transported – often hundreds or even thousands of miles – by airplane or truck to your local store. That’s a lot of fossil fuel for a head of lettuce!
Another consideration is the safety and nutrients in food. The longer food sits, the more chance there is that it will be exposed to dangerous bacteria such as salmonella. If food has been processed and shipped for long distances, it is usually sprayed with preservatives to keep it “fresh” during the long journey. Fresh fruits and vegetables are often coated with wax to prevent them from drying out during transport. In the meantime, nutrients are lost as the foods sit for long periods.
As more and more people are going green in their own homes and lifestyle choices, why not include entertainment? For your next dinner party, try a green theme. Here are some ideas for throwing a green dinner party from invitations to favors.
Consider going informal and inviting your guests via electronic invitation. There is free software available online where you can design your own unique e-invitation.
In your invitations, encourage your guests to carpool to cut down on emissions.
Choose local, seasonal food with a vegetarian emphasis. Meat has gotten a reputation lately for not being eco-friendly. If you do serve meats, choose organic, grass-fed beef and free range, organic poultry and ham. If you can find locally-raised meat, that is also a good choice. For vegetarian menus, emphasize bean dips and whole grain dishes with fresh fruits and vegetables.
Serve organic, fair-trade wines, teas and coffee in re-usable cups and mugs. Avoid soft drinks, water or juice in plastic bottles or cans. Instead, serve home-made punch in re-usable cups and hot beverages in insulated pitchers.
Plastic tableware is quite wasteful. Go ahead and use your regular flatware that can be washed and re-used. If you do decide to get disposable flatware, look for utensils made from biodegradable plastics. Use washable, cloth napkins and tablecloths, or rent them.
Get creative with your decorations! Look to the outdoors for inspiration, and cut greens if it’s winter, fall foliage if it’s autumn, and flowers for a spring or summer party. Your local farmer’s market will have seasonal fruits and veggies that can make attractive centerpieces and decorations, such as colorful squash, cranberries, apples, pears, peaches, etc. Just be sure you use the decorative foods and don’t throw them away – in fact, your guests could take some of them home as favors. You can even rent live plants as decorations.
Light your home and table with eco-friendly candles and LED lights, whether as regular-sized bulbs or in festive strings of mini bulbs.
Don’t toss the leftovers! If your menu is vegetarian, leftovers can be composted. Ask your guests to put their veggie and fruit scraps into a designated bin.
Forego the plastic trinkets if you decide to give favors. Consider organic chocolates, or buying loose tea in bulk and putting it in small glass containers. Give seeds, potted herbs, or even tree seedlings.
If the time of year is right, have a cookout and use natural wood charcoal or wood chunks in the grill. Your guests won’t need artificial lights and you won’t have to use the electric stove. Candles and strings of lights look particularly attractive outside.
Use your creativity and put together a green party that is uniquely yours!
With vegetarian diets touted as the most “green” way to go, meat eaters who wish to make eco-friendly food choices may feel a bit left out. But there’s good news – you can eat meat and still be eco-conscious. Here are some tips for making earth-friendly choices when buying meat.
Most beef cattle in the U.S. are raised on feed lots, which raises environmental concerns. Feed lot cattle are also given antibiotics to prevent illnesses that flourish in such crowded conditions, raising concerns about antibiotic-resistant bacteria and residues of the antibiotics in the meat. But there are options for red meat eaters who are concerned about the planet.
If you want to lead a green lifestyle, don’t forget to go green with your grocery shopping. Here are some tips and suggestions for making your supermarket experience as green as possible.
Most grocery stores sell these for a low price. If not, simply use your own cloth totes or re-use those brown paper shopping bags with handles. You can even make your own shopping bag from old clothes, blankets, or other materials. Using your own totes reduces the use of plastic grocery bags, which endanger sea life when dumped in oceans and do not biodegrade in landfills.
When we think of school lunches, many of us picture a brown bag containing a paper napkin, a sandwich on store-bought bread in a plastic baggy, a box of juice or milk, and perhaps a piece of fruit and a plastic-wrapped cake or cookie.
What we probably don’t picture are landfills heaped with non-biodegradable plastic packaging and brown paper bags that were not recycled. Let’s take a new look at the portable kids’ lunch and find ways to make it less wasteful.