Go Vegan for Environmental Awareness Month

There are lots of organizations that celebrate April as an environmental awareness month since it includes National Environmental Education week, National Parks week, Earth Day, Arbor Day, and Earth Hour.  Usually, in doing my part, I choose something new each year to start doing that will help preserve the environment or increase sustainability.  This year I've decided to go vegan!


I've always tended toward vegetarian fare to begin with, but after reading Veganist by Kathy Freston this month, I realized that the social responsibility aspect fit in line with my sustainability beliefs as well...Not to mention the health benefits!  To start, I've been cooking two to three meals a day that are vegan (no animal products).  I originally thought that giving up dairy was going to be the hardest part since I put cheese on everything.  It turns out that I got over it really fast, and I really don't miss it.  Of course, I am making substitutions in my meals with vegan products that act like their animal product counterparts.


I have to say, though, that this is definitely forcing me to try a large variety of foods that I never would have cooked with otherwise.  Things like quinoa, black-eyed peas, nutritional yeast, and udon noodles have now become staples in my pantry.  Eating this way reduces a number of problems including: the harmful impact on the environment that animal food systems create, carcinogens in the things we consume, animal cruelty in food processing plants, bad cholesterol levels, and many more.  If you know there's no way you can make such a drastic change in your diet, then try Meatless Mondays once a week. It'll give you a chance to experiment with your food, enjoy cooking whole foods, and give you a sense of doing good.  Here's an easy whole wheat pizza recipe to get you started.

Whole Wheat Pizza

Ingredients

* 1 teaspoon white sugar 

* 1 tablespoon instant yeast

* 1 tablespoon olive oil

*1 teaspoon salt

*2 cups whole wheat flour

*1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

* Stir together the olive oil, yeast, and salt.   Mix in the whole wheat flour and the all-purpose flour until dough starts to come together. 

*Using a mixer with a dough hook (or using your hands if preferred), knead until all of the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in a bowl sprayed with cooking spray, and turn to coat the surface. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

* Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). 

* When the dough is doubled, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 2 pieces for 2 crusts. 

* Roll a ball of dough with a rolling pin until it will not stretch any further. Then, drape it over both of your fists, and gently pull the edges outward, while rotating the crust. When the circle has reached the desired size, place on a well oiled pizza pan. 

* Top pizza with your favorite pizza sauce, vegan shredded cheese, artichokes, peppers, spinach, and onion.

*Bake for 16 to 20 minutes (depending on thickness) in the preheated oven, until the crust is crisp and golden at the edges, and cheese is melted on the top.


(Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com)

Celebrate Earth Hour

Today is the annual Earth Hour celebration sponsored by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).  It takes place every year in cities, towns, and homes around the world where people and corporations turn off their electricity for one hour.  That's just sixty minutes to substantially help the environment!  The hour chosen (between 8:30 and 9:30pm local times) allows power to be shut off at its generally highest usage point during the day.  This is usually when people are home from work or activities, families are watching television, or the laptops and other gadgets are out in full force.  Since this is such a peak time, it's the perfect opportunity for people to show their support for the environment and commit to conservation for just one hour.

Why is this important?  Well, in the U.S. alone, commercial and residential buildings account for 40% of energy consumption (Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation , 2008).  This contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, overconsumption of resources, and long-term degradation of the environment.  By everyone doing their part for this one hour, we can save a substantial amount of energy and resources contributing to the decline of our natural environment.  So, don't forget!  Switch off those TVs, I pods, laptops, and even the lights at 8:30pm wherever you live.  It'll give you a fun thing to do with the family, a bit of time to be social with friends, or time to just hang out and meditate for a while.  There are some great "how-to" guides on the Earth Hour website for suggestions on what to do along with lots of pictures to check out from around the world after Earth Hour is complete.  Happy Earth Hour!

Bandung, Indonesia

Bangkok, Thailand

Edinburgh, Scotland

(Photo sources: WWF/ Earth Hour Global and Maverick Photo Agency)

Christmas Tree Debate...Settled!

Every year my husband and I go to one of the local Christmas tree farms and get a real tree for our house. I was really wondering this year whether this was a good choice for us as a household that tries to live sustainably when possible. I knew that fake trees carry a lot of chemicals that just add to all of those already present in your home, but I wasn't completely sure if cutting down a tree every year was a good idea.

I found this great article at the National Geographic website that talks about how real trees are the more environmental choice.  Yes!  We made the right decision.  Apparently, fake trees do contribute substantially more to greenhouse gas emissions, landfill space, harmful toxins in living spaces, and water and energy usage. You have to take into account the way the fake trees are processed in factories (usually across the globe) as well as how they're disposed of after use.  Real trees can be recycled and used for a variety of things that may even improve quality of life.  I especially like the example given in the article of using the mulch in local parks and flower beds.

Of course, if you really want to go all out, you can get a live tree that can be replanted and used again the next year.  We tried that last year, but since I have quite the black thumb, I couldn't even keep the tree alive for a few months.  From now on, I'll be comfortable with my decision to continue buying a real tree every year.  Thank you, National Geographic, for approving of my decision.