We at Santa Barbara Stone Masters have not been shy about our penchant for environmental sustainability.
We’ve given you tips for more earth-conscious living, discussed great ways of reducing and managing waste, and even looked at how we can mitigate damage from our electronics.
Today, we’re exploring more ways to live sustainably, and we’ll be livin’ where the lovin’ is: your kitchen.
That’s right! Let’s talk about how we can live sustainably with what we eat!
Buy Local
If you take anything away from this article, let it be this:
The best effort you can make in terms of how what you eat affects the planet is to buy locally.
An enormous amount of energy and fossil fuels go into the processing and transportation of food, so by prioritizing produce, meat, and dairy that come from farms and ranches near you, you’ve taken a huge step toward sustainability.
Check out your local farmers market, or better yet, start a garden of your own.
Eat less meat
Look – nobody loves a good steak as much as I do. Every year we have ribeye for Christmas, and you can bet your bottom dollar I’m not giving that up!
But the truth is that meat, especially meat which is brought up on a factory farm, is an enormous pollutant: According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, just under 15% of greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock.
So being especially mindful about how much meat you consume can go a long way towards cutting back those emissions; try cutting back to four or five times a week! And when you do buy meat, try getting it from your local butcher – small butchers tend to be intentional about sourcing their meat from responsible, local ranchers.
Cut back on waste!
Did you know that about 50% of the produce in America is thrown away? Because of subsidies on our agriculture, our groceries are more affordable than in most other nations, and our culture tends not to think of food as scarce.
As a result, we’re spending more resources than we need to on production. Additionally, half of what is being produced ends up in the trash!
So instead of buying your perishable foods in bulk, buy only as much as you really need. One great way of doing this is only buying produce on the day you’re going to cook it so that it doesn’t sit unused and perish in your fridge or produce basket!
Compost
And when you do have waste, even just scraps from your dinner, don’t throw it in the trash! Composting is an excellent way of getting extra utility from your food waste.
You can compost it yourself and use it to feed that amazing garden you’ve started, or you can take it to your local farmer’s market, where there is often a booth dedicated to receiving food waste for compost!
What habits do you practice to eat sustainably?
We’d love to hear from you. And if you live in the Santa Barbara area and have natural stone that needs some lovin’, give us a call today!
