Environment

If you’re like me, you don’t think much about finding the perfect water source when you’re really thirsty; you just want to drink. Water is one of the essential elements of life, a sustaining force that not only quenches our thirst but is also integral in everything from agriculture to transportation to sanitation and personal hygiene. Water is essential for survival, not only for individuals and communities but also for the preservation of our environment.

How can we satisfy our own need for this precious resource while preserving it for future generations?

Although it's a year old now, I find myself returning to Micaela Preston's excellent book, Practically Green, on a regular basis. Subtitled "Your Guide to Ecofriendly Decision-Making," Practically Green is a small, handy, good-looking book intended to make it easy to be green (sorry Kermit, couldn't resist). The book doesn't pretend to be a comprehensive guide to green living, local food, recycling, or anything else. It's not political or didactic; it doesn't preach or make me feel bad about what I'm not doing better. Practically Green includes broad, easy-to-follow sections (Eating, Living, Cleaning, etc.), with loads of specifics suggestions for things to buy and make. 

Last week, I got a terse e-mail from Lee. He wanted to know why we hadn’t written about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on Simple, Good and Tasty yet.

It was a valid question and he was right to ask it. The health of one of the world’s most vibrant marine ecosystems is at stake; hundreds, if not thousands, of species of marine animals are at risk of extinction; a way of life and a means of livelihood for people living along the Gulf coast is threatened; and the food supply for millions of people could be altered forever. It is an issue that deserves space on a website that exists to promote sustainable food and the people who produce it.

So why hadn’t I assigned it to one of our writers? Or written about it myself?

There are many ways to celebrate the Earth Day: plant a tree, sign a petition, say hello to a polar bear, go fly a kite, buy a bus pass. And I’m going to suggest one more: start a compost pile.

Unless you’re in a professional kitchen where a non-stick pan doesn’t have a chance of survival then there’s a pretty good chance that you have at least one Teflon™ or non-stick pan in your cupboard.  Just as we revisited the plastics in our drawers and the cans in our pantries, it’s time to look at our cookware, too.

Eden Organic: A BPA-Free Option
The slogan goes “Plastics make it possible.” and there is no question that the invention of plastics over the past century has greatly changed our lives in so many ways. But starting in the late ‘90s research began questioning the perfect world of plastics. As a result, consumers are looking for alternatives to plastics -- Bisphenol A (BPA) in particular.

Are you thinking ahead to spring? I know it’s hard to fathom in the midst of our deep freeze, but spring really IS just around the corner. Sadly, spring is when my allergies rear their ugly mugs and turn the otherwise lovely experience of new life blooming into a major sneeze-fest. Whether you've got allergies or you’re just looking for a way to clear your home of allergens, toxins, and other not-so-pleasant environmental hazards, here are some ideas that may help. (Don’t forget to check out our previous articles on detoxing your kitchen and your bath and laundry.)

Back in November -- appropriately enough, on Thanksgiving Day -- four scientists for the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, published a report about the environmental impact of food waste in America. They calculated that, every year, as much as 40 percent of America’s food supply is discarded! (That’s a 28 percent increase, by the way, since 1974.) If you divide that amount among every man, woman and child living in the U.S., we’re talking 1,400 kilocalories -- or 1.4 million calories -- per day, per person, that end up in the trash.

A wise friend once said “awareness rocks!” I couldn’t agree more. When I started down the detox path myself, I realized that all of my researching, experimenting and learning about less toxic eating was coagulating into a new form of awareness. If I cared so much about how hard my poor liver was working, I reasoned, I should probably find a way to bring all of this glorious non-toxicity into the rest of my world as well. What we consume certainly plays a big role in how we bring toxins into our bodies, but the air we breathe and what touches our skin matters too. With this in mind, I started looking around my house for sources and solutions.

Who out there is undertaking a January detox this year? I know I am, for the 4th time in about 2 ½ years. Somewhere in our collective consciousness, the detox has become a fairly commonplace practice, giving our bodies a clean slate on which to scribe the new year. But what about the rest of your surroundings? I don’t know about you, but once I start this ritualistic stripping away of toxic baddies and enriching my diet with all of this fabulously healthy local and organic food, I wonder what else around here needs to be buffed up. A detox for the home? You know, that sounds pretty sensible. But where on earth to start?