Live a More Sustainable Life!

Living a more sustainable life may seem like a challenge, especially if you don’t know where to get started.  Here are a couple tips to get you started on your journey!

Shopping locally is important for environmental sustainability as well as economic sustainability. When you shop locally (whether it’s food or any item you purchase) you are supporting members of your own community who are also vested in the heath and success of the community. You are also travelling less and requiring fewer things to be shipped meaning less carbon, pollution and traffic congestion. Much of our food travels between 1,500 and 2,500 miles (2,500 and 4,000 kilometers) or more from farm to table when we choose to not buy local. Farmer’s Markets, Seasonal Food Stands, Community Support Agriculture (CSA’s) and Co-ops provide opportunities to support local food businesses. We also suggest researching farms in your area that offer grass fed beef and organic chicken to purchase in bulk and freeze for the year. This is not only more sustainable than purchasing in the store, but it is also economical. You can also choose to share bulk orders with other families.

Now since Buying Fruits and Vegetables Locally means that you are also Buying In Season Foods (another great tip), our next tip is...

FREEZE SEASONAL FOODS

A question that can now be asked is how you eat local and seasonable in the cold winter months when these options are not available. We suggest that you invest in a free standing freezer (if you don’t already have one) and buy or collect seasonal fruits and vegetables in bulk and freeze them to enjoy all year around. We love to pick fresh blueberries each summer and we calculated that we eat a pound of blueberries a week. We pick 50 - 52 pounds of blueberries for half the price of purchasing them in the store. We then clean them (you don’t need to run under water if they are organic, just pick the bugs off) and store in gallon bags in our freezer to enjoy all year around. We do the same for organic strawberries and blackberries as well as a variety of vegetables. Freezing allows you to also preserve most of the nutritional content of the food as well.

For more tips on how to live a more Sustainable Life, check out The Healthy Edge Subscription, where they dedicated the whole month of August to Sustainable Living!