Buying Close to the Source

Buying as close to the source as possible is a simple concept: the farther something gets from where it origionated, the more energy is used. The implication of such a simple concept, however, is huge!

At its most basic level, this means buy local/domestic. This goes for everything from palisade peaches to American made. I'm not trying to get political here, just ecological. Consider the energy used to ship internationally, and while America is hardly the standard of clean emission standards, regulations are stricter here than in places like...oh say China.

Another facet of buying close to the source is the amount of packaging and processing that goes into products. This applies to everything we buy, but is most easily seen for me at the grocery store. For example, I'm a huge fan of the pre-washed pre-bagged baby spinach--how convinient is that? But what about the energy it took to wash and bag it? Not to mention you now have this plastic bag you have to throw out. Instead, I've started buying the bundles of greens (you know the ones my mom bought before there was pre-bagged spinach) and wash it at home. But Rachel, isn't that a waste of water? I fill the sink with water and wash all my fruits and veggies at the same time (but i think that falls under water conservation...a different blog). It's not just in the produce section, however. The grocery store is full of overprocessed over packaged items . My goal: buy fresher and cook more (cutting down on processing and packaging). Not only is better for you, it's better for the environment. A bit of a time commitment, but i feel like it's one of those things that more you do the easier it gets. I'll keep you posted.

Alright. Here's the tough one. Vegatarianism. Let me start by saying this isn't my cry for global vegatarianism. I'm simply putting this out there as something to think on:

Meat production is rediculously wasteful. I once read an estimation that it takes 16 pounds of grain to make one hamburger. WHAT?! That's out of control! Think of the time, energy, water, and land that went into producing that grain that could have made numorous meals instead of one. Not to mention the aditional processing that goes into slaughtering, butchering, packaging, and shipping meat. Am I going full force vegan? No. Humans are made to consume meat (although I do believe it's possible to be a healthy vegan. Maybe one day I'll take the plunge). I am, however, committed to reducing my consumption of animal products. Anyone's who's interested should check out www.goveg.com . Be warned, the sight has links to some pretty intense stuff but also has links to great facts, statistics, recipes, and even a free vegitarian starter kit.

All right. I think that's it for now. GOOOO PLANET!