Tag: vegetarian

A Guide to Eco-Living in the City

It seems as though the two couldn’t possibly mix. A city and honest to goodness eco-living? Well, it turns out that you can make the impossible a possibility.

I spent a lot of time living in the city during and after my college years. With millions of residents, thousands of cars, and a constant array of lights, it can seem impossible to live an eco-friendly lifestyle when living in a metropolis. In reality, America’s major cities are leading the battle against climate change through eco-living practices.

While city-wide efforts have helped to implement better mass transit and solar energy and support local farming in nearby communities, that doesn’t mean city dwellers get a free pass on implementing eco-living practices. Here are some of the ways I was able to reduce my carbon footprint during those years.

Being a Minimalist

Sometimes it can be better to live with only what you need, and sometimes a small studio apartment forces you to do so. Instead of cramming things into the tiny home I lived in, I chose to let the city take care of my needs.

Within just a few blocks I could pick up fresh produce, take a walk in the park, or find live entertainment. I used public WiFi instead of wasting on resources on a personal internet connection, and even ditched my television in lieu of the various attractions around the area. I also saved on energy by unplugging anything that wasn’t in use, reducing the already minimal amount of electricity my apartment used.

Who Need a Car?

I will never understand why so many who live in cities choose to own a car. Maybe other cities do not have the same reliable public transportation mine did, but I was able to take the bus to and from work everyday. Aside from saving on vehicle costs, I did my part to reduce nearly 20 pounds of CO2 emissions by walking anywhere I needed to go besides work.

As an added bonus, the city I lived in had a bikeshare program that helped me travel to different areas when I needed to.

Sustainable Shopping

Every city has the grocery conglomerates, but they also have a wide variety of privately-owned local business to buy produce from as well. Choosing to buy local helps reduce the reliance on overseas shipping and using trucks to haul frozen food across the country. Plus, it is ten times healthier!

These are just some of the ways I was able to practice eco-living while residing within a city. For all of you other city dwellers out there, what ways do you help out the environment? Does your city make strides to fight climate change, too?

The Benefits of a Vegetarian Lifestyle

Ever wondered what the science behind eating a plant-based diet looks like? Here are the top benefits a vegetarian diet has to offer.

Why should anyone go vegetarian? I mean, people need to eat meat, right? Do the benefits actually outweigh missing out on a perfectly cooked filet mignon?

It might seem like a common sense diet to some, but there still seems to be a mass of confusion around why anyone would strike meat from their diet. So, let’s clear the air! Here are the scientific facts proving that a plant-based diet is the only diet anyone should be eating.

Down With Disease

By removing saturated animal fats and cholesterol-laden meats from their diets, vegetarians are less likely to develop any form of cardiovascular disease. The CDC estimates that 610,000 people die from heart disease each year, accounting 1 in every 4 deaths.

Eating a diet high in red and processed meats has also been linked to multiple forms of cancer including, prostate, colon, gastric, and breast cancer. These meats can have up to as many carcinogens as five cigarettes, not to mention an excessive amount of hormones and steroids from the animals’ diets.

Goodbye, Cold

I used to get a cold each and every Fall, which made enjoying one of the best seasons out of the year incredibly difficult. Going veggie meant eating more fresh fruits and vegetables than I ever had before. This leads to an increased amount of antioxidants in my diet, effectively pumping up my immune system to keep it fighting off infections better than ever before.

Tired of Being Tired?

Eating all of the saturated fats associated with meat causes them to build up within your bloodstream. This stops muscles from getting proper amounts of oxygen, which makes anyone as sluggish as a Monday morning. Switching to leafy greens not only eliminates the fat, but adds energy boosting carbohydrates (the complex kind) that have ended my 2pm slump at work.

Toxins Kill

I used to think plants were the culprit of pesticides found in our diet, but it turns out that 95% of those toxins actually come from meat. That doesn’t include the hormones, carcinogens, heavy metals, and other chemicals these animals are pumped full of. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m pretty sure people aren’t supposed to eat toxic chemicals.

Animal Friendly

I always pictured a farm like you might see in the commercials, one with lots of open space and plenty of room for the animals to graze freely until it came time for the farmer slaughter them. Yeah, that place doesn’t exist. American “farms” keep animals shoulder to shoulder, wading in their own waste, ridden with disease and open sores, only to kill them in some of the most torturous ways imaginable.

If you need proof, look into independent documentaries like The Sustainability Secret or What the Health. If everyone in the U.S. cut one meaty meal out every week, 1.4 billion of these animals could be saved from their disgusting, inhumane conditions.

Just Do It

If you had told me I would stop eating meat altogether just a few years ago, I would’ve scoffed in your face. No bacon cheeseburgers, pepperoni pizza, or a perfectly cooked steak? I couldn’t have comprehended life without them!

However, after just a few months of changing my diet I started to feel healthier than I ever had before. Plus, I know I’m doing my part to end animal cruelty and the disgusting practices of the meat industry in out nation.