Руководство безотходного человека. Среда-четверг

Wednesday

Food

Healthy eating can also lessen your footprint

It’s Wednesday! Are you hungry?

You probably will be if you haven’t planned for this day in advance. We won’t kid you, today is a toughie. You’ve tackled trash and transportation, no small feats. Now it’s time to focus your efforts on food. The good news is that eaters the world over are reinventing themselves as locavores, vegetarians, organic foodies and gardeners — and feeling better for it. During their No Impact Year, the Beavan family examined and altered what they ate and found new, carbon-friendly ways to nourish themselves. They ate locally and seasonally. Packaged and processed food disappeared from their grocery list. The Beavans soon discovered that these changes not only lessened their environmental impact, but also enabled them to lose weight and improve their health. Best of all, they got to spend more time with friends and family at vibrant farmers’ markets and while making and sharing meals. What will you discover?

FYI

Distance your average item of food travels to your plate: 1,500 miles

John Hendrickson, “Energy use in the U.S. Food System: A Summary of existing research and analysis”

A big part of the No Impact project was to eat only local,

seasonal, unpackaged food.

That meant, basically, lots of fresh vegetables. Michelle and I

both lost a lot of weight. None of the farmers I talk to at the

farmers’ market try to jam their food with salt, fat or sugar to get

my little Isabella addicted.

—No Impact Man blog, May 7, 2009

Steps

1. Take your food list from yesterday and calculate your carbon “foodprint. http://www.eatlowcarbon.org/” Did you eat anything grown within 250 miles? Click here to find out what’s in season locally. http://www.nrdc.org/health/foodmiles Chose five items from yesterday that were not produced locally and try swapping them out for items that are produced locally.

2. For this week define your own limits. Will you only buy food grown within 100 miles of your home, or food only grown in the U.S.? Will you give up beef or try veganism? Since you aren’t consuming packaged products (which create trash), your choices may be easier than you think.

3. Dig in! Bicycle to a farmers’ market. Learn some new recipes. Invite friends over for a potluck.

4. Keep track of your food choices. Ask yourself throughout the day: what are the most challenging aspects of adjusting your food habits? Blog about your choices, experiments, menus, or other food adventures.

5. Please take your brief end-of-day survey. We will send it to you tonight to the email account that you initially registered with.

Ideas for change

Shopping

• Find your nearest local, sustainable, and organic bakery, butcher, and farmers’ market in the Eat Well Guide. http://www.eatwellguide.org/

• If you can’t give up coffee this week, switch to fair trade. Need sugar?

• Try locally harvested honey. Need olive oil? Try local butter. Wine? Search for your nearest vineyard.

• Download Food and Water Watch’s Smart Seafood Guide for buying ocean-friendly fish. http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/fish/seafood/seafood-guide/resolveuid/dfa7f43dcbba6f8ba368b04092b9121c

• There’s no denying it — eating fewer animal products can be the single greenest move you can make. Try going vegetarian for your No Impact week, or having meat in just one of your meals. You can even just try it for a day! You'll find recipes and resources for delicious veggie-based meals perfect for any day of the week at Meatless Monday.

• Can’t give up meat? Learn which meat labels you can trust.

Cool idea #1

Do you know what’s in your shopping cart? Find out what countries your produce comes from with The Global Grocer

Cooking

• Get Cooking, sign up for NoTakeOut. http://notakeout.com/

• Instead of sautéing or braising greens, rub them with some oil and vinegar until soft and wilted.

• Find ways to use your oven for shorter periods.

• Put food in during the preheating stage and turn the oven off early to let the heated air finish cooking your food!

• Save money and eat healthier by preserving food. You can expand your local food options through the seasons by canning or freezing local produce year round. This is a great group activity.

Cool idea #2

Thanksgiving is coming up. Try the 100-mile Thanksgiving challenge

Eating out

• Pack school or office sandwiches and snacks in re-useable or washable cloth bags. Use glass or stainless steel lunchboxes or To-Go Ware.

• According to WasteFreeLunches, a child who brings her own lunch to school will save about $250 a year.

• Ask for tap water instead of bottled.

• Bring your own doggy bag from home when you're eating out. http://ecologichomemakers.wordpress.com/2009/04/30/my-new-takeout-food-packaging-japanese-doggy-bag/

• Whether you’re driving cross-country or across town, find local, sustainable and organic restaurants here. http://www.eatwellguide.org/

• Put down the McNuggets and check out the anti- fast food movement, Slow Food. Their 83,000 members have discovered a slower, cleaner, healthier way of eating. Sounds delicious!

Cool idea #3

Eat the freshest food and take the worry out of buying locally. Sign up for a local CSA.

Thursaday: Energy

Your challenge

Replace kilowatts with ingenuity — explore no-energy alternatives to accomplish your daily tasks

Today we are going to focus on reducing energy use.

