Author Archives: Linnea Harris

Precise Fermentation: Real Dairy, Without the Cows

Posted on by October 19, 2022

Imagine drinking a frothy, creamy milkshake — or maybe a cheesy, melty slice of pizza with a perfect cheese pull. Perhaps you start your day with a foamy cappuccino, or a bowl of your favorite yogurt topped with berries. Now, imagine enjoying your favorite dairy-filled treats, but ones that weren’t produced with cow-made milk. 

600 million tons of milk are produced annually by 270 million cows, which require huge amounts of water, food, and land to raise, all the while releasing methane — a climate-warming gas — into the atmosphere. While plant-based milk, cheese, and other dairy products have become more plentiful and offer an alternative to traditional dairy, they often don’t replicate the original taste and texture, as the cheese might not be as melty, or the milk as frothy. 

That’s where precise fermentation comes in. Companies — including many food technology startups — have begun making products identical in taste, texture, and nutrients to traditional dairy from cows, but without any animals, possibly altering the future of the entire dairy industry.

How Does Precise Fermentation Work? 

Historically, precise fermentation has been used to make insulin and vitamins, but it is now being used to produce dairy products, too.

In the 1990s, precise fermentation started being employed to make cheese. Microorganisms were used to produce the enzyme chymosin, a key component of rennet, which is essential for making cheese, and was previously obtained by slaughtering young calves and harvesting the protein from their stomach lining. Now, about 80% of rennet is harvested from microorganisms instead, so if you eat cheese, it’s likely that you’ve already consumed precise-fermentation-produced proteins! 

Basically, precise fermentation uses microbes to produce milk proteins — casein and whey, primarily — without the cows. Think of how beer is produced: during the fermentation process, yeast (a microorganism) consumes plant sugars, and then secretes alcohol. Precise fermentation works similarly. Dairy protein DNA sequences are encoded onto the microorganisms (like yeast or fungi) and then fermented, producing those milk proteins like whey and casein within about two weeks.

These resulting proteins from the fermentation process are identical to the ones found in cow’s milk, and are used as the base for dairy products. This means they have the same taste, texture, and nutritional content as cow-made dairy and can be melted, whipped, and frothed: all that we expect of milk products, because functionally, it’s the same.

What Are the Benefits of Precise Fermentation?

It’s Better for the Climate 

Cattle need huge amounts of food, water, land, and often antibiotics and hormones to produce milk, which takes a huge toll on the environment. 

A third of the country’s agricultural land is taken up by corn and soy, only 10% of which is consumed by humans; the vast majority is needed to feed animals raised for human consumption. Deforestation, degradation of the land, and loss of biodiversity all result from this land use. While dairy-free alternative milk products can be made from peas, rice, oats, almonds, cashews, soybeans, and even potatoes, growing these products still contributes to deforestation. According to Grist, soybeans — one of the highest sources of plant protein — require 1,700 times more land than precise fermentation to reach the same nutrient yields.

Overall, livestock are also responsible for 14.5% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Cows alone produce 2220 pounds of methane per year, which is emitted into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas 30x more potent than carbon dioxide. 

Precise fermentation eliminates the huge use of resources required for producing conventional dairy. Perfect Day — a dairy company using precise-fermentation techniques — found that their product represents a 99% reduction in water consumption, 97% in carbon emissions, and 60% in energy usage. 

Its Input-to-Output Ratio Is More Efficient

Besides the reduced need for natural resources, in terms of calories produced vs. calories consumed, precise fermentation is much more efficient. Of all the feed consumed by U.S. livestock, less than 10% of feed calories or protein translate to calories consumed as meat, milk, or eggs by humans. This represents a huge loss of available calories and nutrients throughout the process of raising livestock, which is avoided through precise fermentation. 

It Involves No Animal Exploitation

Animal abuse is well-documented in the factory farming and dairy industries. Milk cows are usually kept indoors and are often tethered, with little or no room to move around for their entire lives. They are artificially inseminated to keep up their milk production, and are forcibly separated from their calves after giving birth. Milk produced through precise fermentation, on the other hand, doesn’t require any animals at all to produce dairy products. 

It’s More Nutritious

Dairy products made through precise fermentation often have more nutrients than conventional products. Betterland Milk says that their formula requires only one-third of the sugar of whole milk, and has no animal fats that are high in cholesterol. It is also shelf-stable for up to a year, so no refrigeration is required, further cutting down on energy usage. 

What Companies Are Using Precise Fermentation?

The precise fermentation industry is growing fast. According to the Vegan Review, investment more than doubled in the span of just a year: $274 million was invested in precise fermentation technology in 2019 and $587 million in 2020. 

