Get you and your family involved with the cooking and give your lives an eco-overhaul. Watch those lbs drop off whilst reducing your carbon footprint – and having fun (what more could you want?!)
1. Get your Five a Day – If we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it a thousand times, but getting your five a day is good for you (and the environment!). Filling up on un-processed fruit and veg helps your digestion, clears your skin, rids your body of toxins and keeps your blood-sugar level consistent – stopping you from snacking! The benefits of this are obvious. Un-processed food uses fewer chemicals, machinery, oil, energy and resources and the lbs will drop off if you fill up on healthy, natural produce.
2. Grow Your Own - If you don’t own a garden, look into getting a allotment. Gardening is something the whole family can enjoy and as the weather brightens up it’s worth teaching your kids about the benefits of growing your own fruit and veg. Teach your family by example and get your hands dirty – now summer is looming you have no excuse! Spring is the absolutely best time to plant some seeds and enjoy watching them flourish and there is nothing more satisfying than watching that plant go from seed, to seedling, to plant to plate.
3. Cook from Scratch – Not only is cooking from scratch more likely to result in healthy food, but it can also help you cut down on your carbon footprint. Teaching kids from a young age the benefits of cooking from scratch sets them up for life, and if you have your own home-grown fruit and vegetables then all the better! It also means you will cut down on over-packaged, over-produced and (often) over-priced food and will naturally lower your calorie, salt and sugar intake as hidden additives are often found in processed food.
4. Support your Community – Local butchers, grocers and bakeries are dying due to the rise of big supermarket chains. Support your local farmers market or local providers by buying your food stores from their shops and help keep your local community flourishing. The produce will also be local, meaning the carbon footprint of your dinner can be reduced dramatically.
5. Get the Kids Involved – Starting on this journey from a young age, and understanding the importance of keeping our planet healthy, is the first step to ensuring a good future for your children, grand-children and future generations. Teach your children to eat healthily and educate them about where food comes from and watch the enjoyment that comes from their understanding of how to make healthy choices.
6. Fill up the Dishwasher – It might be dull but cutting down on your energy consumption is the first step towards a greener future. Make sure you don’t run the dishwasher unless it’s full, that way you cut down on your energy bills and your water consumption – saving you money and lowering your carbon impact.
7. Cut down the Meat – Cutting down on meat can help you shift those pesky lbs (if you keep your diet rich in protein from eggs and nuts) and the manufacturing process of producing and packaging meat products can be costly to the environment. Find some amazing vegetarian recipes and learn that you don’t need to have meat on the plate to have a delicious meal.
8. Be Colourful – Make your plates alive with colour! The more colourful the meal, the more likely it is to be full of natural goodness. Think of green and red vegetables, add some yellow pepper, add some natural fibres and protein and you’re away with a meal that looks as good as it tastes.
9. Be Seasonal – Try to stick to seasonal produce. This way you’ll ensure that what’s on your plate hasn’t been flown in from other countries, cutting down on your personal carbon footprint dramatically.
10. Try something New – Be adventurous! What’s the point in sticking to the same old food? Try something new and encourage your family to design and create new recipes you can all enjoy. Have fun with your cooking and reap the benefits as your bills, carbon footprint and clothing size decrease…
MoreEco is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more
