Luckily, with a heaping scoop of creativity and some patience for learning something new, we can greatly reduce this waste. Here are just a few ideas for decorating your gifts to family and friends that are more ethical, eco-friendly, and even reusable.

5 Ethical and Eco-Friendly Gift Wrapping Ideas:

1. Old maps or newspaper as gift wrap. Who says you need smiling snowmen or red and green polka dots on your gifts? You can create a totally unique and intriguing piece of art by wrapping presents in colorful maps or lines of text from your neighbor’s old newspaper pages. A map of your local parks can even be unfolded and pinned on a bulletin board afterward for recording hiking excursions!

2. Reusable boxes. Shoe boxes and jewelry boxes destined for the recycling bin make wonderful vessels for your holiday gifts. There are countless ways to customize these boxes – especially those that have a separate lid – with paint, paper, stamps, and any other medium to make your gifts turn heads.

3. Cloth. There is no rule that says wrapping gifts must be done with paper. Reusable tea towels, scarves, handkerchiefs, and fabric remnants from the discount bin can serve as beautifully decorative wraps for gifts of all shapes and sizes. If you have a knack for sewing, you can even create your own cloth bags.

4. Glass containers. Everyone loves a mason jar nowadays, right? Package up homemade gifts (like a brownie or hot chocolate mix, soup ingredients and spices, or some of your famous homemade jam) or layer stocking stuffers in a glass jar that your loved one can reuse as a smoothie glass, pickling receptacle, or flower vase. It’s a double gift!

5. Natural embellishments. Don’t waste your money on bows that will end up in the trash. On the day before you give out your gifts, take a walk in your backyard or a park to collect pinecones, twigs, flowers, or leaves to give your presents a rustic touch. These materials will decompose naturally, leaving you and your gift recipients guilt-free.

What other eco-friendly techniques do you use to decorate your gifts?

Images (1,2,3,4,5,6)

The post 5 Ethical and Eco-Friendly Gift Wrapping Ideas appeared first on Chic Vegan.

At this point it is easy to throw in the towel and just give up – yes, we are surrounded by it and there is nothing I can do, so I will do nothing. But that is not the mentality that led you to a compassionate lifestyle and I implore you not to give up. Start with these first easy steps to reducing your plastic footprint: single-use grocery bags and water bottles.

Plastic Grocery Bags

Americans use 100 BILLION plastic single-use grocery bags each year. That’s about 12 MILLION plastic bags in ONE HOUR.

One reusable bag can replace about 1,000 grocery bags in its lifetime. If you haven’t yet made the switch to reusable bags, here is where you start.

One might be tempted to switch to paper bags, since, well, it isn’t plastic, but that is a whole other environmental nasty ballgame in itself. Never mind the trees that are used to make the bags, the energy and other resources needed to make them are just as evil, including cleaning and preparing the bags using more chemicals.

If you are squeamish about starting to accumulate reusable bags, consider that they pay for themselves in no time, as most grocers offer bag refunds whenever you use them.

If you keep forgetting to bring your bags, make a pact with yourself that if you forget them you will have to do without bags for the trip – no taking plastic or paper because you messed up. It won’t take more than a few times of your thoughtlessness to ensure that you will remember. Emptying your cart of goods into your car and then carrying them into your home will be just annoying enough that you will remember to bring your bags.

Most grocery stores now sell reusable bags made of plastic bottles (down-cycled) so you can start there, but consider buying your bags from companies that will take them back once they break or are no longer needed, to ensure that there is a positive end-life to your plastic. Or go with canvas bags. Reuse It is a company that sells a great assortment of bags, lunch containers, bottles and other sundry of reusable items. Chico Bags is another wonderful company that sells a wide range of reusable bags, bottles and other useful items. In addition, they will take back any broken or unused items to down-cycle or donate.

And, mind you, the numbers above do not include other single-use plastic bags, such as produce, bread or the other tons of other stuff that are packaged in plastic bags and then tossed.

Plastic Water Bottles

Last year Americans used 50 BILLION plastic bottles, that is around 170 bottles per person, per year. Of that 50 billion, 38 BILLION were NOT recycled. That means that only about a quarter of water bottles are recycled. Before you climb into your comfy “but I recycle” blanket, consider that “recycling” water bottles is only a down-cycle, meaning that it is not cyclic – that PET water bottle has this life and one more (turned into park benches, bridges or fiber) before that, too, is sent to the waste heap, where, if it is lucky, will wind up in a landfill instead of the ocean.

