October 26th, 2009 - Laura Klein
 The average American’s diet creates one and a quarter tons of carbon dioxide emissions per person every year.1
According to Time Magazine, our energy-intensive food system uses 19% of U.S. fossil fuels, more than any other sector of the economy.
It’s a fact: what we choose to buy and eat can help contribute to a better, healthier way.
Organic foods are more gentle on Mother Earth. Consider why:
- Organic farmers leave soil and crop residue in the ground rather than digging it up (known as the ‘no-till’ method). That means organic farmers release less CO2 into the air by sequestering it in the earth.
- Organic farming uses 50% less energy overall than traditional farming.
- Smaller-scale organic farms use 60% less fossil fuel per unit of food than conventional industrial farms.2
If we turned all of our farmland in this country to organic and regenerative methodologies, where we’re putting basically cover crops or compost back into the soil and not using chemical fertilizers, we could mitigate 25 percent of our emissions in this country alone.
-Timothy LaSalle, CEO of the Rodale Institute. Read the transcript or view the video of LaSalle’s response to critics who say organic farming is unsustainable and produces smaller crop yields.
So yes – support, buy and eat organic.
Other top tips for a global warming diet include:
- Eat grass-fed beef only: cows and ruminant chewing animals that graze on healthy pastures reduces greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, and overall energy consumption.
- Go meatless one night a week: This is a great money saving tip and will create room in your budget to add more organic veggies to your diet.
- Eat local: the closer the origins of your food, the less transportation and corresponding carbon emissions into the atmosphere. And the more likely your produce has been vine ripened which makes for delicious foods!
- Eat in season: foods that are in season are usually in abundance and can be more affordable delicious!
- Eat lower on the food chain: choose foods that consume fewer other foods and eat as much of a plant-based diet as possible (choosing organic, of course!)
Many people ask me if I eat locally conventionally grown foods, in other words foods sprayed with pesticides. My answer: no. Please don’t ask me to eat foods that have been sprayed with toxic chemicals, even if it is grown locally. If I told you to make a beautiful fresh garden vegetable soup and, oh by the way, pull out the ant and roach spray and lightly give your veggies a fine mist before cooking to ward off any pests that come crawling along your kitchen counter, would you do it? Probably not.
What are your favorite global warming diet tips? Share them with others – we love hearing from you!
1Gidon Eshel and Pamela A. Martin, “Diet, Energy, and Global Warming,” Earth Interactions 10 (May 2005)
2Ready, Set, Green; Eight Weeks to Modern Eco Living, Graham Hill & Meaghan O’Neill
Tags: earth, eating habits, environment, Organic Food
Posted in Green Living, Organic, Organic Food, Organic Living, The Environment | 4 Comments »
October 22nd, 2009 - Barbara Feiner
The Monterey Bay Aquarium has launched a national campaign that asks top U.S. chefs and well-known foodies to take a Save Our Seafood pledge.
In signing the pledge, chefs agree to stop using fish and seafood on the aquarium’s Seafood Watch “Avoid” list.
Let’s support restaurants whose chefs have signed on, including:
For a full list of chefs and foodies who have signed the pledge, click here.
Chefs who are interested in signing on can call (877) 229-9990 (toll-free) or e-mail the aquarium.
Suggested Reading
Tags: environment, fish, fishing, oceans, Organic Food, restaurants, seafood, sustainable fish, Sustainable seafood
Posted in Organic Food | 1 Comment »
October 21st, 2009 - Barbara Feiner
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Transportation (DOT) are holding public hearings this week on the country’s first greenhouse gas emissions limits for passenger vehicles.
Hearings began today in Detroit and will continue in New York City on Friday and Los Angeles on Tuesday. You can thank President Obama for pushing this environmental agenda, in concert with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, automakers, the United Auto Workers Union and eco-conscious organizations.
According to the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), passenger cars and light trucks emit “nearly 20% of the nation’s greenhouse gases, in the form of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and hydrofluorocarbons. In April, EPA provisionally found that these four contaminants and two other greenhouse gases endanger human health and welfare.”
The proposed standards would apply to new cars produced from 2012 to 2016. The EDF cites the following benefits:
- Breaking Our Oil Addiction and Strengthening National Security. The vehicles subject to the proposed standards are responsible for about 40% of all U.S. oil consumption. The standards would reduce our oil consumption by 1.8 billion barrels, while achieving a 5% annual improvement in fuel efficiency for U.S. passenger cars.
- Reducing Global-Warming Pollution. Vehicles covered by the proposed standards account for 60% of heat-trapping emissions from the transportation sector and about 20% of all U.S. heat-trapping gases. These emissions have increased by more than 1% annually. The proposal would cut carbon dioxide pollution from passenger vehicles approximately 21% by 2030, reducing emissions by 950 million tons.
- Saving Money at the Pump. Families can save more than $3,000 over a vehicle’s lifetime.
