Small Changes

I'm all about being "Verde" and still living a normal life. I don't think you have to be an outcast just because you care about the world around you. Most people don't know I am Vegan until they get to know me. If you incorporate some of these things into your daily life, even just gradually, our quality of life would improve greatly!

*Eat less meat and dairy at least one or two days a week! Animal flesh is very hard for our bodies to process and i've read that red meat will remain in your GI tract for days! And we aren't supposed to leave food out for more than 4 hours!! EEK. Dairy was made for baby cattle, the casein protein agitates our system and causes numerous autoimmune conditions. There are complete proteins available in plant sources...i could write volumes. Be a conscious eater: where did this come from...and are you comfortable with the suffering involved in getting it to your plate?

*Conserve water and electricity! Yes, turn off the water while your brushing teeth, but it goes beyond that! Cutting down on watering lawns, reusing water in the kitchen, little changes like this add up exponentially if everyone cooperates! E.G: when boiling pasta: boil the entire package and refrigerate the cooked unused pasta for tomorrow! Then reuse that water for your plants and garden!!! Turn off the computer when not using it, turn off lights and unplug everything from the wall when you're not in the room. Tiny amounts of electricity are used by everything plugged in!

*Be considerate of our LANDFILLS! Produce and compost rots and creates valuable microbes for soil. Mixed with some earthworms, you've got the beginnings of a prize-winning garden! Separate your trash into bins and put them into appropriate trash cans. Back in the day, the waste collectors only made one trip around with a garbage truck. I'm thankful the garbage companies got smart. Recycle things at home before dumping them--e.g. wash and reuse old jars, and plastic containers, use newspaper as weed barriers in the garden, better yet, use old newspaper to clean your windows, they work better than paper towels! There are too many things to list but these are all ways to reduce the greenhouse gases emitted by A. the transportation of excess waste in garbage trucks, B. the recycling plants, and C. the production factories working to make new products that we could have found at home. (Why buy mulch or fertilizer when you can make it at home!)

*Avoid unnatural products: With all this talk about supplement recalls like Hydroxycut, i scratch my head wondering WHY anyone would ever take that in the first place! I remember after having my twins, I thought I'd NEVER lose weight. I never once considered taking ANY weight loss pills/supplements. Ok, i drank gallons of caffeine but that is it! I would dance while playing with them, I would keep active and on the go, I would fit in late night workouts and most of all, I cut my portion sizes to control the amount of calories I consumed. Hard work will get you the results you want when it comes to being healthy/fit. Good old sweat, eating well, and gaining control of your eating habits. Also: stick with products you know support the environment and don't test on animals.

There are many ways we can improve our overall wellness and help the Earth at the same time!