People, this is another easy fix! One that will even save you money in the long run. Being ripped off by water bottle manufacturers irks me and it should irk you, too. Buying prepackaged water in bottles is completely unnecessary and, in most cases, isn’t even good for you; the practice of filtering the water is questionable at best and belief in a corporation’s good word and honesty should be at the top of your conspiracy list.

Conspiracies aside, it is a fact that you do not need to buy a bottle of water – you can take it with you. If you like cold water, get one that is insulated and fill it yourself. Truly, nothing could be easier – except maybe taking your own grocery bags to the market with you.

Your real important question shouldn’t be “can I do this?” or “should I do this?” instead it should be “which bottle should I get?”

Criteria:

Insulated or not? If you like it cold, get insulated.

Material? I like to use stainless steel bottles (definitely NOT plastic), but some people like glass ones. If you opt for glass, consider using a mason jar with an attachment like this, from Cuppow.

The lid: this one is important; you should be able to clean the lid thoroughly – and that means nothing fancy and complicated. Use the simplest lid that you can dry out well to avoid mildew buildup.

In addition to regular stainless steel bottles, Klean Kanteen also sells insulated bottles and they have a whole range of products. The lids are simple enough and they even have a bamboo cap version! Check out the glass water bottles from Reuse It. You can also purchase a bottle sling – makes carrying the bottles, especially on walks, much easier.

In any case, go get yourself a bottle and, more importantly, USE IT!

This week’s assignment: reusable bags and water bottles. It’s time to ditch the most used single-use plastics in your life and start becoming accountable for your plastic footprint. Bags are as inexpensive as 2 or 3 dollars each and a good water bottle will pay for itself in a month. Remember, if you forget the bags you will have to do without, so keep them in your vehicle or by the front door once you empty them.

The post Plastic-free Vegan; A Journey, Part II. Single-use Plastics. appeared first on Chic Vegan.

Self-Compassion and Veganism

Vegans, in my opinion, may be in even greater need of self-compassion than the average person. One reason for this is that we have chosen to open our eyes to the suffering caused by raising animals for food, clothing, and other products. We also probably have educated ourselves on the devastating effects of animal agriculture on our environment, and the impact of this inefficient method of food production on world hunger. Facing these realities is not easy, and I think it is important to recognize the pain and emotional turmoil it creates. Rather than being in denial or trying to push away or ignore our difficult feelings, self-compassion helps us accept, feel, and comfort ourselves through them.

Another reason that I think vegans and aspiring vegans need to practice self-compassion is to help lessen perfectionist or all-or-nothing thinking regarding our veganism. Being compassionate with our own imperfections can help us to keep doing the best we can and to appreciate the efforts that we make. It also can aid us in being understanding and kind toward our fellow flawed humans, rather than having a tendency to pass judgment on them.

Three Main Elements of Self-Compassion

According to Dr. Kristin Neff, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin who conducts research on the topic, self-compassion has three main elements. The first is self-kindness, which means being gentle and understanding with yourself when you experience difficulty or failure or when you notice personal imperfections.

The second element of self-compassion is common humanity. This involves recognizing that suffering, vulnerability, and personal inadequacies are part of our shared human experience. Rather than feeling isolated and like we are the only person suffering or making mistakes, we realize that all humans suffer in this way at times.

The third element of self-compassion is mindfulness. With mindfulness, which can be defined as paying attention to the present moment on purpose and in a nonjudgmental way, we can observe our negative thoughts and feelings with openness and acceptance. We can learn to welcome our thoughts and feelings without trying to push them away and without becoming overly identified with them. This helps bring a larger perspective to our personal situations, lessening the likelihood that we will blow things out of proportion or get drawn into negative reactive patterns.

Self-Compassion and Yoga Practice

Practicing yoga mindfully can be a wonderful opportunity to develop self-compassion. As we practice, we observe our body sensations, thoughts, and feelings, and we can bring kindness and acceptance to any negative thoughts and feelings that arise.

For example, if we are attempting a pose that is difficult for us, we can back off and think, “this pose is hard for me; I’m doing the best I can right now, and I’m taking care that I don’t hurt myself.” The opposite approach, such as saying to yourself, “why am I so stiff/weak?  I should be able to do this by now,” may cause you to overdo and injure yourself, or at the very least, cause you to lose the equanimity and sense of peace you probably are seeking in your practice.

