Well I would like to start today's blog by hoping that all of you had a wonderful Christmas and that you are prepared for a much better new year than 2009 was for most of us. Personally and financially I don't know that I could take another one like this past year.
While researching for something to write about for today‘s blog I ran across an article discussing 10 easy ways to start decreasing your dietary footprint. This article was quoted from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and because I'm from Atlanta I thought I would be in full agreement. But of those of you who read my blogs regularly should know, by now, that I often have a contrary opinion. Here are the recommendations from the AJC for 10 easy ways to start decreasing your dietary footprint (I am 6'4" and weigh nearly 400 pounds and leave a pretty large footprint wherever I go), along with my take on each one:
1. Ditch the Bottles: Bottled water is pricey and uses a lot of fuel to transport, as well as to make and store all those bottles. Use what comes out of your tap instead. Get a good filter to boost its purity. I agree that bottled water is pricey and decided years ago, when living in Los Angeles, to not buy any form of bottled water. I came to this conclusion while watching people approach machines outside of the supermarket and pay for water from these machines.When you looked behind them you found a connection to a local city water faucet. Proof positive that a sucker is born every minute. Give me a Diet Coke a day. At least I can sell or recycle the can.
2. Buy Local : According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, most produce in the United States travels an average of 1,500 miles before being sold. Reduce all that shipping by rediscovering the fresh bounty of your surrounding area. Find farmers' markets, co-ops and CSAs (community-supported agriculture projects). All these are great ideas but I agree with Jay Leno and just avoid vegetables. My diet of fast food, pastries and lots of meat has enabled me to maintain my svelte 400 pound figure. Vegetables? I don't need no stinking vegetables. I also would like to note that I went to the local citrus stand to ship some oranges and tangerines to my grandchildren for Christmas. My son called to say thank you and mentioned that there were 9 tangerines an 10 oranges in the box. I paid $40 including shipping for those 19 pieces of fruit and the next day saw 10 tangerines for $1 at my local supermarket. Next year Ill buy "LOCAL" at the supermarket and ship them myself.
3. Dispose of Disposables: Instead of relying on single-use containers, get real dishes, and the resources saved will really add up. My philosophy about washing dishes is it that I pile them in the sink until I no longer have clean ones then I wash them. Somehow I think this conserves water also and no I'm in the running for "batchelor of the year".
4. Banish Excess Packaging : Buy things in larger sizes if you know you'll use them. Try to select items that have less plastic and extra filler stuffed with them. I'm single and rarely need much in the way of large quantities of any item. Frozen burritos do immediately come to mind so I buy them in packages of 10 instead of individually wrapped.
5. Bring Your Own Bags: It's so simple and plastic and paper bags both take resources to produce and distribute, and end up as litter. I live in a community where when you walk your dog you must clean up after him. I found that a plastic grocery bag is very useful for this, so I always insist on plastic instead of paper, this is my way to conserve trees.
6. Get a Green Thumb : Growing plants not only helps soak up excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but it can help clean toxins from the air and provide habitat (and food, though you may not want to hear that) for wildlife. And it reconnects you with nature! I guess this is where I would mention that in my college days, growing plants were used for a much “higher” purpose.
7. Eat Less Meat : Modern meat is energy and resource intensive, and factory farms are huge polluters. Eating lower on the food chain reduces those problems. I am disabled and retired and have practically no food budget as it is, I don’t know how much lower on the food chain that I can eat. Like so many seniors its food or prescriptions.
8. Use Your Appliances Wisely: Get an energy audit (doing one yourself is easy), unplug unused devices and pick Energy Star when it's time to replace. As in #7, my budget is so tight I barely use electricity for anything. I’m trying to teach my dog to run on a treadmill to generate power, so far his opinion is that if I won’t run on the thing neither is he. If I could generate power from him sleeping on the sofa all day I could sell some back to the grid.
9. Cook! : Plan meals ahead of time so you aren't scrambling to pick up something convenient, which is likely to be less healthy and wrapped in more packaging. As I said earlier in this blog I weigh nearly 400 pounds I don't scramble for anything. Maybe scramble eggs for breakfast?
10. Become Educated : Learn to save money and time by reducing waste and unneeded consumption, whether that's water, energy, paper, food, travel and more. Growing old and living on a fixed budget of a little more than $1000 per month gives you a quick education. I don't have the time nor money to waste anything. Breathing is all I have left to conserve and becomes more difficult, daily, without me trying.
Obviously my version of this is tongue-in-cheek with some real truth that those of you who are my age can relate to. To read the entire article without my input check out:
www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/eco-friendly/10-ways-going-green-kitchen-46010308
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