Benefits of buying local, there are many!

I've been talking about this topic lately with friends and family, but really haven't seen an article yet until now. I noticed this article today about Whole Foods and how they promote local products; not just for supporting the local community, but for many reasons, including:

• Fewer or no chemicals to preserve the food


• Less packaging and package waste


• Lower shipping costs, which uses less fuel


• Promotes/supports the local community


• Personalized service (it's great to know your local seller)

Here is a small snip from the full article:

Chains have long sought local suppliers to keep distribution costs down. But the influence of top chefs, farmers markets, Michael Pollan's book "The Omnivore's Dilemma," and concerns about the environmental effects of shipping food long distances have raised shoppers' interest in buying local. The U.S. Department of Agriculture listed 4,385 farmers markets nationwide in 2006, up 18 percent from 3,706 in 2004.

Small local growers often cannot offer lower prices than large-scale operations that benefit from economies of scale and cheaper labor. But fuel costs for shipping food are less for shorter trips, which in turn often require less packaging to preserve food. Buying local also shortens the time it takes produce to get to market, preserving nutrients and freshness, the Center for Food & Justice said in a December report.

We buy weekly from a great company called Pioneer Organics. The prices are very competitive and they strive to buy from only local sellers and the food is very fresh. We've needed to adjust our deliveries lately, because they normally deliver so much food each week, it's difficult to eat all of it. We enjoy getting their delivery where they pick the products, so you get the best in-season foods. We like everything so it's great to get the variety.

It's nice to buy products from Whole Foods and Pioneer Organics, not only for the good local produce, but we know who we're buying from so we can ask questions, offer suggestions to improve service, and the personal attention is awesome!

I highly recommend everyone research and try-out a local seller or store that offers local products. You'll be amazed how much you'll enjoy the local products, supporting the community, and getting to know your local businesses.

By the way... if you wanted to know how to find locally grown produce ANYWHERE, check out Local Harvest. They have a great map to narrow down the search criteria and have many categories if you are looking for something specific.

Conserve water AND recycle sticky containers

Why waste water hand-washing glass or aluminum items with sticy residue? A typical container can be quickly rinsed and thrown in your recycle bin, but then there are the peanut butter jars... or honey jars... You-name-the-sticky-substance and it takes you 10 minutes to wash and scrub it out (or soak it) just so you can recycle it. Not to mention the time it takes for the water to warm up since cold water does NOTHING! LOL

Toss it in the dishwasher! You were planning to run it anyway (I run mine every evening - I'm a very pitiful FlyBaby), so if you have room, let your energy-star, efficient dishwasher do all the work. Once it's done, toss it in the recycle bin or find a clever use for it. :)

We use glass containers to hold crayons, markers and kids silverware. They're also great for SMALL amounts of bulk products like bulk raisins, dried pineapples, lentils, Sundrops (healthier alternative to M&M's), strips of nori, etc.

Natural Home Magazine

I subscribe to a wonderful "green" magazine called Natural Home.

It's filled with fantastic info on making your life green. I just can't recommend it enough. Unfortunately the issue only comes out every TWO months, but it's so worth it. Surprisingly, one of my favorite things is the ADS! It's fun looking at all of the natural products available even though I can't afford half of them.

My most recent issue just came the other day and I read it from cover to cover within hours! I was so upset when I read the opinions section because some reader wrote in complaining about the last issue. It featured a green remodel for a larger home - obviously the people had money. I thought it was a wonderful article. Regardless, the woman went on about the home being too big (let's spread misery evenly, right?) and how their efforts weren't good enough because they tore the old house down and built new using green products. Rather than paraphrasing, I'll just put her comments here:

The Not-So-Small Home

Why do you insist on showcasing homes that are too big? In the September/October 2006 issue, the home in "Standing Tall" was described as "not-so-big" at 2,700 square feet. "A Sociable Home" is called "cozy" at 2,700 square-feet. Both households consisted of a couple and one child, and both dwellings were twice the size of most houses built in the 1950's.

"Standing Tall" was brought down to its foundation - so, to build green, they threw away most of the resources used to build the original home? It's hardly "building green" when you destroy an existing home so you can use green products to rebuild another.

Please showcase families who are building small and green, such as the "Natural Home Kitchen of the Year" (Septerber/October 2006).

The environmental movement would make a bigger impact if it approached building with a completely different mindset rather than just swapping out regular building materials with green ones.

-Leslie in Idaho

Ugh, this drove me up the wall. Another opinion even went on to say people should live in homes with 500 sq ft per person and limit offspring to two. Way to push an agenda. *eye roll* So I emailed the magazine a response and they're going to put my comments in their July/August issue!!! Yay! So here is the response I sent them:

RE: The Not-So-Small House
I'm writing in response to an "opinion" I saw in this month's issue from Leslie in Idaho (page 12).

A 2,700 square foot house isn't THAT huge. It's all based on perspective and we need to keep that in mind. My house is close to that size, but I'm surrounded by neighborhoods with 4000 sq ft homes. 4000 sq ft seems excessive in my opinion, but to each his own. :) Not everyone WANTS to live in a small space. Many people don't have a choice, but those who do, have the right to live in whatever size house they choose. Whether they NEED that much space is irrelevant and none of anyone else's business.

What they do IN that space is what really counts.

I'm proud of your magazine for showcasing this home's green efforts. I think people can be environmentally friendly at any level. I love the fact that your magazine highlights green efforts from all walks of life.

*grin*