One or more household members eat a vegetarian or vegan diet
Eating a vegetarian or vegan diet helps reduce the negative impacts of industrial animal production, such as excessive energy use, animal waste pollution, methane emissions, and animal cruelty. There can also be health benefits including lower body mass indices, lower levels of cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and less incidence of heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, renal disease, osteoporosis, metabolic syndrome, and dementias such as Alzheimer’s disease. Studies have shown significant differences between vegetarians and non-vegetarians in mortality from cerebrovascular disease, stomach cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer. Learn more about vegetarianism.
Looking for tasty vegetarian cuisine in Frederick County? Check out VegFrederick.com for information on local vegetarian restaurants and grocery stores.
Buy organic, free-range, and/or grass-fed food at least 25% of the time
Buying organic food lessens the impact of pesticides, fertilizers, and other dangerous chemicals on the environment and the consumer. Different levels of organic certification include “100 percent organic,” “organic,” and “made with organic ingredients.” Foods labeled “100 percent organic” cannot contain any non-organic ingredients. “Organic” foods must contain at least 95% organic ingredients, and foods “made with organic ingredients” must contain at least 70% organic ingredients. To learn more, watch this video on the benefits of eating organic.
Certified organic meat and dairy products are slightly different than grass-fed and free-range animal products in that “organic” animals may be grain-fed but are also required to have access to pasture. To learn more, watch this video about the requirements for organic animal product certification.
Free-range and grass-fed (in comparison to grain-fed) animal products contain far more essential nutrients, such as omega-3s, which are vital to brain and heart health and have even been shown to reduce risk of cancer, heart attack, depression, attention deficit disorder, and Alzheimer’s disease. They also contain more beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), alpha-linoleic acid (ALA), and essential minerals. Learn more about the health benefits of free-range and grass-fed animal products.
Purchasing free-range and grass-fed products cuts down on CO2 emissions, pesticide use, and synthetic fertilizer use related to industrial grain production. It also reduces manure run-off, disease in animals and consumers, methane gas emissions from animals, and animal cruelty. Manure from pastured animals can help build healthy soil, improving habitat for soil organisms, insects, and other native animals. In addition, the grasses and plants allowed to grow on a pasture sequester CO2. Check out these articles to learn more about the environmental benefits of free-range and grass-fed animal products: Grassfarming Benefits the Environment, In Defense of the Cow.
Supporting local farmers markets, Community Supported Agriculture programs (CSAs), natural food stores, and wineries decreases food transportation costs, boosts the local economy, and provides healthy, fresh food that is often less harmful to the environment than industrial agriculture. For locations and operating hours of Frederick County Farmers Markets, check out Frederick Farm Fresh, the Frederick County Virtual Farmers Market, or the MD Department of Agriculture’s Market Information. You can also sign up for a Community Supported Agriculture program, which provides you with a weekly supply of fresh produce or other farm products from an individual farmer for an entire growing season. Find a CSA farm near you.
Grow at least 15% of your own produce and/or raise your own animals for food
Growing your own food is just about as local as food production can get. Not only does it cut down on the fossil fuel consumption and synthetic fertilizer and pesticide use associated with industrial agriculture and food transportation, it also provides you with fresher food, exercise, and a closer connection to the land. Learn more about food gardening from the National Gardening Association.
Cultivating a perennial polyculture garden is especially beneficial for the environment. Perennial polyculture gardens include a variety of plants that last from year to year and do not need to be replanted. While perennial polyculture requires a larger initial investment of time and money, it pays off with less required labor and expense in subsequent years. It can also increase plant diversity, increase disease and pest resistance in plants, sequester more CO2, filter more rain water, fix more nitrogen, prevent erosion, and build soil. Try growing some edible Maryland natives, such as pawpaw and blueberries, in your garden. For more information, watch this perennial polyculture guidelines video or model perennial polyculture garden video.
Depending on where you live in Frederick County, you may be able to raise your own chickens, guinea fowl, ducks, goats, pigs, sheep, rabbits, or cows. You can reap the nutritional benefits of naturally-produced animal products and reduce environmental impacts by raising them yourself. In addition to food, animals can provide pest management, grass trimming, wool, hides, furs, and natural fertilizer. To learn more, check out these resources on: raising backyard lifestock, comparing backyard livestock types, backyard chickens, and raising goats.
The pulp and paper industry is the third largest producer of global warming pollution in the world, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. In comparison to paper towels, cloth is reusable, washable, and often biodegradable when it comes time to replace it. You can even use your old clothes that are too worn to donate as cloth for cleaning purposes. Mirrors and windows will be streak and lint-free when using lint-free cloth and a non-toxic, biodegradable cleaner. A cheap non-toxic formula for streak-free glass surfaces: 1 part water, 1 part distilled white vinegar, 2-5 drops dish soap. Put contents in a spray bottle and wipe.
Most dry cleaning services use dangerous chemicals such as percholorethylene, tetrachloroethylene, and tetrachloroethene, which degrade air quality and pose health risks to dry cleaning workers and consumers. To learn more, check out this article about dry cleaning hazards.
Choose dry cleaners that use phosphorous-free, biodegradable detergents and products. To find out what products your dry cleaner uses, ask them.
Comments