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April 22, 2009

Earth Day 2009: The Little Things Matter!

For those of you who don't know, though I'm sure most of you do, today is Earth Day! So now we're going to look at things you can do to show some love to this fantabulous home planet of ours! Some of you might not know it, but I have a degree in Environmental Management. Tomorrow we'll get back to food (or more specifically a recipe), but today I thought it would be fun to talk about things you can do to green up your plate!

One way to be more green when it comes to our food is by eating locally! Local Harvest has a fabulous site set up where you can find Farmer's Markets/CSAs in your area. Do some research about the area you live in and see what is produced nearby. For instance my milk comes from here. Do you know where your milk comes from and what goes into getting it from their door to yours?

As the season is rapidly approaching another great thing to do is grown your own! One great website to check out is Kitchen Gardeners International. They even encouraged the White House to eat the view! So let's talk a little about growing your own...

Even if you have limited space you can still grow your own greens, herbs, tomatoes, etc. You can make a small garden plot, or you can even plant everything in containers! Seeds of Change has some great information in terms of most types of gardens, not to mention some great organic seeds/earth friendly products to get you started! If you're interested in container gardening Gardener's Supply Company has some really great things for gardening in small places.

And what's a garden without a little compost? You would be amazed at what you can actually put into a compost pile! And don't worry...It's not just a stinky trash pile. If it stinks that can mean either it's too wet or to dry in most cases. There are natural things you can do to ensure that your compost pile stays odor free and then you've got a big pile of natural, organic nourishment just waiting for your plants/garden!

How can you make your everyday food a little greener? Cook for yourself! The more processed something is, the more resources it has taken to get it into that form, not to mention all the packaging that the product comes buried in. Cooking from scratch isn't that much harder than opening a box of something, and in some cases it's even easier! On top of that it tastes better AND it's better for you!

Another way to know what you're eating and make things a little greener is to can your own food! You can take the bounty you reap from planting your own and can what you can't eat immediately. You can even freeze things too!

So there are a few ideas to get you started on your path to green food. Oh and don't forget to take your own bags with you when you go to the store! Also buy organic whenever you can and remember with organic, the smaller the company the better it is and if it's local AND organic even better! And last but not least Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

To find out more about Earth Day check out the Earth Day website!

Tomorrow we'll get back to recipes! Today go forth and be green! (Or in other words have a wonderful day! ;oP)

Posted by Dianne at April 22, 2009 10:38 AM

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