Top Four Tips for Eating More Sustainability

Oftentimes, people neglect that their eating habits can be one of the largest contributors to helping our planet. This is due to the fact that producing food is very labor intensive - nearly one-third of the food produced in our world becomes wasted, and the large monocultures formed by commercial farms decrease biodiversity. This must lead you to ask, "What can we do to help?" Well, fear not! Here are my top four favorite solutions for eating more sustainably.

1. Shop Locally

Shopping locally is one of the best and easiest ways to change your eating habits. Not only are you supporting the local businesses in your area, but oftentimes, you are also purchasing food that is in season, which is beneficial for the environment. No matter where you live, you can most likely visit a local farm, or go to a farmers market where you meet the community members responsible for growing the local produce.

2. Compost

Composting is a fabulous way to reduce and repurpose food waste to prevent it from rotting and producing methane in landfills. Contrary to popular belief, you don't need lots of space to set up a bin system. Oftentimes, you can create a pile in your yard where you can bury your food scraps to generate fresh compost, full of good nutrients for your plants. But even if you don't have the space for a pile, you can usually freeze your leftover food scraps and deposit them at a farmers market where they can turn them into compost to use for their produce.

3. Eat More Plants

As we all know, producing meat (especially beef) and dairy products requires much more resources compared to plants due to all of the resources and land that raising livestock requires. Consuming plants aids in lowering our carbon footprint and provides micronutrients and fiber which improves biodiversity in the gut microbiome.

4. Start a Garden

Starting a garden is one of the best ways to become more self-sufficient in terms of feeding yourself. Even if you think you have a black thumb, I encourage you to keep trying OR even buy a hydroponic growing system, which takes a lot of the guesswork of gardening out and is much more space-sufficient. Trust me, the gratification of your first harvest, no matter how big or small, is the thing that keeps you going!

There are so many amazing ways to be more thoughtful in our actions to help our planet. By implementing even one of these tactics, you are helping to preserve our planet and reduce the negative impacts of climate change!