Make EVERY day EARTH DAY!

Greetings fellow Earthlings, and HAPPY EARTH DAY! Although yesterday was officially Earth Day, we should be celebrating and protecting this amazing planet we live on EVERY DAY! Mother Nature puts on an amazing show every day, and like many mothers, her hard work and love often goes unnoticed or appreciated. Every day the sun rises and sets, flowers bloom, birds sing, animals are born and oxygen is made for us to breath for crying out loud! Let's make a promise to ourselves and to our planet to do what we can to preserve it's health and beauty. It is after all the only planet we have!

There are many things we can all do that will have a positive impact on our planet. Many of them are following in the example of some of the greatest organizations and forward thinkers that fight to protect our planet. 

The National Resource Defense Council has been at the forefront of defending the health of our planet for 40 plus years and is America's most effective environmental action organization. From helping to enforce the 1970 Clean Air Act by directing cities to improve mass transit and reduce reliance on cars, to helping win protection for a hundred million acres of Alaskan lands in the 1980's, the NRDC is a global superhero! Here are a few things you can do to support their work and get involved.

One of my favorite organizations to support is Mercy For Animals, for inspiring compassion for animals and making people aware of the impact their food choices have on their health, animals, and the planet. Personally, I have never felt better by following a plant-based diet and forgoing all animal products, but to know that my food choices are making a difference in preserving the health of this planet makes all my kale salads, butternut squash soups, and tofu scrambles taste that much better!

Raising billions of animals to produce meat for our growing population requires massive amounts of land and water to grow their feed and results in high volumes of manure that pollute our water, soil, and air - all to produce food that every major health organization recommends eating less of. It's true, factory farming does more harm to the environment than all of transportation combined!

Fortunately for us, we have the ability to make better choices for ourselves and for the planet. Here are a few facts courtesy of PETA for you to think about the next time you sit down to eat. 

• If every American skipped ONE MEAL of chicken per week, the environmental effects would be like taking 500,000 CARS off the road.
• Every 6 SECONDS an acre of rain forest is cut down for cattle farming. That is 14,400 ACRES A DAY.
• It takes 2,400 GALLONS of water to produce 1 POUND of meat. That is more than 50 BATHTUBS worth of water.
• In the U.S. more than 30 MILLION COWS are raised for food each year. Their burps and farts comprise 20% of all U.S. METHANE-GAS EMISSIONS. And we breath all of that in. Gross.
• One of the top sources of WATER POLLUTION is the raising of animals for food. Animals raised for food produce more than 10 TIMES the POOP and PEE as humans do, much of which ends up in our water. Yummy.
• When we eat meat, the planet suffers. Make the connection, save animals and the environment. 

Mercy for Animals has reinvented environmentalism with their new campaign, The New 3 Rs. RETHINK your diet, REDUCE your meat consumption, and RESTORE the planet. Gone are the days when Reduce, Reuse, Recycle were enough to keep our planet healthy. If we want to make a difference, we have to make a change. And we can start every time we sit down to eat. Choosing a plant-based diet will have more of an impact on our environment then driving a fuel efficient car. 

I can't possible write a blog post about being environmentally conscious and kind to animals and the planet without mentioning Alicia Silverstone. It's because of her compassionate example and amazing book and blog, The Kind Diet and The Kind Life that I am a vegan, and continue to be inspired to take action for our environment and all it's inhabitants. It was an easy and fun transition, discovering new foods and learning about the small choices we can make that have a positive effect on the planet. Here are a few of my favorite tips from her Earth Day Challenge:

• Save Energy! Unplug your TV and other electronics when you're done with them. Turns out it's better for your health too!
• Take shorter showers and don't leave the water running while you brush your teeth. (I'm guilty of both of these! :-/)
• Walk, bike, or take public transportation instead of driving. It's free exercise.
• Start your own garden! Not only will you be helping environmentally by adding more oxygen into the air, but you'll know exactly what you're eating - no hidden chemicals! (I'm growing an herb and mushroom garden. I can't wait to use them to cook one of Alicia's delicious vegan recipes!) 

So my friends, let's all do our part to keep our planet healthy and beautiful, it's the least we can do to repay for all the destruction we've caused it. I know personally, much of it was unintentional, I was unaware that some of the choices I was making were bad for the planet. But now I know better, and now so do you. I know it's overwhelming when you watch the news and all you hear about is global warming crisis updates, mass pollution, and destruction of the rain forest. But every little bit of good we do will help, so let's show the Earth some much needed love!

Much Love,
Sue