Quick Bites from the Web

I have a large selection of tasty links stored up for you:

A study shows that children who drink whole milk weigh less. I think the same is true for full-fat cheese!
Interesting op-ed from Nicolette Niman on the “carnivore’s dilemma.” Conclusion: paying attention to how your meat is raised and processed is most important for environmental [...]

Blog Action Day: Simple Actions to Reduce the Effects of Climate Change

Today is Blog Action Day. This year’s topic is climate change. This is my contribution.
When I think about the problem of climate change, it seems so huge that any action I can take can’t possibly put much of a dent in the problem. But the truth is that we humans brought about climate change, [...]

Quick Bites From the Web: Food Politics Edition

Here are some interesting recent tidbits on food and environmental politics from the Interwebs:

A Q&A with Alissa Hamilton from The Boston Globe reveals what you’re really pouring into that glass of orange juice — the results are eye-opening.
An article from Gourmet examines the price of the tomato — “If you have eaten a tomato this [...]

My Catalog Project

Image by kernelslacker via Flickr

One of my resolutions this year is to reduce the amount of junk coming into my house. This includes junk mail, specifically catalogs, which I am particularly fed up with right now. I suspect that some companies were sending me one or two catalogs a week since October. Enough is enough!
So [...]

Green products, I’m not happy with you

Image via Wikipedia

I think of myself as an environmentally aware person. I really believe that we all need to do as much as we can to preserve our environment’s health. So I try to buy green products whenever I can, especially since I think they are probably healthier for my family and me as well.
But [...]

More Uses for Vinegar

Besides salad dressing, vinegar has many uses around the house. I have taken to buying huge jugs of white and apple cider vinegar. It doesn’t go bad (it already has!) and I always find more ways to use it. Also, I know it’s non-toxic, and it’s cheap!
Here are some more uses for vinegar:

Hair rinse: Mix [...]

How to Make Your Own Toiletries

Image via Wikipedia
As the costs of everything go up, I have been looking for some ways to save money. Toiletries are a big expense. I won’t buy the cheap drugstore stuff because I am concerned about the chemicals they contain, as well as their impact on the environment. But the all-natural organic products are often [...]

Managing Leftovers: Use It or Lose It

With the costs of food rocketing up and more awareness about how food production and distribution impacts climate change, I’ve been seeing a lot of news lately about food waste. Apparently, we Americans (and the British too) waste a lot of food. Well, it’s no wonder with food being so cheap and plentiful here, but [...]

But I don’t want plastic bags! Really, I don’t

So the plastic bag saga at my local grocery store continues.
This time, I brought plenty of bags with me to contain all my groceries. I put them all in the bagging area and was busily bagging my own groceries when the bagger strolled over. I let him finish up the bagging while I went to [...]

More Encouragement to Get Gardening

The ever-eloquent Michael Pollan strikes again. Check out the interview with him on Yale Environment 360: “Michael Pollan on What’s Wrong With Environmentalism.” There are a lot of good take-home messages here, including more encouragement to get out in the garden:
I don’t know exactly what percentage of greenhouse gas we would reduce if everybody planted [...]