We can practice self-compassion, then, by not pushing too hard in our practice, and by accepting any limitations we may experience in performing various poses. We also practice self-compassion by taking the time to care for ourselves by practicing yoga. In addition, we can practice self-compassion by taking rest in savasana (corpse or final relaxation pose) or in other restorative poses, and by spending time training our minds and getting in touch with our true nature in the practice of meditation.

Self-Compassion Resources

If you would like to explore this topic further, Dr. Neff has an informative web site with several guided self-compassion meditations. Her site also has a quiz you can take to assess your current level for various aspects of self-compassion.

A Gift for Yourself and Others

Increasing your capacity for self-compassion is a wonderful gift for yourself and others. By being more self-compassionate, you act as a good role model, encouraging others to treat themselves more kindly as well. Having more self-compassion also naturally leads you to have greater compassion for others. And developing greater self-compassion helps you grow your capacity to witness suffering and to take action, where possible, to reduce it. Adopting a vegan lifestyle is a magnificent start!

The post Developing Greater Self-Compassion appeared first on Chic Vegan.

“Everyone is talking about fuel efficient vehicles, but they would actually do more for the earth by becoming vegan.”-Emily Deschanel

I am vegan for ethical reasons, but veganism is also one of the best ways to be environmentally conscious. Global warming is happening. We try to combat it with recycling, carpooling, and reusing simple things. However, the best thing you can do for the environment is to become vegan. Animal agriculture accounts for 51 percent or greater of greenhouse gases. If you really want to fight climate change, become vegan.

The United Nations recently said that a shift toward a vegan diet is necessary to help reduce climate change. They also said that raising animals for food is “one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.” A study found that vegans have a 41.7 percent smaller greenhouse-gas footprint than meat eaters. Plus, a 13.9 percent reduced greenhouse-gas footprint than vegetarians.

Carbon dioxide is one of the top gases causing global warming. In comparison to producing one calorie from grain, 8.5 times of carbon dioxide is released from producing one calorie from meat. Clearing the rain forest of its trees, that take in carbon dioxide, for pastureland to grow crops for farmed animals releases an enormous amount of carbon dioxide. Manure from farmed animals also releases large quantities of carbon dioxide. Typical meat eaters reduce their carbon footprint associated with food by 60 percent by becoming vegan, and vegetarians who become vegan reduce their food related carbon footprint by 25 percent.

The billions of animals that are stuffed into factory farms help feed global warming. They produce outrageous amounts of methane through waste. If methane and carbon dioxide were compared pound to pound, methane has a 25 greater chance of contributing to climate change over 100 years. Nitrous oxide is absorbed into the atmosphere when farmed animals urine and manure break down. Nitrous oxide, as a greenhouse gas, is approximately 300 more times harmful than carbon dioxide.

If you want to be able to call yourself an environmentalist you need to become vegan. It is one of the most effective ways to fight global warming. It does so much more than recycling. This does not mean you should stop helpful tasks like not using plastic water bottles and throwing them away. However, along with these steps; being vegan will help the environment even more. For more information click here  http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/global-warming/.

The post How You Are Helping the Environment by Being Vegan appeared first on Chic Vegan.

Protecting the environment and coming up with sustainable farming practices has become a hot topic in the last few years.  More and more people are realizing that we can’t just keep taking from the earth without giving back and helping replenish it’s resources.  It’s to our advantage to be mindful about how we harvest crops, eat food, get rid of waste, and live our daily lives.

Being vegan is a great step towards a more sustainable lifestyle and eating more plant based foods helps the environment, but you can do more!  There are still some simple steps you can take to make your new lifestyle even more environmentally conscious.  Try incorporating a few of these practices into your daily routine and be more mindful of your impact on our earth.

Visit your local farm stand/farmers market

With warm weather finally making its debut, farm stands and farmers markets will start popping up.  Try and get some of your fruits and vegetables from local markets.  This will save you money, give you the best produce of the season, and help the environment.  Because you will be buying locally, you will cut down on the amount of gas used to transport produce between farm and store.  This also is a great time to form a relationship with the people who grow your food.  Ask them questions, get advice or recipes, and thank them for helping to feed your family!

