7 Ways to Eat Green and Keep the Earth in Mind ...

This is one of the easiest ways to eat green - bring your own lunch. By bringing your own lunch, you control what goes in it, allowing you to choose healthy items packed in reusable containers. Dining out is not only more expensive but it also increases the amount of trash that ends up in landfills. Select plant based foods and you will be doing mother nature an even bigger favor!

While I absolutely love the convenience of appliances like the Keurig, the whole concept is pretty wasteful (not to mention expensive) when we're talking about ways to green our eating and drinking! It might take a few minutes longer, but brewing your own coffee and tea is far more economical and green than single cup servings. Use a glass mug rather than styrophome or paper cups and you will keep even more waste out of the landfills.

The amount of plastic water bottles that are thrown away everyday is mind-boggling! Not only is it wasteful, but it's also less healthy (since water bottles are laced with BPA!) - and it's an expensive habit too. While it might be hard to remember your reusable water bottle everyday, over time you won't be caught without it! Often, water fountains and tap water are much cleaner than bottled water as well!

Purchasing food in bulk is much greener and more economical than buying single serving foods. Bulk foods cost far less than their packaged alternatives. Purchasing bulk foods saves on transportation costs (I'm all for fewer grocery trips!) and packaging and supply costs, and single servings are a huge burden on our landfills. There are several online sites to buy foods in bulk, but if you like doing your shopping at a store, places like Costco and Sam's offer great deals on many items sold in bulk!

The amount of plastic bags that my family runs through is unreal - until I realized how many we were going through, that is! I used to pack individual homemade protein bars each in a different zip lock bag that would be thrown away everyday. Now, I just place it in a small BPA free container instead, which has really cut our plastic bag use down. Start by reducing the amount of bags that you use, and when you have to use one, simply reuse it after the first use.

This is one of the most obvious but the most overlooked ways to eat and live green, especially if you live in my neck of the woods. Recycling helps reduce the amount of trash sent to the landfills, leaving more room for beautiful trees and grass. Start by placing a few separate recycling containers right beside your trash can. Use them for things like aluminum cans and plastic bottles. This way, recycling will be easy for your entire family!

Growing your own food has far more advantages than only the increased health benefits. As the cost of food continues to rise, more and more people are creating small gardens right in their backyards or even on their porches! By planting your own garden, you will be reducing the amounts of pesticides that your family ingests, as well as decreasing the amount of air and water pollution that is put off by factory farming. Not only that, but the travel time from farm to table will be significantly reduced too!

Eating with the Earth in mind is one of the most responsible things that we can do while we are on this Earth. Since this Earth is not ours to ruin, it's important that we always keep these ways to eat green in mind in order to reduce our ecological footprint and leave the Earth as beautiful as possible. Do you eat with the Earth in mind?