Nutrition | Do It Green! Minnesota

Diet For a Healthy and Peaceful World

April 13, 2016October 10, 2012

Gabriele F. Kushi, BFA, MEA, macrobiotic nutritional consultant/chef/educator The goals of macrobiotics are the realization of planetary health and happiness, world peace and human evolution. Macrobiotic, derived from the Greek word macrobios (large life), is associated worldwide with living and eating in harmony with the season. Macrobiotics embraces the 5,000-year-old …

Tips: How to Begin Eating a Vegan Diet

April 13, 2016October 10, 2012

Do It Green! Minnesota Cook vegan at home. This is a pretty easy task with a wide variety of tasty vegan recipes available over the internet such as vegweb.com and the spread of vegan cookbooks, such as Veganomicon, available at most bookstores. Start with fast and easy vegan foods. This …

Macrobiotics: Diet for a Healthy and Peaceful World

April 13, 2016October 10, 2012

Gabriele F. Kushi, BFA, MEA, CHC, AADP Board certified Holistic Health Practitioner, macrobiotic nutritional consultant, cooking teacher, and director of Kushi’s Kitchen The goals of macrobiotics are the realization of planetary health and happiness, world peace and human evolution. Macrobiotic, derived from the Greek word macrobios (large life), is associated …

Green Tips

Use Reusable Gift Bags

Americans produce 25% more trash during the holiday season, including about 2 million tons of wrapping paper that use an estimated 30 million trees per year! Eliminate your gift waste with creative packaging ideas like making your own from reclaimed fabric!

See our full list of ideas for a No Waste Holiday!

Install a Solar Water Heater

Solar water heating is one of the least publicized but most cost-effective renewable energy options. According to Windy Dankoff of Conergy, solar water heaters capture six times more energy than solar electric at a third the cost.

Read our full article on Solar Water Heaters for more information.

Start Backyard Composting

Did you know that the average Minnesota household throws 15 pounds of compostable materials into the trash every single week? Composting is an easy and simple way to have an immediate personal impact by diverting trash from the landfill or incinerator. Backyard composting takes leaves, grass clippings, veggie scraps, coffee grounds, eggshells, and tissue and turns them into valuable compost that reduces the amount of water and fertilizer required for your yard and garden, improves soil quality and supplies essential nutrients for plant growth.

Learn more!

Get Engaged!

Individuals’ actions are important in setting sound policy, so become an engaged citizen. Whether you call your legislator’s office, testify in a legislative hearing or attend a rally, you can make your voice heard. Still doubt that you can make a difference? This article addresses couple common concerns about whether civic engagement is worth it.

Take Easy Steps to Save Energy at Home

The average Minnesota family spends over $4,000 on energy (includes natural gas, electricity and gasoline) and produces over 50,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per year. Here are some easy ways to save energy:

Turn off lights and electronics (TVs, radios, computers) when leaving a room. This can help your family avoid producing 298 pounds of carbon dioxide over the course of the year.
Be mindful of your heat and central air. Turning your furnace thermostat down just two degrees in the winter saves $53/year and prevents 569 pounds of CO₂, and you won’t even notice the change.
Unplug electronics and appliances while not in use, like cell phone chargers, video game consoles, and microwaves. Anything with a clock, remote or LED light is using energy all the time, even if it’s turned off. Power strips are a quick fix—and you can save $14/year.

Check out our Personal Energy Checklist for more great ideas!

Think Twice About Bottled Water

If you live in an area with clean drinking water, fill a reusable bottle with tap water and bring it with you wherever you go to avoid buying bottled water. The U.S. sends 2 million tons of plastic water bottles to landfills each year—and producing those bottles requires oil and emits carbon dioxide. Some restaurants in the Twin Cities feel so strongly against bottled water that they refuse to sell it. Learn more.

Buy Reusable for Parties, Picnics & Holidays

Purchase durable, long lasting reusable items for serving and eating food such as silverware, glasses, bowls, mugs, plates, and cloth napkins. When you choose reusable over disposable, even if it costs more up front, it will save money and be less wasteful. Think about the amount of trash you can keep out of the landfill or the incinerator by choosing to reuse!

Check out our article on How to Plan a Low Waste Event for more ideas!

Green Your Child’s Lunch

Home-packed lunches can be fun, healthy, and green, with very little time or money required. A child’s lunch, including organic fruit, requires less than five minutes on average to prepare and could cost as little as $1.00 per day-compared to over $2.25 for school lunch.

Try these suggestions to green your packed lunches, whether for children, adults, or picnics!

Practice Greener Pest Control

Preventive and non-toxic pest control strategies are not only better for the environment and your wallet, but also human health. Before the advent of toxic aerosol sprays and poisons post World War II, many people used passive and more natural means to control pests by deterring and preventing their entry.

Find a list of green pest control ideas in our article on Pest Control, the Old Fashioned Way!

Shop to Strengthen Our Food System

Each time we choose to find out the source of our food, we not only learn about our food supply, but we also have the opportunity to make a choice. Turning over a package of food or checking out those little stickers on our apples can open our eyes to the size and scope of the food supply. Gardening, farmer’s markets, food co-ops, and community-supported agriculture (CSA)—all of these food sources are growing stronger with every new gardener, shopper, member-owner and subscriber! Having a personal involvement and connection to our food is part of what has been missing in our convenience- and price-driven diets. And this connection to our food could be what changes our food system.

Check out the full article to learn more!

How Our Food Choices Effect the Planet

Diet For a Healthy and Peaceful World

Tips: How to Begin Eating a Vegan Diet

Macrobiotics: Diet for a Healthy and Peaceful World

How Our Food Choices Effect the Planet

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