Overwhelmed With How to Start Eating Healthy & Helping the Planet? The Answer’s on Your Plate!

10 Apr Overwhelmed With How to Start Eating Healthy & Helping the Planet? The Answer’s on Your Plate!

People get stuck on the ALL or NOTHING bandwagon. Instead of being overwhelmed or refusing to give an inch, start finding simple things you can do that can make an eco-impact, reduced carbon footprint, climate saving action and — even better — enhance your health. Any shift towards eating plants has a massive upside and no downside. Check out these simple food swaps from The Environmental Working Group that have a positive effect on the environment:

1. Choose to eat one less burger a week. This is like driving 320 miles less over one year.
2. Waste less. Purchase right-sized portions and actually eat what you buy. It is a simple commitment that has a huge impact. Uneaten meat accounts for more than 20 percent of meat’s greenhouse gas emissions!
3. Skipping meat and cheese for one day a week for a whole year by a four person family is like taking your car off the road for five whole weeks. If you do the same thing with steak, it’s like taking your car off the road for almost three months.
4. For one day a week, if everyone in the United States ate no meat or cheese it would be like driving 91 billion miles less, or taking 7.6 million cars off the road. Check out the documentary Cowspiracy for more information and facts.
5. When buying beef, choose grass-fed meat instead of factory-farmed meat. It is better for the animals and the environment and better for your health. Sustainably managed grazing and grass-fed livestock reduce erosion and water pollution, increase carbon storage in the soil, methane into the air and water and preserve bio-diversity and wildlife. The Environmental Working Group reports that grass-fed beef is lower in saturated fat, higher in heart-healthy omega 3s, vitamin E, beta-carotene, B vitamins, and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a nutrient associated with lower cancer risk.

You, your body, and the planet — will never regret each time you choose plants. Don’t be overwhelmed with how to start eating healthy and helping the planet. The answer is on your plate! Just start with one food choice at a time! Collectively it create a huge impact on the environment.

Do you have some simple swaps or suggestions you can share? What do you do to get more plants into your diet? How do you help make positive impacts on the environment? Share it with everyone below!