Reducing Your Environmental Impact: Food
- Kirst
- Jun 29, 2018
- 8 min read
I recently put a few polls up on my instagram stories asking what you lovely readers and followers would like to see up on this wee little website I have. And boy oh boy- that was helpful. To the point that for the past few days I have not been able to stop thinking of post ideas- jotting them down, planning them out, dreaming about them, waking up at 1:20am because the moon is singing sweet serenades to me (in all seriousness- why can't people sleep when it's a full moon? Post about that coming soon.)
The most echoing and resounding response was for ways to reduce ones environmental impact and before I go on I must say- YES PEOPLE! I'm so happy that was something that everyone was so interested in! Granted, it's not like I'm the most green-of-the-grid human in the world. But it is always helpful to have a compiled, easily accessible list of things you could try- from someone that is probably as lost and #relatable as you are. So without further ado-
TOP TIPS FOR REDUCING YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
I'm just going to say it first and get it out of the way before it becomes a 'vegan agenda' thing:
1. REDUCE YOUR MEAT CONSUMPTION.
(Even if it's by one meal a day)
Animal agriculture has an unmissable, indisputable impact on our environment. Besides the means by which the meat and dairy industry produce, procure and maintain their products, the sheer quantity of natural resources that are used up just produce meagre amounts of these products is a problem in itself. The extent of the land needed to home the varieties of dairy and beef cattle, and the amount of water needed to maintain the land on which they live both have scarring impacts on the limited land and resources the planet can provide- and that's just cattle. To avoid making this entirely about the cruelty of the industry and how "vegan is the only way"- I'd rather leave some links and suggestions for those who are interested in the impact it makes;
I highly recommend watching Cowspiracy- although it is a propaganda filled film that is ultimately intended to share as much terrifying information as possible to scare people off the meat and dairy industry, it does hold some valid information and provides perspective. (Others are; Earthlings and Forks Over Knives)
Reasons to Go Vegan: (fair warning- it is a long video)
And on that note- if not vegetarianism or veganism: at least research where your food comes from. In other words: imported food consumes a lot of fossil fuels to be transported to your country, which contributes to the pollution in the atmosphere. Try eat seasonally and local produce, and if possible try and source your fruit, veg and eggs/dairy from a local farmer- support your community!
2. DON'T BUY PLASTIC PACKAGED FOOD
The most lovely thing with social media at the moment is how much is being spread about reducing ones plastic usage and consumption, as well as the role that single use plastic plays on our oceans and rubbish dumps. I am seeing people showing off their glass/bamboo/metal straws, their eco-/keep-cups, their re-usable water bottles etc etc. But there is one hurdle that needs to be jumped, and it's one that, in the busy day and age we live in now, is a difficult thing to try avoid. But still definitely do-able. And that is; buying pre-packaged meals and produce when grocery shopping. Sure, the convenience of a bag of already peeled and chopped butternut is appealing, especially after a long day of uni/work. BUT- not only does a full butternut promise you way more than those wee 300g bags, but because it's the 'less convenient' option, it's often pretty much half the price.
I don't mean head down to the local farmers market every weekend and buy their overpriced organically-superfood-charged, nurtured-from-a-seedling fruit and veg. If you just turn around from the pre-packaged fridges, and face the usually rather colourful and pretty crates of your wildest garden dreams, you'll find your budget and ocean friendly alternatives of unpackaged produce. But the most important step in this is; DON'T put the produce in those flimsy tiny produce bags that you're supposed to! That just defeats the purpose. Either invest in reusable produce bags (here, here, here, here,or here)- or just ask the person weighing it to just plop the sticker on the item itself. Easy!
An Extra Tip:
Buy whole vegetables- cut and peel them on a Sunday night, and store them in a tupperware in the fridge for the upcoming week! (Note: any night of the week is fine for this- it's not like mother nature will strike you down if she catches you doing your food prep on a Thursday night.)
Unfortunately when it comes to hosting social events- the fun foods are trapped in single use plastic- packets of chips, choccies, the bougie cheese board and crackers- all confined in their plastic prisons. In this case- short of making your own cheese at home like Great-Great-Grandmother Sally-Mae might have in the good ol' days- implement a recycling system in your home. If the plastic cannot be avoided- the next best option is to ensure that it gets disposed of properly.
3. COOKING WITH OIL
So this is a cheeky victory one for me and I must just high-five my brain for a minute BECAUSE. I didn't know this was a thing. I was thinking about this post and different ways of producing, consuming and cooking foods and just happened to think "surely cooking with oil isn't fab for the oceans?", looked it up and hot-diggity friends, new fact for ya! (The lamest sentence I may have ever typed, let's ignore it and move on because I'm too pumped about this to delete it.)
