Amazing service and knowledge! We have never been happier with any other realtor. She was always there with answers, no matter what the situation was. Paige made us feel very happy with our purchase and we can't wait to work with her again!
- Ryan and Christina McKenzie
Green Diet For a Healthy Planet
Action: Eat meat-free meals one day a week
Plan ahead. If going meatless means changing your habits drastically, you’ll enjoy it more if you do some research and find really yummy recipes before you go shopping. For some great ideas, check out David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge newsletters on this topic.
Try veggie restaurants and meatless menu alternatives when you go out – they’re sprouting up all over the place! (Do you know some great veg places to eat?
Action: Eat locally whenever possible
Read labels when you shop. The best option is local, organic produce; the next best choice is to buy local, period.
Talk to the produce manager where you shop. Tell them what you want and why.
For more tips on eating for a healthy planet check out David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge newsletter on this topic and The Green Guide to David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge (PDF).
Action: Replace chemical pesticides on your lawn, garden & houseplants with non-toxic alternatives
Landscape with native species wherever possible. They’ve evolved in cooperation with the local flora and fauna and will thrive without need for chemicals.
Do an inventory of how you look after your lawn and garden. Get rid of toxic substances (but discard them appropriately so those poisons don’t end up in the landfills. Find safe alternatives.
If your city hasn’t (yet) banned pesticides: Take Action. Start a movement. It’ll be good for you, your family, your neighbours and the whole planet.
Pesticide Poisoning – It’s real. It’s unfortunate. It’s also preventable. And it’s happening in backyards across Canada. More than 5,500 Canadians are acutely poisoned by pesticides each year, resulting in calls to poison control centres, visits to emergency wards, and hospitalizations. These severe poisonings occur after exposure to a single dose of pesticide - through inhalation, eating, drinking, or direct contact with eyes or skin.
Why are these actions so important?
Most of the world’s water is used for agriculture. But did you know that meat production and processing requires far more water than any other form of food production? Food animals are also the world’s largest users of land – for pastures and land used to grow fodder crops. Vegetable and grain production uses a fraction of the resources it takes to raise the equivalent protein value in meat.
Canadians eat more than twice (!) as much meat as the global average and three times the amount recommended by the World Cancer Research Fund. Along with Australia and the United States, we consume more meat per person than every other country in the world. Compared to meat eaters, vegetarians have a 24 per cent reduction in mortality from heart disease (even when lifestyle factors such as smoking, exercise and socio-economic status are taken into account). Eating meatless also reduces exposure to chemicals and antibiotics fed to livestock.
Anything that travels – including food – generates greenhouse gases, the main culprit in climate change, so the less distance something has to move to get to your mouth, the better. Buying local also means fewer chemicals to protect foods while they travel, which helps conserve precious farmlands and wildlife.
The average meal travels 2400 km (1500 miles) from field to table! Local food is fresher and better for you than food shipped long distances because chemicals used to prevent mould and fungus growth during shipping are harmful to your health. Organic farming is better for the environment than conventional methods but importing organic produce from far away offsets some of the environmental benefits because all that travelling increases greenhouse gases.
Exposure to pesticides can lead to health problems for those working and playing in your yard, especially small children and pets who are more likely to get dirt and other contaminated materials in their mouths. Research links pesticide exposure to serious illnesses such as cancers (leukemia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma) and some neurological diseases. More than 6,000 cases of pesticide poisonings are reported in Canada each year and nearly half involve children under age six.
Gardens and lawns flourish without chemical pesticides and they are healthier for nature and the people who enjoy them. Concerns about the impacts of pesticides have led a number of Canadian cities to ban their use altogether.
Think globally, eat locally. Eat your way to a healthier planet.
Article taken from the David Suzuki Foundation website.
© 2008 David Suzuki Foundation
Each office is independently owned and operated.