The diet that can save the world

The issue 

Our world population is growing at a rapid rate–currently close to 8 billion people worldwide, and expected to surpass 10 billion people by 2050. At this rate, today’s eating habits continue to pose fatal health problems and severe global warming. 

According to the EAT-Lancet Report, “food is the single strongest lever to optimize human health and environmental sustainability on Earth.” Yet, malnutrition or poor quality diets and overeating are threatening both people and the planet. If eating habits don’t change now, the world we leave for our children will be severely degraded, where an increasing percentage of the population will continue to suffer from malnutrition and preventable disease.

The solution

A collection of 37 world-leading scientists from 16 countries in various disciplines, the EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, and Health, put together the first full scientific review of a sustainable, healthy diet that benefits the health of humans as well as the planet. By assessing existing scientific evidence, the Commission defined a framework for the Planetary Health Diet that is sustainable for both human health and the environment. 

You’ve heard it before and here it is again–eat your vegetables. There’s no surprise that the Planetary Health Diet focuses on diverse plant-based foods, as these require far fewer resources to produce than their animal-based counterparts. In addition to diverse plant-based foods, the Planetary Health Diet also encourages the consumption of unsaturated fats rather than saturated fats, and whole grains. 

What this sustainable diet limits is–as you can guess–all the bad stuff. Limit the amount of refined grains, highly processed foods, and added sugars as well as animal-based products and meat. Notice this diet is not about quitting anything cold turkey, but rather reducing consumption of less sustainable and less healthy food choices so that people can live better for longer. 

In developing this diet, the Commission collected data regarding plant-based and animal-based foods and ranked them by their carbon footprint. Beef, unsurprisingly, has the largest carbon footprint; it’s resource-intensive meaning it uses significantly more land, freshwater, and produces higher CO2 emissions than any other food. 

Environmental impacts aside, red meat is also harmful to your health in high quantities. According to a study published in the European Heart Journal, daily consumption of red meat tripled trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) in patients, a chemical linked to heart disease.  Furthermore, the World Health Organization even classifies processed meat (like hotdogs and bacon) as carcinogens, known to increase risk for certain diseases and cancers.

The difference between the Planetary Health Diet and other plant-based diets is that the Commission is outlining a reduction in the foods that produce a high number of carbon emissions with the lowest health benefits. A guideline for following the Planetary Health Diet is reducing the intake of eggs, fish, refined sugars, and meat by less than 50 grams per day. This equates to doubling consumption of healthy foods (fruits, vegetables, legumes, and nuts) and reducing 50% of global consumption of less healthy foods such as added sugars and red meat. 

In the culinary space, world-class chefs see the importance of ingredients that nourish our bodies and the planet, developing recipes featured on EAT-Lancet’s website as well as boasting these same sustainable food ideals in their own restaurants. It proves that food can be delicious without the need for excessive amounts of meat or animal-based products. Take to Eat-Lancet’s website for Planetary Health Diet recipe ideas you’ll want to try tonight.

This diet, along with leading a sustainable lifestyle by cutting out waste, can save the world so that our Earth can sustain us past 2050 (that’s in 30 years!). If more people reduced their consumption of high-resource foods, we will be steps closer to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement so we can leave a world for today’s children to inhabit for a lifetime.

It’s no secret that plastic is basically the enemy of all species–especially to the ocean–and here’s one way to help: a beach clean-up. Plastic has an effect on everyone, it’s found in 62% of all seabirds, 100% of all turtles, and guess what? It’s in the fish we eat too, so chances are we’ve ingested quite a bit of plastic over the years. 

A beach clean-up is not only a great way to clean your local beach or waterway to prevent more plastic and other waste from entering the ocean, but it’s also a way to get others involved and to spread awareness about the effects of single-use plastic consumption on our planet, a way to educate others about proper recycling techniques, and to encourage everyone to reduce their consumption of single-use plastic. Here’s how you can do all that:

Choose a location

Whether it’s a beach, lake, or river, cleaning up litter around waterways prevents more of it from ending up in the ocean–so you don’t have to be in a coastal city to do your part. The location can be anywhere you frequent or a popular destination among the locals. Your community will thank you for it–and so will marine life! 

Promote on social media 

Keep your event organized by creating an event page on Facebook. You can set the page to “Public” and invite your friends and family to share your event with their friends, friends of friends, and the sharing continues!

• When should I start promoting my event? Do this a month or two in advance to ensure that people can make time for it in their calendars, but not too much earlier where people forget about it! The key to a great turn out is how much buzz you can create. 

