Sustainability - July
Another month, more learning about sustainability.
Like pretty much every other month this year, July seemed to fly by while simultaneously dragging on endlessly. July was a pretty intense month in my personal life, with several big upheavals that I never would have seen coming. And I’m just trying to extend grace to myself in the midst of all of it.
So even as COVID continues to occupy much of center stage, and other fires rage in the wings of my life, I have done my best to keep my focus on sustainability - continuing ahead in my learning and experimentation.
The topic that I set for myself in July was to focus on food. Although I didn’t really recognize it at the time, this was a great way to come off of the month of June focused on my body - since some very similar topics would be covered.
Personally, as I shared about in June, I continued to experiment with intermittent fasting. I’ve compressed my eating window a bit more, and now truly don’t eat anything until lunchtime, except for the occasional morning cup of tea. I have also cut back on snacking most evenings, although when I want something, I generally let myself have it.
Physically, I have noticed that I do still feel a lot better, except when I’m hungry - I’m not quite past that part yet. And although feeling better is likely partially attributable to my continued workout regime (which I shared about last month), I think the amount of food I’m consuming plays a part as well.
Not only that, but the types of food that I’m consuming play a part as well. I’ve long avoided dairy products to the best of my ability - not strictly, but I know that drinking a milkshake is not really a good idea for me. So I’ve stuck to coconut creamer in my tea and to almond milk in my cereal. Turns out, this decision is strongly supported by environmental research as well.
Here are some of the statistics behind producing milk of all kinds - producing one glass of cow’s milk takes about 1.8 square miles, 125 liters of water, and produces .6 kilograms of emissions. A glass of rice milk, on the other hand, requires about .06 square mile, 54 liters of water, and produces .3 kilograms of emissions. A cup of almond milk requires about .1 square mile and 74 liters of water, but only produces .14 kilograms of emissions. If you want a glass of oat milk, it will use about .14 square mile, 9.6 liters of water, and will give off .18 kilograms of emissions. Finally, a glass of soy milk uses .12 square mile, only 5 liters of water, and produces .2 kilograms of emissions. Drinking any non-dairy milk is clearly better for the environment than drinking cow’s milk. And while some non-dairy milks are still better than others, there is no clear superior kind. One might use less water but give off more emissions. So while there is still an environmental cost, you can just be more conscientious about what that is - and make your choice from there.
Another food group that has a massive impact on the environment and that is generally not sustainably produced is meat. Meat production has contributed to leveling 80% of the Amazon rainforest. The waste produced by all of the animals we breed is 130 times greater than that of the United States population. And the animals we raise for food take up 45% of the earth’s total land.
To break it down even more, livestock takes up about 83% of all farmland while only contributing about 18% of the calories that we consume.
Of the meat that we eat, 50% of it comes from factory farms in the United States. Plus about 60% of the corn and 47% of the soybeans that are produced go to feeding the livestock that will later feed us.
The cost doesn’t end there though, it continues into other areas. If we look at carbon emissions we can see that transportation contributes to about 13% of emissions, but animal agriculture contributes about 51%.
I could go on but the picture only gets bleaker from there - the water use, the food waste, the contribution to world starvation.
The research is pretty undeniable. And I haven’t even shared about the animal welfare part of this issue, which is huge and horrific. I have to admit, I see myself probably becoming a vegan or vegetarian at some point down the line - at least for the most part. However, I am not quite to that point yet. Instead, for now, I strive to be much more aware of my meat consumption and to choose to eat it mindfully. I try to be realistic about how much I will actually eat, and only eat that. I strive to only eat meat at one meal a day, maximum. In addition, when I do buy meat, I try to make sure that it is organic, free-range, or locally sourced if possible. In general (although not across the board) these terms can be used to identify meat that was produced using more sustainable methods.
All of these food-related changes are more sustainable for the earth, my body, and seem like they will be sustainable as a long term plan.
I also realized over the course of July that I haven’t shared my sustainability-related book every month, but I have been reading them! You can check out the past books on sustainability in the appropriate “Books of…” post. This month though, I read Food Fix: How to Save Our Health, Our Economy, Our Communities, and Our Planet-One Bite at a Time. It was fascinating to see how interconnected so many aspects of life are - in general, and in the realm of food specifically. Unfortunately, many necessary changes need to be made on governmental and corporate levels. However, there are still certainly things that we can do as consumers. We need to make sure to put our plate and our wallet where our mouth is.
The sustainable product that I purchased this month is one for use in my kitchen. I have subbed my paper towels for a more sustainable, UnPaper Towel option. There isn’t really a decomposition issue with paper towels as there is with many other things since they don’t take too long to break down, and can (and should) be composed. However, producing paper towels doesn’t have as low an environmental impact.
In the US, we go through more than 13 billion pounds of paper towels every year. That’s about 80 rolls per person, per year. Yikes!
In order to make all of those paper towels for their moments of usefulness requires 110 million trees and 130 billion gallons of water each year. Not only that but to turn those trees and water (and other stuff) into a paper towel we can use, requires a lot of energy, and results in plenty of carbon emissions.
One option to reduce your role in this paper towel saga, is to simply use less. Use a hand towel when you can, or use an electric hand dryer if you are in a public restroom (… well, maybe do that post-COVID). Instead of grabbing three or four paper towels, just use one, or maybe a half. If you just used it to wipe up some water on the counter - why not leave it out to see if it can do a bit more before its usefulness has passed.
Another option is to invest in some reusable paper towels. And in addition to trying to take advantage of all those tactics above - I did that too!
I had someone ask me why I wasn’t just going to use dishtowels instead for the same purpose. I certainly could, I guess, but the towels I own are thick and don’t do super great on the absorption front. Plus I can’t imagine using them to clean a mirror or wipe my baseboards. It may just be personal preference, but I’m much happier using my UnPaper Towels for kitchen and cleaning-related tasks. Plus, the darker colors of the ones I purchased hide stains and will likely last for a long time to come.
So while I do have a roll of paper towels hidden away for “just in case” moments, this new alternative will be used regularly in their place. I have been pleased with them so far, and I ordered 24 - so there are enough to easily toss one in the washing machine once I have used it to await my next load of laundry.
And from another angle, reusable paper towels are more financially sustainable in the long run too! You’ll save thousands of dollars over your lifetime, and even more trees!
So while July was pretty crazy, it was also pretty well rounded on the sustainability front. And I look forward to August with expectation - more learning, more growth, and a more sustainable life.
Until next time,