Save your scraps

Now that you’re loaded up with local and seasonal produce, you’ll be cooking up a storm.  Instead of throwing away what you think is inedible, save your scraps!  Things like peels, skins, and the ends of vegetables can be used to make you own vegetable stock.  If you’re a big juicer, save the pulp and add it to baked goods like breads, muffins, or cookies.  Maybe you make your own nut milk, save the strained parts for crackers or breads.  Start composting the scraps that are inedible.  Cutting down on the amount of food that you throw away helps lower the amount of waste that sits around in landfills.

Start a garden

If you have the space, think about planting a few of your own fruits and vegetables.  This is another way to save money and the environment at the same time.  Start small with just a few simple crops and as you get more experienced start expanding your garden.  Even if you don’t have the space or live in a place without a backyard, start a little herb garden.  A lot of herbs can be grown in a pot on a windowsill and then you’ll have access to a delicious way to flavor your food.

Install low flow faucets and shower heads

This is a really simple thing that you can do to help lessen the amount of water you use in your household.  If you have never purchased a new shower head or faucet you probably don’t have one that is very efficient.  Luckily it is really simple to make the switch.  Nicor Gas offers a free energy-saving kit that includes a shower head and faucet aerators and instructions on how to install each one.  You can also find these things at your local home improvement store.  Not only will these help save water but they will cut down on your water bill.  That’s a win-win!

The biggest thing that you can do to help the earth and have a more sustainable lifestyle is to be aware.  Do you leave the water running while you brush your teeth?  Do you throw away food that is still good just because you won’t be able to eat it?  Are you driving to five grocery stores to do your shopping when you could easily get it done at just one or two?  Do you take the few minutes to sort out the recycling from the trash?  There are a ton of simple ways that you can help the earth so start incorporating a few of these ideas into your routine.  Even just one more sustainable practice can help!

The post Sustainable Vegan appeared first on Chic Vegan.

Palm oil production is having a detrimental and devastating impact on the environment, sending several species of animals on the verge of extinction, contributing to climate change, world hunger, polluting our air, and much more.

In writing this article, I hope to make you aware of what palm oil is and its terrifying impact on our world. I hope that you gain from this article as to make the best choice in avoiding palm oil as a smart and compassionate consumer.

Palm oil can be found in more than 50% of items in grocery stores. Palm oil and it’s by-products can be found in a large listing of goods such things as toothpaste, shampoo, soaps, cosmetics, biscuits,cereals, ice cream, noodles, chips, cookies, crackers,bread,  batters, chocolate, laundry detergents,  and even fuel.

Palm oil has a longer shelf life than most other oils, making it an attractive product for food markets and its producers.

What is Palm Oil?

Palm oil is the oil extracted from the pulp of the palm fruit that grows on oil palm trees.

Palm plants are not to be confused with coconut palm trees in that palm plants are around seven feet tall with green soft, thick leaves and round fruit.

The palm fruit bears both palm oil and kernel palm oil. The pulp of the palm fruit produces palm oil while the palm fruit seeds produce kernel palm oil. Palm oil is typically used in food while kernel palm oil is typically used in cosmetics.

There are two primary species of palm oil palm tree, Elaeis guineensis and Elaeis oleifera. Elaeis guineensis is native to West Africa, while Elaeis oleifera is native to Central and South America. However, both species of oil palm trees are grown in tropical areas such as West Africa, Central and South America, Australia, and in Southeast Asia.

Speaking of Southeast Asia, Indonesia and Malaysia alone account for over 90% of the world’s palm oil production. As a result, palm oil plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia are propelling deforestation at an alarming rate.

How Palm Oil Is Manufactured Globally

Palm oil is grown in oil palm plantations found in tropical countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia. Acquiring land there is simple and cheap.

Palm oil plantations produces large vats of palm oil which are sold to traders.

From there, traders sell them rather inexpensively, legally or illegally, to huge corporations from around the world that can make products with it. Then, the products are exported to such countries such as the United States, Canada, England, Australia, and more thus ending up on our supermarket shelves and into our homes.

Effects of Palm Oil

The effects of palm oil are unbelievable. The effects include the destruction of tropical rainforests and peat lands, magnifying global climate change, the killing and dislocation of animals, raising the scarcity of food of the world, pollution, and much more.

