The study used Buy.com’s distribution model of shipping goods directly to a consumer from their manufacturer partners, skipping the ‘middle man’ shipping through a distribution center and then to either the consumer or to a store. This model was found to reduce environmental impact by 35% over driving to a retail store and reduced the total number of steps needed to get the product to a consumer.

“Consumers are looking for ways to live a more environmentally conscious lifestyle, whether that be recycling at home, reducing paper and packaging consumption or purchasing products that have less impact on our natural resources,” said Neel Grover, CEO and president of Buy.com. “This study solidifies that online shopping is another avenue they can embrace to help lower their carbon footprint and energy consumption.”

You can learn more about the Buy.com model at their website.

…more than switching to a hybrid car

…more than switching to mercury free lightbulbs

…more than recycling

Here are the facts. Raising food for human consumption creates 18% of greenhouse gas emissions, more than 130 times the total of human generated greenhouse gas emissions. The amount of pollution created just to grow and deliver animal food to our tables is extraordinarily high.

And water used to raise animals for human food is equally high. Here are some of the worst offenders:

• 4500 liters of water for one steak.
• 1000 liters of water for one liter of milk.
• 1170 liters of water for one chicken breast.
• 1440 liters of water for one serving of pork.
• 840 liters of water for one pot of coffee.
• 2500 liters of water for one piece of cheese.

Compare that to 70 liters of water used to deliver one apple.

And production of animal foods, especially meat, has been growing… and is projected to double over the next 40 years.

Reducing the percentage of animal foods in your diet is one of the most effective ways to help our environment. It’s also one of the best things you can do for your health at the same time. Two benefits in one!

Eating a diet of mainly raw fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds and living grains is also:

• waste free
• better than driving a hybrid
• healthy
• sustainable
• eco friendly

I was amazed at the amount of garbage I reduced when shifting my diet. By not buying packaged and prepared foods, I went from 2 garbage bags a week, to one garbage bag every 2 weeks. And most of that is from fruit and vegetable scraps. My next project is to turn those scraps into compost and reduce my waste even further.

Imagine if just 1 in 100 people did this. Imagine the millions of pounds of garbage we’d save alone each week, not counting the reduction of greenhouse gases, fuel and other energy used by eating predominantly animal based foods.

Something to consider.

Keep it green!

Related resources:

• Healthy Living Talk
• Vegan Raw Diet
• The Raw Food Diet
• Free Weight Loss Tips

Our health, resources and the well being of future generations will depend on what we do every day, not just one day out of the year. It’s wonderful to see the growing number of events, actions and products that are environmentally aware… and it’s a great start.

For example, here are a few things we can do every day that will make an impact on our environment today and into the future:

• Consider buying items that are used often in bulk. This saves you buying additional packaging from small containers/packages as well as transportation costs from less shopping trips.
• Consider buying fewer packaged items, especially foods. Packaged foods are also processed, enriched, modified, often filled with artificial ingredients and far less healthy than whole foods. Fresh, ripe and organically grown fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and natural grains are considered the healthiest foods.
• Consider car pooling with co-workers.
• Consider telecommuting, working from home. If you can’t arrange that full time, try a few days a week. With the internet and advanced telecommunication today, most any type of work can be done remotely.
• Consider starting a home business.
• Consider switching to an online fax service and recycle your traditional fax machine. You can save a considerable amount of paper and electricity while sending and receiving your faxes by email or directly from any application on your computer. Much easier to organize as well.
• Get reusable shopping bags in place of paper or plastic when grocery shopping. Cities like San Francisco have already banned plastic bags and many stores including Walgreen’s, Fry’s, Whole Foods, and Safeway, among others already offer reusable bags, as well as being available online.
• Let off the gas pedal. It’s surprising how much fuel you can save by driving at a moderate speed rather than speeding away from a light and speeding ahead of others on the highway. Studies have shown that you get better gas mileage at around 60 than 70 miles an hour and by speeding up moderately. Often it’s amusing to watch drivers speed around me in frustration on surface streets just to meet them again at the next light knowing how much I save every much. I’ve literally added 5-6 extra miles per gallon by following several efficient strategies including these. Depending on your regular mileage, that can save you 1-2 gallons on every fill up… a big savings at today’s fuel prices.
• Recycle paper, metal and plastics with your local trash service program. If you have plastic bags from the grocery store, recycle them at your local Whole Foods, one of the only locations that recycle them (surprisingly).
• If you do business online (or plan to) use a web hosting service that is eco-friendly. There are hosting companies that are powered exclusively by wind and solar energy and socially progressive in their business operations to conserve energy.

Keep it green every day!