Photo:
Tags: cars, emissions, environment, EPA, global warming, greenhouse gases, Health, Obama, oil, pollution, Schwarzenegger
Posted in The Environment | 2 Comments »
October 21st, 2009 - Barbara Feiner
Turning the Tide: The State of Seafood, a new report from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, reveals that international efforts to protect the ocean’s ecosystem and our sustainable seafood supply are paying off.
Chalk it up to “a growing consensus on how best to manage fisheries and fish-farming operations, and new commitments by consumers, major buyers and the fishing community,” the report notes.
“Ocean life is still in decline, and we clearly need to take urgent action to turn things around,” says Julie Packard, the aquarium’s executive director. “The good news is that we know what it will take and that key players are working more closely than ever to solve the problems. I’m confident that we can and will create a future with healthy oceans.”
Recent improvements in seafood management include:
- A scientific study that unified marine ecologists and fisheries management scientists on a set of principles for restoring ocean ecosystems and commercial fish populations
- Significant new commitments from major seafood buyers—including retailers like Walmart and North America’s largest food-service companies—to shift to sustainable seafood offerings
- Growth in the supply of sustainable seafood certified by reputable international organizations, notably the Marine Stewardship Council
- Policies adopted by governments around the world to better manage fisheries and fish-farming; reduce the rate at which wildlife is caught and killed accidentally in fishing gear; and protect critical ocean habitat vital to maintaining healthy ocean ecosystems
Turning the Tide: The State of Seafood includes a Super Green list of wild and farmed seafood choices, prepared collaboratively with the Environmental Defense Fund and the Harvard School of Public Health. The aquarium will update the list every 2 years.
Click here to download a sustainable seafood guide for your area.
Tags: environment, fish, fishing, oceans, seafood, sustainable fish
Posted in Organic Food | 1 Comment »
October 15th, 2009 - Barbara Feiner
Former Vice President Al Gore’s follow-up to An Inconvenient Truth will be released on Nov. 3.
Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis is available for preorder at Amazon, which is offering a 34% discount (retail price: $26.99; Amazon price: $17.81). An abridged audiobook (CDs) is also available (retail price: $29.99; Amazon price: $19.79).
The book is printed on locally produced and sourced 100% recycled paper, with low-VOC inks.
“An Inconvenient Truth reached millions of people with the message that the climate crisis is threatening the future of human civilization and that it must and can be solved,” says Gore, co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his environmental work. “Now that the need for urgent action is even clearer with the alarming new findings of the last three years, it is time for a comprehensive global plan that actually solves the climate crisis.”
As with An Inconvenient Truth, Gore will donate 100% of the new book’s proceeds to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group dedicated to spreading awareness of the climate crisis.
From Our Organic Blog
Tags: al gore, climate change, environment, global warming
Posted in The Environment | No Comments »
October 9th, 2009 - Barbara Feiner
Sunday marked the beginning of Animal Action Week, an International Fund for Animal Welfare campaign to teach both children and adults about biodiversity, habitat and ecosystems.
Actor Leonardo DiCaprio, an IFAW honorary board member, is promoting the campaign, which provides schools with a free education pack and Under One Sky: Why Animals Matter, a 15-minute film he narrates. Click here for access to educational downloads. You’ll also find a wide selection of downloadable Animal Fact Sheets—great tools to share with your kids.
Students may enter an art contest, with the winning design to appear on next year’s campaign poster. Families are also encouraged to sign a global pledge to make lifestyle choices that better protect the environment we share with animals.
“Animals and their vital habitat face more threats than ever before,” DiCaprio says. “Animals, like people, need a home that provides food, water, shelter and space. It’s our responsibility to protect animals and our planet’s vital ecosystems if we want to leave a better world for future generations.”
For Your Organic Bookshelf: The Animal Ethics Reader
Tags: animal cruelty, education, environment, events, Organic Living, Parenting, pets
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October 3rd, 2009 - Barbara Feiner
What unites former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and international artists like Fergie, Lily Allen, Duran Duran, Mark Ronson, Jamie Cullum, Marion Cotillard and Milla Jovovich?
A global musical petition that demands climate justice.
A new cover of Midnight Oil’s Beds Are Burning is designed to send a message to world leaders who will participate in the UN’s Copenhagen Climate Change Summit in December.
Each free download will count as a signature on a “digital petition” for an ambitious, fair and international answer to the global-warming crisis. More than 1.3 million people have signed on thus far.
“Climate change is the greatest humanitarian challenge facing mankind today,” Annan says. “And it is a challenge that has a grave injustice at its heart. It is the major developed economies of the world which contribute the overwhelming majority of global greenhouse emissions. But it is the poorer and least developed nations that are hit hardest by its impact.
“By downloading ‘Beds Are Burning’ for free from major music download platforms on the Internet, people from around the world will be adding their names to this growing global petition—joining the campaign for climate justice and becoming a climate ally. This will be the first time ever that a musical petition has been created to demand decisive action from our world leaders.”
“Music is the universal language, capable of transcending cultures, generations, religions and races,” adds song producer Alexandre Sap. “A song or an artist truly has the power to translate a message or a movement more than any politician or world leader can on a global scale. This will create a voice for all of us who deserve to have a say leading up to Copenhagen in December. The goal is to draw enough attention to an event that will affect everyone’s lives on the planet.”
