Tweet

Eating Green- And Not Necessarily Vegetarian

Written by: Stan Gassman

Article Overview: This article describes how minor changes to eating habits can reduce your personal carbon footprint and have a major impact on the environment.

Eating Green- And Not Necessarily Vegetarian

Does eating “green” conjure up images of spinach, or broccoli, or asparagus? While these are, without doubt, green foods, our thoughts are not about what's to be eaten but rather, about how a minor change in eating habits or practices can reduce your personal energy use footprint and contribute to the health of the environment. You don't have to be a vegetarian to make an impact!

Growing and transporting food accounts for an estimated 17% of the total energy consumption of the US. With food making up such a large portion of US domestic energy consumption, each of us has the means to reduce our total energy usage through relatively simple measures.

The Culprits
• Food Transportation
• Food Processing
• Kitchen Appliances-refrigerator/freezer and stove/oven
• Fertilizers and Pesticides
Rethinking use of these energy hogs will contribute to energy conservation, reduction of carbon emissions and a healthier environment.

Choose Local Foods in Season
Foods produced locally simply don't require sophisticated, expensive transportation systems which consume 14% of food's energy use to get to the table. And if chosen with reasonable care, locally produced food is fresher and tastes better. Selecting seasonal fruits and vegetables was so much easier years ago when the markets were bare of peaches, nectarines, artichokes, tomatoes and so many other foods in January and February. Now these foods appear in our markets throughout the winter and the trend is to bring more and more products from far away places to our markets and our dinner tables during winter. The lesson is simple: eliminating transportation will directly reduce energy consumption. Remember, those lovely winter grapes probably come from 1000 miles away or more.

Choose Organic Food
Neither fertilizers nor pesticides which together account for more than 1/3 of the energy used to make food are used in growing organic food. The good news: every day more display space in our supermarkets is devoted to organic foods. The better news: local farmers markets are flush with always local, organic foods and your purchases encourage expansion of the local organic food movement.

Whole foods, not processed
You guessed it; another 15% of the energy used to make food goes into processing. If you spend most of your shopping moments with fruits and vegetables, milk and eggs, meat and fish, you'll be fine.

Farm raised meat and poultry
Range or pasture raised animals eat naturally fertilized grass as their mainstay. Animals raised by mega-producers, usually located great distances from your home, are typically raised on a diet of heavily fertilized, pesticide enhanced grains. Purchasing locally grown meat, poultry, milk and eggs eliminate the transportation component of the energy required to produce your food. And you support local farmers and your community.

Other Suspects
Drinking water
The popularity of bottled water is the result of huge marketing efforts. Global consumption of bottled water reached 41 billion gallons in 2004, up 57% in just five years. In the US, we drink four 16 ounce bottles per week on average and every bottle is processed and shipped, sometimes from sources as far away as Europe or even Asia. A year’s supply of plastic water bottles in the US consumes 47 million gallons of oil. As an alternative, tap water filtration systems are readily available, simple to install and very effective. And there are no plastic bottles for recycling or trash.

When you’re on the go, a selection of dishwasher safe, plastic and stainless steel reusable bottles are available, starting at prices below $10.
Plastic or Paper?
• Ordinary plastic bags can’t be recycled, can take 500 years to decompose.
• Plastic litter kills 1 million seabirds and 100,000 mammals annually.
• Paper bags are recyclable and biodegradable but when not recycled, end up in the landfill, sealed and unable to biodegrade.
• The answer: Reusable cloth bags. They’re environment friendly!

Recycling and Composting
In the most supportive, sympathetic and conscientious communities, 30% or more of the material that ends up in trash containers and is sent to the landfill is actually recyclable or compostable. Proper sorting of trash will keep a "lid" on landfill expansion while reducing the need for new manufacture paper and plastics. In most locations, organically grown materials including food scraps (fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry, seafood, shellfish, bones, rice, beans, pasta, bread, cheese, and eggshells) can be composted.

Compost or Disposer? It’s no contest. Composting reduces waste and the need for waste disposal. The disposer uses water and electricity.




Stan Gassman, BSC Sustainability Services Copyright 2008

Related Articles
  Beware greenwashing your business
  Should You Switch to Selling Green?
  How To Lose Weight as an Older Woman
  Sagar Ratna to expand overseas via franchising
  Nature Helps ADHD Symptoms

Article Tags: carbon emissions, culprits, dinner tables, domestic energy consumption, eating habits, energy hogs, energy usage, energy use, fertilizers, food transportation, fruits and vegetables, kitchen appliances, large portion, local foods, organic food, organic foods, personal energy, reasonable care, refrigerator freezer, seasonal fruits



Related Forum Posts
Re: 10 ideas to make you money in 2010 - I think Education would be hard to break into. Baby Boomers, Life Support and Trading Down, however, seem like good markets. As for Green technology goes, I don't think the business has to be entirely based on Green ideologies, but rather a business that embrace Green philosophies and use that as a marketing tool.
For bloggers - If one is a blogger, it is imperative to have a guest blogger within ones niche. I had someone contact me just yesterday, and she is a vegan. Let me clarify, my main blog is a vegetarian blog, called Groovy Vegetarian. For guest bloggers on GV, only related would work. Such as any topic on vegetarianism, veganism, or green living. As those are the general topics i cover. Anything else would not gel well. Also for search engine purposes, it is important as well. Relevance is a key factor in SEO.
Re: How does an entrepreneur stay energized? - Hi there, This subject is not only for entrepreneurs. Everybody can benefit from this, that is the reason why 'Healthy Living and Eating' is a multi billion Dollar business. Often I smile, because so much is written about it. So many different business are blooming and doing well. Whilst there is so much knowledge and opportunity to be healthy and well, the need is still growing. There is so much that could be said. The cheapest form of energy is gained by a good sleep.
Re: Are you a Blue, Red, or Green? - Hum... a lot of reds responding... Business owners must be a very aggressive community. Now, I was surprised when I took the course personally to find out I was a Green, secondary Blue. Of course, not believing this, the first thing I did was turn to those around me to get their opinions on my colours (typical Green!). The only thing I can really say about STRUCTOGRAM is that it was fun to explore the depths of my social and physiological make-up... I did this a over a year ago now and still use it in my daily interactions (always be on your toes with Reds).
New Kid in Town - Hi everyone, I am Mike Martel, a former Special Forces Green Beret who moved in the corporate world a few years back. I found that my training and experiences were very applicable in helping people get results. I wrote a book - "Get ER Done: The Green Beret Guide to Productivity." With my coaching, I work with people to achieve massive results for themselves and their businesses.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Are You Remarkable Enough?

Common Sense Stress Management

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.