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Lean, Clean & Green: A Chick’s Guide to Reducing Her Carbon “Cookprint”

posted by ChickSpeak
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 8:27pm CDT

Environmentalists have been warning us for years about the damaging effects our lifestyles have on the planet. They spoke and we listened. We followed their recommendations and changed the way in which we shopped, consumed, drove and worked.

We replaced plastic bags with chic canvas ones, bought more fuel efficient cars, embraced environmentally friendly cosmetic companies, learned to love organic fruits and vegetables, and took all the steps necessary to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

The one thing we failed to do despite our combined shopping trips to buy cage-free eggs and biodegradable trash bags in our Hybrid vehicles was to consider the impact cooking has on the world around us.

What It Means to Cook Green

In her book, Cooking Green, author Kate Heyhoe coined the term “Cookprint” as a way of measuring the average person’s carbon footprint in the kitchen. Noting how much energy is wasted growing, preparing, and shipping our food (14,160 pounds of carbon dioxide per household); the founding editor of the New Green Basics gives pointers to eco chicks by teaching them how to cook in the newest and healthiest way possible.

With chapters covering how to green your kitchen zone, increase your oven’s mileage, choose cookware that is fuel efficient, reduce food wastes, and select the right types of things to prepare, Cooking Green is a must have in every girl’s kitchen. Complementing other environmentally friendly practices, reducing your “cookprint” is a great way to showcase your energy saving side and save the planet from the deadly gases that threaten our existence.

Wanted: Quick and Immediate Earth Saving Measures

According to an article written by Charlie Schmidt titled Happy 120th? Science Pushes Longevity for National Geographic News, most developed countries see its citizens live to the ripe old age of 75, which is far greater than any predictions of the past. Scientists have now proven that following a strict diet and exercise regime can help people survive to be 120 and beyond.

Modern medicine has significantly lengthened the life expectancies of our grandparents and great grandparents. Simply put, an active and healthy lifestyle can significantly increase the number of years that you spend on this earth. It does not, however, consider the environmental toll that the planet faces supporting a large population of Centenarians whose idea of green living is spending their days in their gardens or flower beds. Unless immediate action is taken today to combat the production of Green House Gas Emissions, the long future that we were once promised is merely a myth.

Simple Things You Can Do Immediately to Reduce Your “Cookprint”

Heyhoe covers a lot of ground in her phenomenal guide but most importantly, she offers a lot of practical advice where cooking is concerned. Highlighting the strategies that have best worked for her, the James Beard Award Finalist employs these practices in the kitchen:

1. Replace inefficient appliances with Energy Star models and maintain them properly.

2. A slow cooker uses less energy than a stove top. Toss a meal into Old Faithful, set the temperature for low, and go about your day just as you would any other. When you return home from school or work, your dinner will be cooked to perfection.

3. Choose produce that is local and in season rather than purchase items that cross continents, oceans, and highways to get to you.

4. Refrain from pre-heating your oven for casseroles. Stick them directly in the oven without a moment’s thought.

5. Reduce your meat consumption by opting to eat one vegetarian meal a week. This action is equal to “driving 1,160 miles less per year”.

6. Select a brand that uses less packaging and when in doubt, select glass over cans or plastic.

7. Visit restaurants that support green practices and that have seasonal food items on their menus.

A Lifelong Commitment to Being Green

ChickSpeak knows change takes time. Environmental conditions will not improve overnight. By diligently supporting practices that reduce our Carbon Footprints, we not only increase the chance we have of living a long life, we also give our future children the opportunity to do so themselves.

Charissa Arsaoui is a freelance writer with a love for arts and crafts and thrift-related topics. Bitten by the writing bug the moment her first story was published in the Gumball Gazette when she was six years old, the self-proclaimed “Closet Coupon Clipper” has written hundreds of articles about personal finance, relationships, career advice and party planning. Most currently, you can find her work at Buzzine, an Arts and Entertainment Magazine in L.A., ChickSpeak and DisFunkshion Magazine as a contributing writer.