You've reached the fifth day of your No Impact Experiment, and you have made incredible changes: you are making less trash, getting around on your own steam, eating better, and cutting back on your consumption. If life without electricity sounds daunting, well, it can be. The laundry machine was one of the things Colin and Michelle missed the most during their No Impact year. But they also found their apartment was cluttered with electricity-sucking devices they didn't miss at all. Without TV, they had to rely on each other for entertainment. The family forged deeper relationships and had more meaningful conversations. They slept better following the natural rise and fall of the sun, and without refrigeration, they perfected a healthful culinary technique of preserving vegetables. Over the next four days, how far can you go to reduce your energy consumption?

FYI

Switching to green energy is one of the easiest ways

to make a big difference. In fact you can cut your carbon dioxide emissions by an average of 35 percent.

Since we have no electricity as part of the No Impact experiment, we also have no TV.

Last week, someone asked me how we entertain Isabella without one. Coin

cidentally, that day, my friend Mayer, whose community garden plot I help

with, called to say that fireflies were in season at the garden and that I

should take Isabella there at dusk. So

we went… when about six fireflies circled around us, Isabella suddenly looked at me

and said, ‘I’m so happy, Daddy.’ She never said that while we were watching television.

—No Impact Man Blog, July 19, 2007

Steps

1. Assess current energy consumption habits. Walk from room to room in your home. List everything in each room that uses energy to operate (i.e., electricity, oil, gas, batteries). Put a star next to any item that you would ordinarily use in the remaining four days of your No Impact Experiment.

2. Next to each starred item, indicate if you are going to ELIMINATE or MITIGATE your usage of that item. Not sure how to live without your fill in the blank? Brainstorm and spark a conversation with others online. http://experiment.noimpactproject.org/

3. Unplug! Turn it off. Power down. Go off the grid. For the truly adventurous, turn off your electricity completely and see what happens.

4. Ask yourself throughout the day: What is the hardest part about reducing the amount of energy you use? Blog or Vlog about your experience conserving energy here. http://experiment.noimpactproject.org/

5. Please take your brief end-of-day survey. We will send it to you tonight to the email account that you initially registered with.

Ideas for change

Temperature and lighting

• Is it getting hot in here? Tie a damp bandanna around your neck or take a 30-second shower (catch the water in a bucket and use it to water your window sill herbs — or save it to wet your bandanna later!)

• Turn off your A/C (http://www.simplesteps.org/mmm#/h/+/12) and leave your house to cool off. Go outside and enjoy an evening in a park or public swimming pool. Visit a public space (think: library, museum) that is air-conditioned and interact with your neighbors while cooling your body.

• If it’s already cool in your corner of the world, cut back on heating by turning your thermostat as low as it can go. If a sweater, wool socks, and earmuffs keep you warm outside, they can do the same inside.

• Natural daylight is the best light, so time your day to make the most of it: wake up with the sun and go to sleep when it sets. Not only will this do away with the need for artificial illumination, it will also leave you well-rested.

• If you must be awake when it is dark, a beeswax candle is a good choice, especially if you can find one manufactured

• Find out if you can buy green power in your state .

Cooking and cleaning

Take advantage of the free solar and wind energy right outside your door — dry your clothing on a clothesline or drying rack. Don’t have a place to hang your laundry outside? A drying rack also works well in the bathtub.

Not only will your clothes smell great, they will last longer, delaying your need to buy replacements and thus reducing

your consumption!

Cool idea 1

New twists on some old faves. Check out Trevor’s suggestion for cooking pasta without pre-heating or making your own sun tea with a homemade solar water heater.

• Instead of using your washing machine, wash your clothes grape-stomping style like Colin did during his No Impact year.

• Minimize your need for the oven and stovetop (and maximize the nutrient value of your food!) by planning meals that do not require cooking. Google “raw food” and be amazed by the tongue-tantalizing results!

• Pretend you’re on a camping trip and store your food for the rest of the week in a cooler or try to make your own Nigerian Zeer Pot (http://www.scienceinafrica.co.za/2004/september/refrigeration.htm). You can also keep greens submerged in water, like you keep flowers in a vase, and they’ll last longer.

Cool idea 2

The hot water you need to wash dishes can be generated by filling some old jars with water and sitting them against a dark background in the sun all day. You can make that water even hotter (and stay hotter longer) by putting those

glass jars in a solar oven, which can be built with things you probably have lying around the house.

Power Down

• Plug your computer and all of its accessories (printers, scanners, etc.) into a power strip. Shut the power strip off when you are done with the computer to avoid using “ghost power” — electricity that is used even when appliances and electronic equipment are not active.

• Unplug your TV and cover it with a blanket. Better yet, Freecycle it away! http://www.freecycle.org/

• For one day, try to use your laptop only for work. Call friends to catch up or spend some time with a good book.

Cool idea 3

Burn calories, not electricity. Skip the elevator and take the stairs.

THIS WEEKEND YOU’LL GIVE BACK TO OUR COMMUNITY. FIND A VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY TODAY!