How Palm Oil Impacts Animals

It breaks my heart to inform you that the effects of palm oil production animals are catastrophic.

During the deforestation of palm oil production, over 300, 000 animals are either injured, displaced, or killed. The production makes way for animal poachers and wildlife smugglers to come by and sell them as pets, use them for medicinal reasons, sell them to zoos and other tourist parks, or kill them for their body parts.

Much of the wildlife such as orangutans have been found dead by machete attacks, guns, and other weapons. Poachers have no difficulty in killing mother orangutans and snatching the babies from them to keep or sell as pets or to send off to zoos and tourist parks all around the world. Poachers like to creep through road networks that are built for plantation workers and equipment and wait for animals to come by.

This crisis is driving various endangered animals  into extinction. These endangered animals include: the Sumatran tigers, Proboscis monkeys, Clouded Leopards, Bearded Pigs, Pygmy Elephants, Sun Bears, and Sumatran Rhinoceros and even certain animal species that have yet to be discovered.

In two decades alone, over 50,000 orangutans have died from deforestation. These animals end up dislocated and into villages where they are kept as pets, sold, or killed.

If nothing is done about this, if things are to continue, we could very well be seeing the extinction of species such as the orangutans within the next 5-10 years and the Sumatran tigers less than 3 years.

How Palm Oil Impacts People

The palm oil industry has such an overwhelming effect on the people.

What the palm industry does is it promotes plantation as a way to bring development and opportunity to the poor regions and since the government’s main objective is in its country’s economy, the government allows corporations to own land and to seize land from the native people.

This systematic injustice means that the native people that depended on their land for housing and/or work, get kicked out of their homes and jobs, often violently, to make way for development. This leaves the indigenous people homeless and with no choice but to become an oil palm plantation worker just to support themselves and their families.

Think of how it would feel if you were at home with your family and several men were to just kick you out forcefully from your home or job. It’s just unbelievable.

The palm oil industry has also been known to violate many human rights such as child slave labor. Children are made to work through extreme conditions such as heat exhaustion and injury such as cuts and bruises, for little to no pay at all.

How Palm Oil Affects The Environment

It has been said that 98% of Indonesian forests may disappear by 2020.

The vast, rich rainforests are being destroyed at such an alarming rate. Palm oil deforestation is contributing greatly to global warming and climate change. With the burning of trees, green house gasses such as methane and cardon dioxide are vastly dumped into the atmosphere.

Indonesia has become the third highest greenhouse gas emitter in the world behind the United States and China.

A lot of people don’t know this but climate change is one of the primary reasons for animal extinction. It’s very heartbreaking as tons of smoke is emitted into the air with no regard to animal, human, or environment health.

Sustainable Palm Oil?

It’s been long debated whether or not palm oil can be sustainable. Considering the exhausting of natural resources and the effects of ecological and economical damage, palm oil is by no means sustainable.

The palm oil industry has what they call “certified sustainable”, “organic”, or Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) palm oil but it’s really propaganda meant to confuse the consumer into buying palm oil.

Several campaign groups such as Survival International, Greenpeace, and Friends of the Earth (FOE) agree that palm oil is unsustainable and that buying sustainable palm oil is not possible because it is impossible to determine where the palm oil came from and whether or not it caused deforestation.

Large vats of palm oil are shipped from legal and illegal sources so buying palm oil from an illegal source is unethical. Again, it is impossible to determine where palm oil came from.

Names for Palm Oil

• Palm oil kernel
• “Palmitate” or “Palmate”
• Elaeis gunieensis
• Hydrated Palm Gylcerides Hexadecanoic
• Palmitic Acid

Most Likely to be Palm Oil

• Vegetable oil (if product contains saturated fats, it’s most likely palm oil)
• Anything containing “stearate, stearyl”
• Anything containing the words “cetyl, cetearyl”
• Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS)
• Sodium Laureth Sulphate
• Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate
• (SDS or NaDS) Sodium
• Calcium Stearoyl Lactylate Steareth -2
• Steareth -20 Emulsifier 422, 430-36, 465-67, 470-8, 481-483

What You Can Do

To put and end to palm oil production, you can write letters to corporations, manufacturers, and governments to put pressure on them. Furthermore, you can stay informed on the latest palm oil news and developments. You can join campaigns and groups that serve to put and end to palm oil production.

The best way to start is by giving up palm oil completely and educating yourself on the household products that contain it.

