Can't really say it any better than my green rock-star husband, David Gottfried. As we near the final 5 days of our cleanse, I'm thinking about how food choices can lessen my ecological footprint.
Water Footprint
Water is such a crucial metric to consider: it takes 2400 gallons of water to produce one pound of meat vs. 40 gallons to produce one pound of vegetables. For more info, check out the movie Flow, a great documentary on the global water crisis.
If you come to our deep green 1915 Craftsman in Rockridge, you'll notice that we care a lot about saving water. My husband wrote the initial white paper on the LEED rating system to score a building's green-ness, and we were delighted to score higher than any other remodelled residence when we received LEED-Platinum in 2008. Rainwater fills our Caroma toilets (you'll notice it's a little yellow from the leaves that mix with the rainwater), and our tubs and sinks get re-used as greywater to water our landscaping. All of our appliances are Energy-Star, and we are always saving our pennies for more rainwater capture bins.
Choosing more veggies, and reducing meat significantly lowers your water footprint. From my review of the literature, I'm increasingly convinced by the health benefits of eating vegan. While you may respond, "Dr. Sara, puh-lease, I'm restricted so much - now you're going to take away meat?" -- my response is that you should not take it from me. Start with vegan Mondays, or go vegan for 90 days, and see what happens to your chronic joint achiness, your mild constipation, your frequent viral infections. Let the deep knowing from your own body inform your decisions.
Carbon footprint, well, you know eating local saves carbon. More on that another time.
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