• How do I write the description? Make sure the description of the event gets people excited to join your event. State why you decided to do a beach clean-up and how it benefits our Earth. Educate your fellow humans on the environmental and social impact this clean-up will have and how it will benefit us all. Also, include details on the event page for what to bring, what supplies people can donate, and anything else people might find helpful! You can take this opportunity to drop some stats too so that people know what the issue is and how this particular clean-up will help!

• How do I promote my event? Invite friends and family to participate, spread the word, or donate money to the event. Sometimes people have prior engagements and can’t make it to the event, or don’t have the capacity to make it out to the location, but people are more willing to help than you may think! Encourage people to (at the very least) share the event so that it reaches people who can show up and are happy to help the clean-up! You can also offer an option for people to donate supplies for the clean-up, hauling services, or even donate money to purchase supplies and to cover other expenses the clean-up might entail. 

• What other ways are there to promote my event? In addition to Facebook, promote your event on any and all other channels as well! Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, Reddit, Twitch–anywhere. A unique hashtag for the event will also help you generate buzz and help build recognition between channels. Have a graphic design friend or have some design skills yourself? Create some awesome graphics to help spread the word. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words! Videos? Even better. 

Practice proper waste disposal

Have designated bags for trash, glass, plastic, cans, scrap metals, etc. (educate participants on what goes where!). It might be helpful to distribute a digital cheat sheet of the types of waste people might find, where they go and where to put them. You might even want to have someone who knows the waste disposal system pretty well to help others figure out where to put their items. This will help minimize any incorrect disposals that may jam up the recycling process and cause problems for the waste management facility. 

Recyclables, liquids, compost, hazardous materials, scrap metal, and landfill waste must be organized into separate bins. Plan ahead so you have a good system in place that won’t get confusing over time. 

We can’t stress the importance of proper waste disposal enough! This is the perfect opportunity to educate people on how to recycle properly since this applies to how they recycle at home as well. What your local waste management company is able to take varies by location so be sure to check with them before you hold your event. 

Helpful contacts

If this is your first time putting together an event, remember–you’re not alone! Leverage your friends and family who are as passionate about this cause as you are and seek out help from others! Here are some helpful groups of people to reach out to that can provide some guidance and support for your beach clean-up:

Connect with local park rangers

For any medium-sized or large event, it’s always a good idea to make sure that law enforcement gets a heads-up. There might be supplies you were thinking about bringing that isn’t allowed. Local park rangers are the perfect people to ask questions about where to park, how to get there, the best routes to use for efficiently disposing of waste, whether or not there are dumpsters nearby or if you’d have to use a hauling service to take the collected waste to a nearby waste management facility. 

Connect with local waste management facility

It’s very important to educate your volunteers about proper recycling procedure and what goes where. Did you know that plastic toothbrushes are not recyclable? It’s because they have nylon bristles attached to them. The goal here is to be able to minimize the number of items that go into the landfill by filtering out recyclables and delivering them to the proper recycling facilities. However, some things do have to go to the landfill, and your local waste management facility will be able to tell you what goes where. 

Contact municipality

It does take a bit of leg work, coordinating, and money to haul litter away and the waste management facility does charge for its services as well. Sometimes, the city will want to step in to provide some help taking care of these types of expenses and provide hauling services as a courtesy for the cleanup. Compose a professional email detailing your event and what your goals are, how it will benefit the community, and how big of a turnout you expect. It might also be helpful to provide some images of the location you are planning to hold the clean-up. Don’t forget to provide your own contact information and the event page so city employees have a lot of information to base their decision on! 

Monetary donations

If you’re doing this right, you might have some monetary donations coming your way. Now, you don’t want to just have people Venmo or Paypal you because that might get a little messy. Instead, set up a fundraising option on Facebook, GoFundme, or another fundraising site to keep the total amount separate from your personal banking account. It’s also good practice to keep things transparent for your supporters by doing so. 

What to do with that money? 

For starters, you should check to see if you have enough supplies–if not, you could use the money to buy some for the clean-up (and plan to use them again for future clean-ups). If you were able to get enough supplies donated, you could use the money to cover the costs of hauling services or the fees for waste management and recycling facilities if applicable. If these are all covered (woohoo!), it might be nice to treat volunteers to some food (for example, from a local sandwich shop), or donate the money to the Ocean Conservancy or other environmental nonprofits focused on cleaning up our oceans!

