Today is the day when nearly 12,000 blogs have posted on a singular subject: climate change.
Blog Action Day is an annual event that started in 2007, during which bloggers sign up to contribute to a cause – raising awareness on a particular subject.
In 2007, it was the environment; 2008 saw a theme of poverty; this year, climate change is the golden ticket. I signed up a few weeks ago, largely because even though I’m not particularly green, I do like to add in my two cents where pennies tend to collect.
My non-greenism is something some people would gasp about. I don’t always recycle, especially if it’s more work than I’d like to put out. I started using fabric grocery bags to carry around food and every day items not as a means to conserve, but because they could be worn over my shoulder, thus leaving my hands free to pick up Zoë. I smoke, which means that the filters go somewhere; I’m more wont to use disposable things than reusables, such as with diapers before Zoë was potty trained; and sustainability to me is a foreign concept, one I’m vaguely, but not entirely, interested in .
But I started thinking about what I could write, what action I’d like to partake in, and I came up with the question of whether eating a diet made up nearly entirely of fruits and vegetables, locally-grown and organic, when possible (meaning available and affordable) would be a stepping-stone into environmental responsibility.
Have you heard about why meat is so expensive, or read any of the recently-made-trendy literature on food philosophy/economics? In Defense of Food was a pivotal book for me. As have been articles featured in the New York Times and posts on Wise Bread like this one and this one.
Basically, it comes down to the fact that one person eating a meat-free diet can mean saving a shit-load of money, globally. In a nutshell, “raw food dieters tend to experience weight loss, increased energy, improved skin quality, better digestive function, reduced risk of heart disease, fewer colds and flus, improved sleep patterns, heightened brain function, and a happier more positive attitude” [link].
…while helping to have a positive impact on society and the environment via diminished meat requirements, greater local and organic produce consumption, and the likelihood of lowered social-program impact due to a lack of persistent medical issues (socialist medical services for the win).
So, today, I went raw. Because, it’s only one little thing, for two weeks (or more, we’ll see how it goes), that can actually mean something.