Moving on.
Now a little bit of olive oil in a stirfry doesn't really have that much impact, mostly your food absorbs it, and any minuscule amount that is left in the pan is usually broken down quite easily by our dish washing liquids. But, this is one problem that you usually hope everyone already knows about but you're quite surprised to hear they don't, leftover cooking oil should never be thrown down a drain. The oil either congeals and ends up blocking up the pipes and sewerage lines, or slowly but surely makes its way through said water systems and out into our oceans. We all remember those images of the poor penguins covered in petrol from that oil spill years ago right? So picture that every time you think to pour your frying oil down the drain- at the risk of either destroying your own pipes, or the happy penguin lives on the other end of that pipe.
We all did the fun test at school with the oil and the water- they don't mix and the oil sits on top of the water right? So that means the oil you are letting run off into the oceans is covering the water- making every gleeful dolphin leap end in a tanning-in-the-French-Riviera scenario: covered in oil.
There isn't necessarily an awful lot of information on this, but it is still something to be wary of when cooking and washing up. In fact: avoiding oil in any capacity is generally better; not only for the ocean but for your own health. I'm never one to knock a good olive oil drizzle on pasta, but when cooking I generally prefer to cook with water; less mess on the stove, less chance of oil splattering onto you, and let's be honest: less invisible calories.
Stirfry your veggies with a view tablespoons of water, and every time they start to stick to the pan: add some more! It not only lifts the flavour that usually burns to the bottom of the pan, but it keeps your veggies fresh, still crunchy, and more wholesome than if they were fried in the oil! Think of the dolphins and penguins people.
Here are just a few links to do with oil and the oceans if you're interested:
4. WATER CONSUMPTION
Okay Cape Townians; you could probably scroll past this one, because let's be honest it's turned into second nature for us by now. With the threat of absolutely no water being left in our city, let alone country, as a constant reminder of the impact us humans have on the planet- we know about the water dealio.
The rest of you: LISTEN UP.
Yes. The lovely planet earth that we live on is covered in water. Salt water baby. That means: when our gorgeous, fresh, running-off-the-mountain-laced-with-the-tears-of-singing-mountain-fairies spring water finally runs out: that's it. And unless you are perfectly happy dying of dehydration: I'd read on to see how we can stop that from happening.
Your shower does not need to be any longer than MAXIMUM five minutes. Here's the sequence Cape Town has pretty much gotten down to perfection (granted our showers are only allowed to be a minute at most)
Turn the tap on and catch the water in a bucket while it heats up.
Hop in and wet ya boday. Switch the tap off.
Lather yourself entirely in every scented toiletry you have: you should resemble a snowy white french poodle by this stage.
Tap goes back on and you endure the lukewarm-to-hells-waterfall temperature change: rinse it all off. Tap off.
If you are a conditioner: this is a good time to combine your "wait 3-5 minutes" conditioning time with exfoliating/shaving/dance routine-ing.
Tap on for the final rinse. And you're good to go.
All excess water should be caught in a bucket of sorts. Keep one to two in the shower and all rinse-off and heating up water should be aimed into the allocated receptacle. Put a smaller container in your bathroom sink for the run off when you wash your face. All this collected water can and should be used to water your plants or garden, or even wash your car if you're feeling adventurous. (Just try to avoid throwing harsh chemicals into the garden, or using water with an exfoliating bits in it to wash the car)
When you are rinsing dishes, washing your hands, brushing your teeth, cooking, bloody-well doing the cha-cha: SWITCH OFF THE TAP. Rinsing dishes needs probably max 3 cm of water in the sink, you don't need to run them under the tap. We learnt this when we were in the first few years of school people.
Reducing your water wastage and consumption is not a difficult task to do. It's just about being more conscious of where the water is going, how much is being used, and how much is really necessary.
We won't have drinkable water forever guys. A small change in your life has a huge impact on not only the environment, but those less privileged than the likes of us who can buy bottled water every day. So make the change; if not for yourself, then at least for those who don't have any choice but to live with five litres a day.
Okay kiddos.
Hope that was somewhat helpful. It is so worth researching a lot of this yourself, as you would be surprised by the impact our food practices and habits have on the world around us.
Reducing your environmental impact in fashion and beauty coming soon too so look out for that!
Enjoy the rest of your day lovely
xx
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