There is no need for palm oil. There is no need for the exploitation and insurmountable destruction caused by the palm oil industry. Stop creating the demand for palm oil.

Become educated. Stop using palm oil. Educate others about this.

A good way to educate others is by simply sharing this article with all your friends and family. The animals are counting on you, the people are counting on you, and the vast, lush rainforests as well are counting on you.

Together we can make a difference!

The post The Shocking Truth About Palm Oil appeared first on Chic Vegan.

I have to say that I was impressed with the quality of the shoe and thrilled to learn that in addition to being stylish (as confirmed by my pre-teen son who is a HARSH shoe critic), they are also super earth-friendly with regards to how they are constructed:

“The low-top canvas shoe, made using recycled rubber in the outsole and recycled plastic in the PET shoe laces, features a faux-vulc cupsole construction and a thinly padded tongue and collar for protection and added comfort so it looks like a vulc, but skates like a cupsole. Includes cork-lined OrthoLite, STI Foam Lite level 1 footbeds.”

Not only is the shoe constructed with Mother Nature in mind, etnies is also helping reforest Brazil’s Atlantic Rainforest with the sale of each and every pair.  It is amazing to know that etnies’ best-selling shoe, the Jameson 2 Eco, is part of their Buy a Shoe, Plant a Tree reforestation program.

With every shoe sold from “Buy A Shoe, Plant A Tree” program, this year they are planting 100,000 trees in Brazil (last year was Costa Rica with 35,000 trees).  Check out their entire etnies Buy a Shoe, Plant a Tree collection.

I like to know that when I spend my money I am buying a quality product and it thrills me to know that I can purchase from a company focused on quality as well as bettering our world.

Click HERE to shop etnies vegan shoes.

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Images courtesy of etnies.

The post ETNIES VEGAN SHOES appeared first on Chic Vegan.

Those of you who made your way down the vegan path for environmental reasons may be familiar with sustainable design and construction. But for those of you who came to the vegan way from other directions, this may be a new concept.  Sustainable design is about approaching building construction from an environmentally-friendly and sustainable perspective. Did you know –

Buildings consume 48% of the energy used in the United States and contribute 46% of the carbon dioxide production (CO2 levels are attributed to increased climate change)?

If you think about it, buildings and the places on which they are situated use a lot of resources – water, land, construction materials, and so on. It stands to reason that looking to build smarter and more sustainably is good sense and good for the environment. We’ll all pretty familiar by now with the thinking that using less resources or being wise about their use will help us, and the earth, in the long-run. This theory is essentially the definition of sustainability.

I was a treehugger before I was a vegan, so I’ve had time to study up on these topics. I also work with city planning and building as part of my job, so I’ve really had the opportunity for some education in this arena. In fact, I’m a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional. Hence, my interest in checking out this book. But if you’re new to these ideas, Sustainable Design is a great introduction. Designed primarily as a guide for architecture professionals and students, the book is still accessible for those of us who aren’t architects or who want to learn more about the topic.

The book starts out with the basics of what the author terms ecodesign, and then covers a variety of topics closely related to the LEED categories, which is a rating system for evaluating the sustainability of buildings. Site issues, water efficiency, energy efficiency: passive techniques, energy efficiency: active techniques, indoor environmental quality, and materials are all addressed in good depth, but still in a concise format. The chapters are presented in a format that I think of as “architect” books, but have a good mix of photographs and illustrations to elaborate upon the written concepts.

If you’re looking for detailed information on how to accomplish ecodesign strategies, then this book isn’t for you. But if you want to learn the general concepts behind ecodesign and sustainable construction, then this is a good place to start. The author wraps up by evaluating the various rating systems for ecodesign (LEED isn’t the only one), and the future of the sustainable design and construction.

The author shares some amazing structures, still in design phase or already built, that embody ecodesign concepts. Local and state authorities, and even the federal government, are increasingly requiring buildings to be built to a green rating system, so it’s good to be aware of the practice and what’s out there.

And how does this relate to being a ChicVegan, exactly? There is a natural connection between environmental issues and being vegan. By nature, vegans are a compassionate, empathetic bunch, and that logically extends to compassion and empathy for our home, planet Earth. Learning about sustainable design and ways to reduce our impacts through our home, work, and play spaces seems like a perfect follow-through to make as a vegan.