Supplies you might need

• Water for the volunteers – this is a must. people are taking time out of their days to help clean the area, and it’s important to make sure everyone stays hydrated. Encourage your volunteers to bring their own reusable water bottle to reduce single-use plastic waste from plastic water bottles. Although it is more convenient, we don’t want more trash on top of the trash we’re picking up, right? Remind your participants a few days before the event to bring their reusable water bottles. Provide large containers of water where participants can fill up and compostable cups for those who don’t have reusable bottles. 
• First aid kit – always have one of these on hand for minor injuries like cuts or scrapes. 
• Try to use burlap (reusable), buckets, wagons or paper bags to collect the trash rather than plastic garbage bags to reduce plastic waste. 
• Trash grabbers – Trash grabbers will help reduce fatigue from bending over and picking up trash. These can also be a little safer than grabbing something with your hands.  
• Thick gloves – If you don’t have trash grabbers, the next best thing is a pair of thick gloves to prevent cuts from broken glass and other potentially harmful litter. 
• Metal sifter or sieve – You can do a little DIY project or ask if anyone has this, but a metal sifter or sieve is perfect for finding smaller things in the sand or dirt that you might otherwise miss. 

Safety Tips 

• Try to find a volunteer who knows basic first aid or has medical experience in case of an emergency. 
• To dispose of hazardous materials like broken glass or syringes, use wide mouth containers such as empty laundry detergent containers that are clearly marked as hazardous.
• Make sure all participants are wearing close-toed shoes to prevent injury. 
• Use the sign-in sheet as a way to do a headcount at the beginning and end of the event to make sure no one has gone missing, especially if there will be children in attendance. 
• Remind volunteers to wear and bring reef-safe sunscreen (no matter if its sunny or cloudy outside); depending on the climate, you might want to advise participants to bring eco-friendly bug spray as well. 
• Brush up on what to do if you find beached marine life or other wildlife during your event. Let everyone know who to reach and to stay a few feet away until the appropriate people arrive. 

Photo by Brian Yurasits on Unsplash

Photo by Brian Yurasits on Unsplash

Photo by Brian Yurasits on Unsplash

If you’re still purchasing single-use plastic cutlery and cups for your parties, you might want to think again. Plastic can take 10,000 years or more to disintegrate, all the while releasing toxic chemicals into the Earth. And if you think about how much single-use plastic cutlery is tossed away after each party, it won’t come as a shock to us if we end up living in a world made of complete and utter trash. And how, you may ask, do we even go about hosting a zero-waste party?

Well, the answer is to stop thinking in terms of convenience and to start becoming more aware. If you’re conscious of the plastic you use and toss away, you’ll begin to realize how much of it you’ve actually used over the years. We did, and we certainly found some creative ways to reduce single-use plastic consumption. We think you can too.

Here’s some food for thought: why do we use and dispose of plastic so frivolously when the material lasts practically forever?

Use REAL silverware and plating

For smaller gatherings, the answer is in reusables. Now, bear with us for a sec, we know it seems daunting to use silverware and real plates when hosting, but it’s much easier than you may think. Guests are usually more attentive with silverware and plating because it comes with the notion that you only get one! Single-use plastic cutlery and plates, however, are considered disposable and abundant, so it’s likely someone will toss it away right and be quick to grab a new one.

Keep your washing machine handy and allow a few willing guests to help with clean-up. You’ll be surprised when your guests spring to help you since you busted out the fine china (or Ikea?). It makes your gatherings that much more special.

Use glassware and labels

Go for glassware that’s versatile and that will hold up for many parties to come–like mason jars–to avoid using single-use plastic cups. We know that rustic style isn’t for everyone, but there are ways to dress them up for any occasion. We love mason jars because they are just that–versatile and pretty durable considering the material. Labeling will help guests hold onto their glasses instead of grabbing a new one.

For labeling, get creative. Tie a ribbon around the jar below the ridges and include a felt tip Sharpie so your guests can write their names. The ribbon will stay on throughout the event and you don’t have to worry about your jars being ruined. If ribbons aren’t your thing, you could also invest in some chalkboard labels for your jars. You stick these on and allow your guests to write their names in chalk–erase them after the party and reuse! Have fun with it. There are plenty of creative ideas you can use to fit your party’s theme.

How about for beer pong?

Don’t worry, you can still have your fun! If you and your crew love beer pong, maybe it’s time to invest in reusable stainless steel party cups. Yes, they do exist, and you’re welcome. If you must, however, try to reuse your plastic cups as much as possible instead of getting new cups every time. You can even label them so you know for the next party that they’re for beer pong.

