It's Easy To Be Green, Week 4

This is another installment of Lichterman Nature Center's twelve week It's Easy To Be Green program that MLGW employees are participating in.

This week we are focusing on what we eat. Most conventional foods travel an average of 1,500 miles before getting to your dinner table. In addition, chemicals, energy, and natural resources are used to grow and prepare your food.

Action Items

• Visit a local farmer’s market for fresh produce and other goods. Most of these markets sell goods and produce grown seasonally within a 150 mile radius. Buying locally greatly reduces the level of pollution generated when transporting food to market. Local produce is generally fresher, too.

• Bring your own reusable shopping bag to the grocery store to avoid the paper vs. plastic dilemma.

• Buy non-perishable food in bulk or in large single containers, when practical. Put manageable amounts in reusable, smaller containers for everyday use. This action generates less packaging and can save you money.

• Select fresh produce from display bins instead of the pre-packed variety in Styrofoam and plastic. Excessive packaging wastes energy, valuable materials and contributes to landfill waste.

• Go organic! Purchase fruits, vegetables and other foods that have been grown without chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.

• Eat lower on the food chain! Think vegetarian. Eat meals rich in fruits, vegetables and grains. It’s healthier and easier on the planet. It takes more land, water, natural resources and energy to produce meat than to grown grains, vegetables and fruit. Give meat a rest!

• Use durable dishes and eating utensils instead of disposable paper and plastic ones. Not only will you decrease trash intended for the landfill, you will save money as well.

• Use cloth napkins at meals rather than paper. Cloth can be washed and reused.

• Store leftover food in washable, reusable containers such as glass jars or hard plastic.

With more than 48 tons of wasted food going to landfills every year, buy only what you need. Take only as much food as you can eat.