You may download the song from the Time for Climate Justice website, Amazon or iTunes.
For Your Organic Bookshelf: Climate Change: What It Means for Us, Our Children and Our Grandchildren
Tags: activism, climate change, environment, global warming, music
Posted in Political Action, The Environment | No Comments »
September 26th, 2009 - Barbara Feiner
Award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns, director of documentaries like The Civil War and Baseball, trains his lens on The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, a six-episode series that premieres Sunday on PBS. (Click here to view a preview. You may also purchase the DVD boxed set or companion book on Oct. 6.)
Sadly, well-known parks like Yellowstone, Joshua Tree, the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Acadia (right) are beginning to show their age, and they’re now threatened by funding shortfalls, pollution, climate change and encroaching developers.
This hasn’t stopped committed individuals from fighting for the parks’ survival:
- Maxine Johnston, dubbed the “Godmother” of Big Thicket National Preserve in Texas, worked tirelessly for 50 years to help protect some 100,000 acres of highly diverse wildlife habitat.
- Former Miami Herald reporter Juanita Green, featured in Burns’s film, wrote stories that were instrumental in creating and protecting Biscayne National Park. In the 1960s, the park was threatened by a proposal to dredge a channel through the bay and turn the area into a city.
So, what can you do to help?
- Visit and explore one of our 391 national parks. Share your experiences with others to build support.
- Join the movement without leaving home. Sign up for news and action alerts. Write to President Obama, and contact your congressional representatives and other decision makers. Voice your concerns about park conservation.
- Reduce your carbon footprint. Global warming’s effects are already visible at national parks. At Glacier National Park, glaciers are disappearing faster than scientists predicted. In parks across the country, native trees and animals are losing ground because changing temperature and weather patterns affect the availability of food, water and shelter. Visit the Do Your Part! For Climate Friendly Parks website, which helps you calculate your carbon footprint. Set goals for buying local foods, reducing automobile use and saving energy at home.
Photo courtesy of ARA
Tags: climate change, DVDs, environment, events, global warming, Ken Burns, national parks, pollution
Posted in The Environment | No Comments »
September 15th, 2009 - Barbara Feiner
We want our laundry to feel soft and smell fresh, but traditional dryer sheets are not the answer. As noted in A Partner in Grime:
Dryer sheets contain artificial fragrances and carcinogenic chemicals ranging from ethanol to formaldehyde, so avoid using them. In addition to posing health hazards, they can leave a film on your dryer’s filter that reduces air flow. Over time, this can impair the motor’s performance.
You may have seen laundry balls and discs at your local natural and organic food store, which are promoted as long-lasting, eco-friendly solutions. But there’s a catch, according to Jill Potvin Schoff, author of Green Up Your Cleanup.
“Dryer balls used as fabric softeners do work,” she writes, “but they are made out of PVC, a plastic you want to avoid.”
Click here for more information on the perils of polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
Suggested Reading
Tags: chemicals, clothes dryers, environment, fabric softener, green cleaning, Green Living, laundry, PVC
Posted in green cleaning | 4 Comments »
September 13th, 2009 - Barbara Feiner
There are many reasons to avoid eating a McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwich.
We can start with taste.
Next comes nutrition: The fried, soggy mess has 380 calories, 45% of which come from fat. The sandwich also delivers 640 mg sodium. That’s virtually on par with a Quarter Pounder, which has 410 calories (42% from fat) and 730 mg sodium.
Now, there’s another reason to Filet-O-flee: ecosystem damage.
While McDonald’s claims to use sustainable fish, the fast-food titan is drawing fire from environmental groups.
Instead of buying the expected Pacific cod or Alaskan pollock (both eco-friendly choices), much of the chain’s fish is New Zealand hoki, whose sustainability is being questioned.
As New York Times reporter William J. Broad reveals in From Deep Pacific, Ugly and Tasty, with a Catch:
Without formally acknowledging that hoki are being overfished, New Zealand has slashed the allowable catch in steps, from about 275,000 tons in 2000 and 2001 to about 100,000 tons in 2007 and 2008—a decline of nearly two-thirds.
Peter Trott, fisheries program manager for Australia’s World Wildlife Fund, told Broad that his group has “major concerns” about hoki. Click here to read the full story.
And here’s an idea: Avoid fast-food fish by making an eco-friendly choice and grilling or baking it to perfection. We can suggest the following recipes from our organic blog:
- Fish Sticks in a Flash
- Gremolata-Crusted Fish Fillets
- Graham-Crusted Fish Fillets
- Catfish with Peanut-Coconut Crust
- Moroccan Sauce for Fish/Seafood
- Madras Curry Dip for Fish/Seafood
- Creole Mustard Dip for Fish/Seafood
- Grilled Catfish Tacos with Citrus Slaw
Tags: environment, fast food, McDonald’s, nutrition, Organic Food, recipes, sustainable fish
Posted in Organic Food, Organic Food Recipes, The Environment | 2 Comments »
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