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A little over a week ago, I was watching Guy’s Big Bite on the Foodnetwork, and he made an amazing roasted tomato soup.  I thought that sounded so good, especially now that the temperatures are starting to go down here in Pennsylvania.  Then later that week, Kelly at Planet Green wrote about making roasted tomato soup.  I felt like I was becoming obsessed with roasted tomato soup.

I kept thinking I would make it over the weekend, but I needed to find a place to get good produce fairly inexpensive.  So I decided to do something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time.  On my way home from work on Friday, I stopped by the Reading Terminal.  It is a great place here in Philly to get fresh meats, cheeses, Amish products, and of course, produce.  I got all the veggies I needed for the soup and more and only paid a little less than $5.  To top it all off, they were locally grown veggies, and it made a very good and healthy soup.

So let’s look at how all this is being more green.  First off, I walked there on my way home from work, instead of driving.  I used my canvas bags, not plastic.  The vegetables were in season vegetables for this area, so they were fresh and local, meaning it was not transported very far.  All that and I saved some money. 

I know there are places like this all over the country.  For example, in Cleveland, there is a great place called the West Side Market.  Even in the suburbs of every city I’ve ever lived in, there are small, local produce stands.

When I tell people about the going green thing, many people ask if I’m going vegetarian.  That really opens up the opportunity for me to tell them how this is a no sacrifice way of going green and that I am not giving up things that I love (including meat).  I also don’t think I have enough knowledge of how be vegetarian and still be healthy.  Meat is a great source of protein and I recently found out that it is the only natural way to consume B12 vitamin. People who are really into the environment talk about how meat raised for consumption is so awful for the environment.  So I thought I would do some research.

I found a very thorough article published by Environment Health Perspectives.  It is a lengthy article (25 pages), but well researched and very informative.  If you have the time, you should definitely read it.  I’ll give you the short version.  More crops in the U.S. are grown to be fed to cattle than humans.  Tons of emissions involved in transporting the crops to the cattle.  “Modern” care of animals force excessive amounts of methane gas to be emitted. Then there is all the energy and emissions in slaughtering the animals and transporting the meat to consumers. All-in-all animals raised for consumption have just as much negative impact on our environment as driving cars.

The entire article does make me want to really do something different, but I’m torn because I don’t want to give up meat.  When I think about how much meat I eat… Wow! So here is my compromise.  I have decided to take a few baby steps. 

Step 1 - Go vegetarian for breakfast and lunch.  I’ve actually been doing this for the past 3 weeks and it isn’t as hard as you might think.  My breakfasts are usually yogurt and fruit or oatmeal (pretty easy).  Lunches are a touch more challenging for me.  For the past year I’ve been trying to live with more of a WeightWatchers lifestyle, and to help me with that I usually eat SmartOnes or Lean Cuisine for lunch.  So many of the frozen foods that are geared to be healthy for you also contain meat.  While I’m at the grocery store, I’m trying to make a concerted effort to make sure I buy these “healthy” frozen meals that do not contain meat.

Step 2 – Add in more vegetarian meals for dinner.  I’m not there yet.  This is something for later on down the line, but I realize I need to start researching it now.  There are two challenges for me with this step.  The first challenge is that I have a ton of recipes that are meat based, and very few that are vegetarian (besides Italian pasta dishes).  The second challenge, and the harder part, is that dinner not only affects me, but also my husband.  So these new recipes I want to start learning also have to be food that Mike will like and feel satisfied with.  My friend Emily suggested stir-fry, which I think is a great idea and I think Mike will like it.  That is one that I will try. If you have any suggestions, I would be happy to take any tips, websites, recipes, etc.

My end goal is to work down to about 3 dinners per week that have meat.

I was talking with my mom the other day about my parents flying back to Ohio soon.  With everything my parents have been through in the last few months, this is quite monumental.  So I got to thinking, with my new green choices, what would I do differently on my next trip that would make it more green and came up with this top 10.

1. Bring your own food on the plane.  Carrots, energy bars, celery, bananas, trail mix.  This way the food can be more natural, healthier, and with so many airlines now charging for food, it can save you some money too.
2. Bring your own empty water bottle.  Once you get through security, fill it up at a drinking fountain.  This way you won’t be tempted to buy a bottle of water and have to deal with that cheap plastic to dispose of and save some money while you’re at it.
3. Pack a canvas bag for shopping to avoid getting all those plastic bags while on your trip.
4. Use refillable toiletry bottles filled from larger packages you already have.  You don’t need to buy travel size products if you just fill travel size containers with what you already use.
5. Bring books with you from the library instead of buying a new one at the airport that you are likely to dispose of.  Or consider bringing a favorite book that already exists on your bookshelf.
6. Bring your own headphones to watch the movie on the plane.  You won’t be stuck with headphones that only work on the airline and reduces packaging waste from the headphones.
7. E-Ticket to eliminate the paper.
8. Use recycled or scrap paper to print out your boarding pass or check out the new paperless boarding passes!
9. Pack light. The heavier your bags are the more energy it takes to transport them.
10. Use rechargeable batteries for any of the electronic devices you’ve brought onboard to keep you occupied.  Just remember to pack the charger so you can have charged batteries for the return flight.

Next time you take a trip, what are you going to do to reduce your environmental impact?