Earth 2017 – and your resolutions

As more people are turning to a greener lifestyle, many are making new year’s resolutions to become more earth-friendly for 2017 and beyond.

And there are plenty of ways to make green part of your lifestyle – without a lot of effort.

Here are a few suggestions:

• When it comes to seafood, look for sustainable.
  The U.S. loves its seafood, and is one of the top consumers of seafood in the world, especially when it comes to canned tuna fish.  That means, where we buy our seafood (supermarkets) makes a huge difference to the livelihood of those who work in this industry and the health of our oceans. Today, 15 of the top 20 North American retailers have made commitments to buy and sell sustainable seafood.  The Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions is working hard to make sure these stores keep their commitment. And CeDePesca focuses on working with fisheries and fisherman. But you have a role to play too, by making the choice to only purchase ocean-friendly seafood.
• Join a CSA or plant a co-operative organic vegetable garden.
  Make this the year that you decide to eat the freshest, healthiest, most local produce you can. You can either join a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program and get your produce from a local farmer, including The Food Commons model, or you can go a step further and grow your own! Planting a vegetable garden will fill your kitchen with yummy produce and cut down on the carbon emissions from transporting the vegetables you normally buy. Check out The Farmscape Foundation for more ideas.
• Choose environmentally responsible restaurants.
  Approximately 30 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions comes from food systems. Yet by choosing places to eat where they are committed to the environment, can help reduce our carbon footprint. ZeroFoodprint is helping lead the charge.

T4CI provides support to these organizations and many more. Check out all our projects at http://t4ci.org/sponsored.