One of my favorite passages of the book challenges designers to consider sustainability as more than “continuing to exist” and instead think about larger concepts of human fulfillment regarding community, spirit, and intellect. Bergman asks,

“[H]ow does design enable us not merely to sustain but to flourish?”

I love this extension of sustainability, which I hadn’t heard before. Asking how we can flourish is a beautiful question, and as vegans, I think we are on the right path!

The post Book Review: Sustainable Design appeared first on Chic Vegan.

Dear EarthTalk: We’ve been hearing for years how producing red meat is bad for the environment while consuming it is bad for our health. How do other types of meat, fish, dairy and vegetable proteins stack up in terms of environmental and health impacts?     –– Julia Saperstein, via e-mail

Not all forms of protein are created equal as to the environmental and health implications of raising and consuming them. A 2011 assessment by the non-profit Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that “different meats and different production systems have varying health, climate and other environmental impacts.”

The quantity of chemical fertilizers, fuel and other “production inputs” used, the differences in soil conditions and production systems and the extent to which best practices such as cover cropping, intensive grazing or manure management are implemented all affect the amount of greenhouse gas emissions a meat product is responsible for generating. To wit, lamb, beef, cheese, pork and farmed salmon raised “conventionally” (e.g. with inputs including hormones and antibiotics and feed derived from crops grown with chemical pesticides and fertilizers) were determined by EWG to generate the most greenhouse gases.

EWG partnered with the environmental analysis firm CleanMetrics to assess the climate impacts via lifecycle assessments of 20 popular types of meat, fish, dairy and vegetable proteins. EWG’s assessment calculated the full “cradle-to-grave” carbon footprint of each food item based on the greenhouse gas emissions generated before and after it left the farm—from the pesticides and fertilizer used to grow animal feed all the way through the grazing, animal raising, processing, transportation, cooking and even disposal of unused food (since some 20 percent of edible meat gets thrown away by Americans).

According to EWG, conventionally raised lamb, beef, cheese and pork also generate more polluting waste, pound for pound. Of these, lamb has the greatest impact, followed by beef and then by cheese—so vegetarians who eat dairy aren’t off the hook. “Beef has more than twice the emissions of pork, nearly four times more than chicken and more than 13 times as much as vegetable proteins such as beans, lentils and tofu,” summarizes EWG.

On the health front, EWG reports that “eating too much of these greenhouse gas-intensive meats boosts exposure to toxins and increases the risk of a wide variety of serious health problems, including heart disease, certain cancers, obesity and, in some studies, diabetes.”

Besides cutting out animal-derived proteins altogether, the best thing we can do for our health and the environment is to cut down on our meat consumption.   “While best management practices can demonstrably reduce overall emissions and environmental harm, the most effective and efficient way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts from livestock is simply to eat, waste and produce less meat and dairy.” For more information, check out EWG’s free online “Meat Eater’s Guide.”

CONTACTS: EWG Meat Eater’s Guide, www.ewg.org/meateatersguide.

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The post The Environmental Impact of Meat appeared first on Chic Vegan.

PLANEAT presents a convincing case to re-examine our consumption and the consequences of including meat and dairy in our diet.  Against a backdrop of colorful and delicious food grown by organic farmers and prepared in the kitchens of world famous chefs, PLANEAT reveals ground-breaking research from three prominent scientists.  Their mission: to find a diet that’s good for our health and environment, as well as for the future of our planet.

A fresh addition to PLANEAT is Professor Gidon Eshel (Physics and Geosciences from Bard College).  Throughout the film, Professor Eshel examines how the Western diet impacts our land, oceans, and atmosphere.  I am convinced that his insights with regards to how our food choices contribute to the detriment of the environment will impact all who see this film.

Many of you know the regard I hold for Dr.s Campbell and Esselstyn.  They have devoted their careers to the betterment of our health through plant-based living.  Their science is indisputable and clear.  PLANEAT takes us into the details of their research in an approachable manner and brings us into the home of Dr. Esselstyn to not only show us the whys, but the hows as Ann Esselstyn shows the viewer how to put the whole foods plant-based diet into practice (click HERE for more details).

I highly recommend this film.  PLANEAT debuts July 3, 2012 from home video entertainment label True Mind on all major VOD platforms and on DVD.

The post PLANEAT – DEBUTING JULY 3rd! appeared first on Chic Vegan.