Water

When it comes to water, the most common, quick and convenient thing to do is to buy a case of bottled water for your party. But let me ask you this–how often will you find a bunch of half full bottles of water around unclaimed and forced to pour out the water and toss the bottle? Too many times. Not only is that contributing to plastic pollution, but it also is a complete waste of water!

The solution? Encourage guests to drink tap water. You can fill up some pitchers with iced tap water at the table that will make a great addition to the table setting. For extra filtration, add a stick of activated charcoal into the water overnight so you’ll have filtered water by the day of the event. If you’re attending any party, bring your water purifying LARQ Bottle and avoid using another glass for water.

Straws

By now, you should know better than to buy a bunch of plastic straws for your party. Depending on the type of drinks you’re serving you might not even need straws and we can trim off unnecessary waste here for sure. But if you absolutely must, try to find paper straws instead which are widely available at stores like Target, Walmart, and even discount stores. For more durable reusable straws that your guests can even take home as party favors, try reusable bamboo straws. They’re biodegradable so, at the end of their lifespan, they won’t be contributors to the growing issue of waste.

Compostable cutlery and plates

These usually use abundant and extremely eco-friendly material, bamboo. Bamboo is 100% compostable and biodegradable, so it’s a great choice as a single-use substitute. You’ll find plates, cutlery, and all things bamboo with a quick google search. We’d highly recommend this if you’re having larger gatherings that you just don’t have enough silverware and dinnerware for–or if you’ve got children attending your gathering.

Label landfill, recyclable and compost bins

Too many a time we’ve been in the awkward position where we don’t quite know if there is a recycling bin at a party or if everyone’s just tossing things in the same large trash bag. To help your guests decipher what’s what, label or even color code your waste bins–even including examples of what to toss will help! Put them in layman’s terms; “Scrape off food waste here” or “EMPTY beer bottles only” are some easy-to-understand, easy-to-follow examples of instructions you should use! If you’re not sure what kind of plastics are recyclable, read about how to recycle plastics. This will help you properly dispose of all the trash without having to sort through everything in the end too. Yay for efficient clean-up!

Make an announcement to your guests

If you’re throwing a plastic-free or zero-waste party, you ought to let all your guests know. Shout it from the rooftops, include it in the Evite, or even make a sign at your party about it! Seriously, the more you educate your guests and friends, the more we can help save the environment one zero-waste party at a time. Plus, we’ll have a ton of fun in the process.

By cutting out single-use plastic from parties you throw, or encouraging others to eliminate the use of plastic at parties, you’ll be saving thousands of single-use plastic from entering our environment and polluting the Earth. Don’t forget that sustainable practices can be applied anywhere–from sustainable travel to ways to conserve water. Now, who needs a drink?

Ever walk up to a waste disposal area and wonder what goes where? There’s trash, compost, plastic, paper–it can be a bit overwhelming. You don’t want to put a recyclable plastic in the trash that goes to the landfill, but you also aren’t sure if what you have is even recyclable.

Get to know your trash a little more so you’ll know what goes where next time you encounter this dilemma. Here are some facts about recycling plastics that may help you along the way:

#1 Plastic bags aren’t always allowed in the recycling bin

Although plastic bags are made up of the same materials that theoretically can be recycled in most modern recycling systems, machinery just isn’t able to handle it. Depending on your waste management service, plastic bags might not be accepted as recyclable items because they get tangled in the machines which slow down the process of recycling. They end up being manually detangled and ripped from the machines and thrown into the landfill. Do a little research to find out if your local waste management services allow plastic bags.

In most cases, it’s recommended to have loose plastics in your plastic recycling bin rather than plastic that is tied up in plastic bags. It’s confusing because we think, “well it’s all plastic right?” Right, but they’re not the same type of plastic. We’ll get into more on that later.

Most large grocery store chains accept clean, dry, used plastic bags for special recycling programs to be used to make new items. Take them here if you have plastic bag waste!

#2 Rinse it out

Any recyclable containers that originally contained food should be rinsed out before tossing into the recycling bin. You just need to make sure you rinse out any remaining food particles. However, for sticky substances like jam or honey, you will need to scrub a little to get the stickiness off of the container.

If your local recycling program allows plastic bags, make sure you get any remaining residue off before tossing it into the recycling bin. If there are small crumbs, shake it out; if you had a spill, rinse off the remaining residue and allow to dry before tossing.

