Food is an important part of our lives and a component not many consider to be environmentally harmful. However, even food farming, production, processing, consumption, and disposal can be harmful to the environment. To decrease your impact on the environment from your foods, you should start thinking about the foods you eat, how they are processed, where they are coming from, what they are packaged in, etc. You may be surprised to learn how much water or chemicals are used to make some typical food that you eat or how much food humans tend to waste. Below are some ways that you can try to decrease your impact on the environment in your kitchen.
1. Buy organic food - this will decrease the chemicals that are put into the environment
2. If you cannot buy all your food organic then aim to buy the following organic because they are the highest in the use of pesticides: Peaches, Apples, Bell Peppers, Celery, Nectarines, Strawberries, Cherries, Kale, Lettuce, Grapes (imported), Carrots, Pears.
3. Buy locally - this will decrease the transportation distance and therefore gas and pollution emissions. Local farmers often also use more environmentally friendly methods as well as have reduced packaging for shipments
* Buying local and organic is best; it decrease greenhouse gases, waste, and chemical contaminants
4. Buy fair trade, shade grown, or bird friendly coffee - fair trade helps the people, shade grown coffee leaves the previous forest canopy intact and doesn't require clear cutting for framing, and bird friendly is organic and ensures a diverse and well maintained ecosystem.
5. Compost or Vermicompost - this can be done in your back yard, in your kitchen, and/or with your city (if it is offered). Once compost decomposes you can use it as a great fertilizer for your gardens. Be sure to read up on what can and cannot go into a compost before chucking everything in there.
6. Store your fruits and vegetables in the appropriate locations such as in the fridge, counter, or in a fruit cellar. This can help make foods last longer so you are not wasting food.
7. Wash fruits and vegetables in a bowl of soapy water. You can re-use this water therefore decreasing your water consumption and it will remove pesticides if you give a little scrub.
8. Wash your dishes in a dishwasher - this can actually decrease your water consumption if you run a full load otherwise you are better off to wash by hand.
9. If you wash dishes by hand fill up the sink with soapy water first. This way you will decrease your water consumption. Also, it is easier to pay attention to the water you are using when it isn't disappearing right away.
10. Some people love seafood and it can be good for you. However, they ways in which seafood is harvest are not always sustainable. Therefore, to reduce your environmental impact you can try to eat those fish and other seafood which is more sustainably harvested and which have healthy populations. There are several different seafood guides out there to help you make these choices.
11. Try using a reusable sponge for dishes instead of the throw away ones or just a washable cloth. This will reduce your waste and are easy to clean.
12. You can also easily eliminate additional waste in the shape of paper towels by instead using a reusable kitchen towel that can be washed and used again.
13. Avoid using sandwich bags. These little pesky things are convenient but they are everywhere and made of hard to get rid of plastic. Instead, just stick your sandwiches in a reusable container.
14. Avoid putting plastic wrap on your vegetables and food in the fridge. Again this is horrible plastic that cannot be decomposed and an easy alternative is to use those reusable containers or even the new trend of reusable plastic wrap alternatives made with bees wax.
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