Low-Carbon Eating: Good for Your Health, Good for the Planet

Illustration: Carbon Footprint with Seedlings

by Michael Bond

Food is often overlooked as a component of our carbon footprint, yet what we choose to eat is one of the most significant factors in the personal impact we have on the environment. A recent study examining the impact of a typical week’s eating showed that plant-based diets are better for the environment than those based on meat.1 A vegan, organic diet had the smallest environmental impact while the single most damaging foodstuff was beef. Likewise, all non-vegetarian diets require significantly greater amounts of land and water resources.

Diet Alters Your Children's Behavior and Health

Photo: Boy Frowning and Holding a Burger

As we prepare our children for the new school year, it’s time to think again about one of the most important and least understood aspects of their daily lives: nutrition. What’s good for them, and what’s not. We’ve all heard it many times, yet many of us ignore it—or at least don’t do much about it. We do so at our children’s peril. Since the 1920’s parents and experts have suspected that certain foods and ingredients ramp up their children’s behavior and contribute to weight and related health problems. Research has proven this to be true.

Keys to Better Health: Organic, Natural & Vegetarian

Photo: Kids having fun at a Picnic

While helping to protect and sustain the earth and all her splendor is surely a worth-while endeavor, it is also important to protect and sustain our bodies with a healthy lifestyle to improve our personal quality of life. That’s because what we eat can cause or worsen illness and premature death associated with diet-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease and stroke, obesity, osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, cancer, and diabetes, among others.

Summertime Kokua

by Michele McKay

Summer is a great time to enjoy Hawaii’s beautiful mountains, beaches, and surf! Hiking, biking, snorkeling, swimming, wave riding, barbequing… whatever your pleasure, enjoy the outdoors with kokua, in a way that won’t harm people, animals or the environment.

Make Every day Earth Day by Dreaming of a 'Green' Christmas

by Michele McKay

The holiday season is a time of giving and receiving, but not many people think about what they can give back to Mother Earth. This year you can make your holiday celebrations eco-friendly – and in return, you will receive the knowledge that you have helped make your home and the planet a ‘greener’ place.

The holidays can be extra tough on the environment: extra waste is generated from packaging and wrappers, more gas is burned on shopping trips, and many megawatts of energy go into light displays. Celebrate the planet this year with these eco-friendly holiday tips:

    Hanging On to New Year's Resolutions

    by Angie Smith

    Every year around January 1st, millions of people vow to get healthy, lose weight, or quit some bad habit. The motivation to make a change for the better comes on strong, but usually fizzles out before you can even make it into the ballpark of your goal. So, how can you make a resolution stick? Many experts say that it can be done one step at a time.

    Raising A Healthy Vegetarian Child

    Not long ago in our society, a person who did not eat meat may have felt like a complete outcast. Well things are finally changing for vegetarians, even to the point of government recognition. The USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 states that “vegetarians of all types can achieve recommended nutrient intake.” Still, although vegetarianism is becoming more widely accepted by society, families raising their children with vegetarian ideals may encounter opposition or ridicule from others.

    Vegetarian Solution - Part 1

    by Michael Bond

    The choice to become a vegetarian is one of the most positive, far-reaching decisions you can make to impact your personal health and the health of the environment. The reasons to choose a vegetarian lifestyle are as diverse as they are compelling. The arguments against being a vegetarian are, for the most part, based on myths, tradition (i.e. because people were raised a certain way), and the economic and political interests of those who profit from the sales of meat.

    Pointers for the New Vegetarian

    For many vegetarians, obtaining proper nutrition is an important concern. Planning meals that combine all of the necessary components of a well balanced diet takes time and a little creativity. It can be difficult for aspiring and novice vegetarians; however, there are many support networks available. With more and more information surfacing about the dangers of a meat-based diet and the detriment to the environment and the food chain that raising animals for slaughter causes, people are wisely turning to a healthy and safe vegetarian diet.

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