Food for thought
FROM driving your car less to ditching plastic bags and adopting reusable coffee cups, straws and totes, there’s plenty you can do to help fight climate change.
What you mightn’t have considered, however, is that what you eat can play a major role in saving the planet, too. Enter: the climate diet.
Here’s how you can be a little more sustainable when it comes to food.
1. Eat more fruit and vegetables: Obviously, fruit and vegies are good for you. They’re packed with fibre to support gut health, nutrients to keep your body working properly and antioxidants to ward off disease. But fruit and vegies can be good for the planet, too.
Locally grown produce is a must because it takes far less energy to transport and store than produce from overseas.
Buying locally means you’ll have to stick to seasonal produce, so your diet will become more varied — and that’s another win for your health.
2. Eat less meat: The problem with consuming meat is that producing it leads to greenhouse gas emissions — just another reason switching to a plant-based diet is a sensible thing to do.
But if going vegan isn’t for you, that’s perfectly fine. A plant-based diet isn’t actually a plant-only diet. It’s just a way of eating in which plants take precedence — meat can still be on the menu if you want it to be, but it’s not a main feature.
3. Waste less: Creating less waste is a good thing, too. That’s because waste eventually becomes landfill, which produces potent greenhouse gases.
To end up with less waste each week, plan your meals and snacks carefully before heading to the supermarket.
Write a shopping list based on what you already have at home and buy in bulk if you can.
If you find yourself with leftovers at the end of the week, make friends with your freezer rather than binning food unnecessarily.
It’ll pay to load up on reusable everything, too. I’m talking containers, bags, bottles — whatever it takes to avoid single-use plastics.