Yes, to be really green, you would always cook at home with produce from your garden, but sometimes that’s not possible. So when you do need to order takeout, cut the extra waste. After all, how many packets of soy sauce does one person need?
Next time you order, decline the paper napkins; if every American gave up one paper napkin a day, we’d save a billion pounds of paper from going to landfills each year. Also decline plastic utensils, condiment packets, and chopsticks; the latter costs China about 25 million trees a year to make. And ask if you can bring your own container and have them fill it for you. Some places like Starbucks will even give you a discount when you bring your own mug.
Finally, encourage your favorite takeout joints to switch to biodegradable and eco-friendly packaging and utensils.
ASK FOR SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD
This one’s trickier, because there’s no organic certification for standard fish. With some species now being fished to near-extinction, however, it’s a crucial step. “Scientists have determined that if we continue fishing the way we are, we could eliminate all species of edible fish by 2048,” explains Sheila Bowman of Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program.
The way we capture seafood doesn’t stop at harming fish populations. High demand for Chilean sea bass, for instance, has led to unregulated catch methods, which ruin the fish’s deep-sea habitat and imperils threatened seabirds, such as the albatross.
What can you do? Choose seafood that reproduces in great numbers and that fisheries obtain without damage to any natural habitat, such as Dungeness crab in season and wild Alaskan salmon. Alaskan black cod (aka sablefish) makes a tasty alternative to Chilean sea bass, serves as a great source of omega-3s, and its populations are constantly managed to remain abundant.
WEAN YOURSELF OFF THE (WATER) BOTTLE
Americans go through an estimated 70 million-plus water bottles a day, and a mere 14 percent of those bottles gets recycled. It’s not just that they’re taking up space in our landfills. Manufacturing, transporting, and disposing of them consumes vast quantities of oil, says Elizabeth Royte, author of Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It.
What’s more, the manufacturing of plastic bottles actually requires twice the water than the bottles will ultimately contain. We can easily get our H2O fix another way: from the tap. If you’re concerned about safety, have your water tested at a certified lab; visit epa.gov/safewater/labs to find one near you.
Giving up the bottle is easy once you make it a habit. Try putting your reusable bottle on your wallet/phone/keys checklist for when you leave the house. Stainless-steel and coated aluminum bottles make a durable, stylish choice, with companies such as Klean Kanteen and Sigg offering a range of sizes and designs. Steer clear of hard-polycarbonate bottles, marked with the resin code 7 on the bottom; they can contain bisphenol A, an endocrine disrupter and possible carcinogen.
BECOME WHOLE
Most of the food we consume has gone through processing in one form or another, whether it’s the simple act of canning tomatoes or the more complicated operation behind making soda. In fact, almost 30 percent of the energy the food industry uses goes into taking raw ingredients and turning them into the products we find on store shelves. To preserve freshness, these ingredients have to undergo precise heating, cooling, and dehydration methods — all of which consume tremendous amounts of energy.
Eliminating all processed foods could cut your food-related carbon footprint by almost a third. By sticking with whole vegetables, grains, and other raw ingredients, you can make an impact and add healthier foods to your diet. Of course, no one expects you to start churning your own butter, but when it’s a choice between that frozen TV dinner (even an organic one) and making a fresh meal from scratch, opt for the latter.
EAT LESS MEAT
Sure, the protein in that steak might fuel you, but do you know how much energy it took to make it? A cow has to eat 8 pounds of corn and soy grain to yield 1 pound of meat, and growing all that grain requires artificial fertilizers and pesticides. The making of these agricultural chemicals consumes roughly 40 percent of the food-production energy — and it takes even more fuel to transport feed to livestock operations. Plus there’s the methane issue: The methane emitted by cows is 21 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.
When it comes to meat overconsumption, the United States ranks among the worst offenders: We eat an average of 8 ounces of meat daily — that’s more than twice the amount that people in developing countries consume. With health experts emphasizing the benefits of whole grains and vegetables in our diets, our carnivorous-focused approach to mealtime doesn’t make sense.
One study from the University of Chicago shows that a vegetarian diet is more energy-efficient than meat-, fish-, and poultry-inclusive diets. But you needn’t completely forgo meat. Even a shift from two hamburgers to one a week can reduce your food-related footprint.
When you do want to occasionally include meat at a meal, turn to grass-fed, pasture-raised beef and pork. Cows especially require a grass- and legume-based diet; their digestive systems don’t tolerate grain well. Pasture-raised cow meat not only benefits the animal, it also contains less fat, a better balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, and more vitamins, making it healthier for you to eat. And the manure that pasture-raised animals produce goes toward nourishing the soil — not into the earth-unfriendly waste lagoons associated with industrial farms.
EAT LESS OF EVERYTHING
If this were as simple as it sounds, we wouldn’t have an obesity problem in this country. Americans’ portion sizes keep growing, and so do our waistlines. No matter how “green” our food is, each bite takes its toll on the environment through production, packaging and transport.
So cutting down — by preparing and ordering less, not just tossing out what’s left on your plate — automatically reduces your carbon footprint, not to mention your caloric intake. One eat-less strategy: Drink a glass of water before a meal. The water fills you up and takes care of dehydration, which the body can misinterpret as hunger. Also, know how much food your body really needs to operate. The USDA makes this easy to figure out with an individualized food pyramid.
When you go out to eat, keep portion sizes reasonable by ordering a salad and appetizer instead of an appetizer and an entree. Finally, avoid mindless eating and snacking by taking time to enjoy your food in peace, away from distractions, like the television or computer, that might have you unconsciously consuming more than you intended.