#3 Always cap your bottles

In the past, it was advised that people remove caps from bottles because the caps are made from a different material than the bottle, which made them difficult to recycle. Now, waste management facilities are able to recycle the bottles with caps and are advising that people first crush the empty bottles, then put the cap back on. This will increase the number of plastic bottles that can be transported at one time.

#4 Check the codes on plastic cutlery

Not all plastic cutlery is made of the same recyclable resin. And unfortunately, the recycling symbol is not always labeled on each individual fork, knife, or spoon. The plastic recycling number should be indicated on the box or bag that the cutlery comes in, so before you toss it, read the labels so you can let your guests know to throw them in the trash or in the recycling bin.

#5 Remove paper labels on plastic mailers

This one seems intuitive if you think about it since paper and plastic are recycled separately, but if you didn’t know, please remove the paper labels from your plastic mailers before putting them in your plastic recycling bin. The paper and adhesive interrupt the recycling process of the actual plastic, and with interruptions, there is more time wasted and less plastic being recycled.

#6 Know what those recycling symbols and numbers mean

There are 7 Resin Identification Codes (RIC), those little numbers with recycling symbols you see on plastic packaging and products. Be advised: just because a product has a RIC labeled on it, doesn’t mean it can go in your curbside recycling bin at home. As the name suggests, these are merely identification numbers to let you know what kind of material the plastic is made of–some are easy to recycle and accepted almost all recycling programs, and some are extremely difficult to recycle or cannot be thrown into your usual curbside recycling bins.

Why do you need to know these codes? Chances are if you’ve been throwing everything with an RIC on it thinking they all can go in the same recycling bin, you’ve probably been making the recycling process more difficult, inefficient, and causing more problems for the environment along the way. As it turns out, sometimes throwing a certain plastic in the trash is far better than guessing that it’s recyclable, as you read in tip #1.

PETE (1) – Polyethylene Terephthalate

PETE or PET products like soda bottles, water bottles, salad dressing containers, peanut butter containers, and others are allowed in your curbside recycling.

HDPE (2) – High-Density Polyethylene

HDPE include products like milk jugs, shampoo bottles, household cleaner containers, cereal box liners, and yogurt containers that are allowed in your curbside recycling.

PVC (3) – Polyvinyl Chloride (also known as Vinyl)

V or PVC is difficult to recycle, so it is rarely accepted by curbside recycling programs. These products include food wrap, plumbing pipes, window cleaner bottles, detergent bottles, medical equipment, cooking oil bottles and shampoo bottles.

LDPE (4) Low-density Polyethylene

LDPE products are not accepted by most curbside recycling programs. However, there are some that do, and even some independent recycling programs that may be accessible in your community. Common LDPE products include squeeze bottles (think hand creams and toothpaste), plastic shopping bags, carpets, food wraps, shopping bags, clothing, dry cleaning bags, and frozen food or bread bags.

PP (5) Polypropylene

PP is considered one of the safer plastic products and can usually be recycled by your local curbside recycling program. PP products include medicine bottles, straws, bottle caps, ketchup bottles, syrup bottles, and some yogurt containers.

PS (6) Polystyrene (Styrofoam)

PS has been deemed difficult to recycle and has even been subject to local bans as it poses health and environmental risks. PS products include foam packing, insulation, egg cartons, disposable cups, plates, carry-out containers, and meat trays. Most curbside recycling programs won’t accept these.

OTHER (7) Miscellaneous Plastics

Products with this symbol are difficult to recycle and contain toxic BPA. It is extremely rare for a curbside recycling program to accept this type of material. Number 7 products can include nylon, baby bottles, certain food containers, signs and displays, computer cases, sunglasses, and bulletproof materials.

#7 Check your local recycling programs

In order to find out what type of plastics your local recycling program accepts, Search.Earth911.com and Berecycled.org are great places to get started. These sites narrow down your search in your zip code and provide links to information from your communities recycling and waste management programs.

If you find that some products aren’t accepted like shopping bags, How2Recycle.info might have drop-off locations near you. You’ll find a list of items that will be accepted and be on your way to helping this global issue.

Earth Day may be over (April 22), but here’s your gentle reminder that you should be thinking about your impact on the Earth every single day. You don’t have to go completely plastic-free (because we know how difficult that is), but every small change–even something like sorting your waste properly–can make a huge difference. Wherever you can, refuse or substitute single-use plastic, especially the harmful ones we’ve mentioned in this article. Don’t know where to start? Check out our article on sustainable ways to start living a plastic-free lifestyle.