World Environment Day (WED) is observed every year on June 5th to raise global awareness environmental concerns. Activities like street rallies, parades, concerts, tree planting, clean up campaigns etc are organised to highlight a particular theme each year which is hosted in a different city each time. The theme for World Environment Day 2014 is ‘Raise Your Voice, Not The Sea Level’ which throws the spotlight on how small islands are being affected by global warming and the rising sea levels. It is no surprise to see that our climate change has changed over the years. Factors like food wastage/rubbish, growing population, industrialisation and urbanisation have contributed to raising global warming to much higher levels. Because food waste and rubbish creates such a large portion of this issue, we have highlighted small things that you can do to help protect the beautiful nature that we have on this planet that we are so fortunate to be able to exist on.
1) Go Organic
Organic foods are those that are naturally grown and free from the use of chemical fertilisers. This helps to promote a healthy environment for growing crops and raising livestock as well as encouraging soil and water conservation and reducing pollution. Admittedly, these can be a bit more expensive that ‘regular’ food but their positive environmental impact is worth the additional cost.
2) Use Leftovers
Food wastage is a serious problem that built up society is dealing with. In certain countries there is starvation and malnutrition due to food scarcity yet many people lavishly throw away tonnes of food waste. Food waste leads to use of chemicals and can contribute to the addition of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Learn to use leftovers in meals the next day – there are some fantastic recipes out there!
3) Grow For Yourself
Although not completely possible for everybody, grow it yourself! Even if you have a small flat you can create a small kitchen garden with herbs or basic salad. It helps to reduce your carbon footprint and reduce the use of fossil fuels consumed in transporting the food.
4) Avoid Packaged Foods
A lot of plastic and other non biodegradable material is used to packing food and drinks every year. Try and shift to as much non-packed food as possible as this will reduce emissions from factories where these products are created, processed and packaged.
5) Eat Seasonal
Eating seasonal is better for your health as nothing compares to the freshest produce in season as they have a higher nutritional value. Food that isn’t in season can often be coated with unwanted chemicals or waxes to make them look more attractive and are often produced artificially for a longer shelf life, lacking the depth of fresh flavour.
6) Eat Locally
Using locally produced ingredients helps to reduce the energy consumed by foods that have to travel a distance to reach you. This method reduces carbon emissions and helps to support local agriculture and the area in which you live.
7) Eat Raw
Not a full time fix for many people but going on the occasional raw food ‘diet’ once in a while can help save energy that would otherwise be used by appliances like the oven, microwave etc. Going vegan for say two meals a week would also contribute to this too.
8) Eat Less Meat
In the Western World, we eat meat a considerable proportion of our diet. Industrially manufactured meat has the most negative impact on the environment when compared to other foods. Raising so much livestock to meet with current demands leads to deforestation to create space. The chemical fertilisers that are often used to grow crops for the livestock emit lots of greenhouse gases. We’re not saying give up meat completely, but perhaps reduce your weekly intake. Stir fries are a great way of doing this!
