I like a company like that, and Oprah does, too. She recommends their ecologically sound Get Clean Kit of household cleaners,[15] which she has featured five times on her show. Shaklee products have also been featured in Time Magazine,[16] Woman’s Day,[17] O at Home, [18] Better Homes and Gardens, [19] Family Circle,[20] Natural Health,[21] and others.

I figured that Oprah and all those magazines couldn’t be wrong, so I got myself a Get Clean Kit to try for about $150.[22] The Shaklee Corporation says this kit takes the place of over $3,400[23] worth of the ready-to-use, supermarket variety cleaners we are all familiar with! That’s not a typo. Three thousand, four hundred dollars. Wow! This is partly due to the fact that, when buying ready-to-use, supermarket cleaners, consumers are paying for the high content of water in the product to be both packaged and shipped.

Replacing the standard household fare with the Get Clean Kit of highly concentrated products keeps 108 pounds of packaging waste from entering the landfill, and it also eliminates 248 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions. What a win-win solution: easy on the pocketbook, effective products (lots of national brands are out-cleaned by Get Clean Products),[24] and what a gift for the planet. And the products actually work: I was even successful with using the Basic H2 product to remove an old bloodstain from fabric!

Broccoli Forest by Carl Warner www.carlwarner.com (Image is made from food.)[25]

Choose a Culinary Strategy that Supports Personal and Planetary Health

Gail Davis Rhamy, author of So Now What Do I Eat? The Complete Guide to Vegetarian Convenience Foods and Vegetarian Food for Thought, and the gastronomic mastermind behind Vegan Culinary Creations,[26] teaches both restaurants and individuals how to "green their cuisine."

Gail notes that a 2006 report, released by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), concluded that animal farming presents a major threat to the environment, with such deep and wide-ranging impacts that it should rank as a leading focus for environmental policy. The report calls the livestock sector a major player in affecting climate change through greenhouse-gas production, and found that the industry generates an estimated 18 percent of total human-induced, greenhouse-gas emissions, globally.

Photo courtesy PDPhoto.org

If you currently eat meat, Gail points out that by giving up just one hamburger, you will save: 55 square feet of rainforest, 12 pounds of grain, and 2,500 gallons of water. In terms of the amount of CO2 released, producing just one pound of hamburger creates more than 165 pounds of CO2—that is more than what is produced by driving your car for three weeks! 

A recent report in Restaurant Business underscores the fact that more and more people are seeking to eat in a way that responds to their concerns for issues of global warming, deforestation, air and water pollution, and the overall impact their food choices have on the planet. 

"Clearly," says Gail, "giving up meat is the single greatest step anyone can take to reduce their own carbon footprint. And it inspires me to know that people are cutting back on their meat consumption as they learn more about the relationships between what they eat, their health, and the well-being of the planet."

Tuscan Kitchen by Carl Warner www.carlwarner.com (Image is made from food.)[27]

Gail emphasizes that the choice to eat more plant-based foods is not about deprivation. "Nothing could be further from the truth!" She explains, "Green cuisine is a celebration of color, taste, and texture. And knowing you are eating in harmony with Mother Earth makes the food taste better, too!"

So, whether you are already a full-time vegetarian or you are just beginning to explore green cuisine, you'll enjoy Gail's delicious recipes for Sassy Baked Barbecue Tempeh and Enticing Enchiladas, at the end of this article. What a great way to celebrate Earth Day, any day of the year!

Members of Girl Scout Troop 2286 with their Project Linus Quilts

 1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6  |  7  |  8