Perfect Day

Perfect Day — the first lab-grown dairy company — was an early producer of dairy made through precise fermentation. In the late 2000s, scientists sequenced the genome of cows, then two bioengineers (who would later go on to found the company) copied the genetic code into the DNA of yeast. This programmed the microbes to brew dairy, rather than alcohol. The company produced a very successful line of ice cream, and now makes the world’s first animal-free whey protein powder.

An array of precise fermentation dairy products. Perfect Day

Change Foods

This alternative cheese company in the Bay Area uses traditional cheese-making methods to produce products that stretch, melt, and taste just like cheese made from cows. Change Foods products, however, use 100x less water, 10x less land, and 5x less energy than traditional, animal-based cheeses. 

Formo

Formo is a Berlin-based company, and they want to bring the future of food to life through “science, cheese, and conversation.” Cheese is their main product, and the proteins they use are entirely lactose-, hormone-, GMO-, and antibiotic-free. Last year, the company earned $50 million in a financing round, setting a record for European foodtech. “We have identified cheese as the most substantial consumer pain point when it comes to replacing animal products in our diet,” Formo’s co-founder Dr. Britta Winterberg told The Vegan Review. “Our products are not like cheese, they are cheese. They provide the same functionality, taste, nutrition, and texture as animal-based cheeses, but use substantially fewer resources, creating fewer emissions and being 100% animal-free.”

Remilk

Remilk is planning for the world’s largest precision fermentation plant to be built in Kalundborg, Denmark. The facility — which will be 750,000 feet — will create the equivalent volume of dairy proteins as 50,000 cows produce per year, according to Grist.

How Might These Dairy Products Change Our Food Systems? 

Non-dairy products are often rather pricey, and are usually more expensive than their dairy counterparts, making a plant-based diet inaccessible to some consumers. But, dairy products made through precise fermentation might soon become more economically advantageous than traditional dairy. RethinkX, a food think tank, estimates that precision fermentation products will cost at least 50% and as much as 80% less than the animal products they are replacing.

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A Guide for the Eco-Friendly Beer Drinker

Posted on by October 1, 2022

How do you pick the greenest beer off the shelf? 

Unlike wine –  which has a lot more regulations and certifications that make purchasing a sustainable bottle more straightforward – beer doesn’t have universal unique certifications or labels to indicate their sustainability efforts. Some smaller initiatives are taking place – Iowa launched the Iowa Green Brewery Certification in 2017, for one – but choosing an eco-friendly beer usually requires more attention to the practices of individual breweries. 

To maintain your sustainability streak, you don’t need to give up beer (it is the most popular alcohol in the US, after all). Plenty of large and small breweries alike are addressing sustainability in their practices and there are plenty of ways to cut down on your beer-related impact at home. 

Purchase From Breweries With Sustainable Practices

Photovoltaic system and trucks at Rothaus AG on September 19, 2022 in Grafenhausen, Germany. The Badische Staatsbrauerei Rothaus AG wants to become climate-positive by 2030 and is installing a large-scale photovoltaic system on its roofs as part of this. Philipp von Ditfurth / Getty Images

Beer-brewing is an involved process. It requires a lot of grain, energy, and water, and leaves a lot of waste in its wake. It requires malting the grain (usually barley) by steeping, germinating, and drying it, then mashing it to create the wort (basically unfermented beer) before boiling, fermenting, and bottling. All over the world, breweries are addressing the environmental impact of each of these production stages: a great reason to buy their brews over others! 

A study conducted by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality found that the beer drunk in the state each year was equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions of ​​42,817 passenger vehicles. To combat this high energy usage and related emissions, beer giant Budweiser announced in 2018 that all US brewing would run on renewable energy. New Belgium – a leader in sustainability in the brewery scene – already powers using solar and wind, captures and reuses heat produced during brewing, and plans to be completely carbon neutral by 2030. Their famous Fat Tire ale is also America’s first certified carbon neutral beer (and it’s very affordable). Some breweries are also utilizing innovative CO2 reclamation technology – like the Alaskan Brewing Company – which captures and reuses the carbon dioxide released during the fermentation process. 

CO2 isn’t the only byproduct of brewing. Thirty-nine million tons of spent grain are produced worldwide by breweries every year. While often treated as waste, this byproduct still has a high nutritional value. Instead, some breweries are sending their spent grain to farms, where they’re used as animal feed. 

For brewers, water is also an important resource (after all, beer is 95% water). Depending on the efficiency of the process, as much as 10 gallons of water might be used to produce only one gallon of beer. Among the breweries addressing their water usage, Bear Republic – one of the most water-efficient breweries in the country – has achieved a 3.5:1 ratio of water to brewed beer. To combat water scarcity, Argentina’s Antares brews their Átlantica beer using saltwater, and others are even using treated wastewater. The Village Brewery in Calgary is employing innovative technologies to remove all impurities and recycle water, and Stockholm’s New Carnegie Brewery saw great success with their PU:REST pilsner made from recycled sewage water. 

Other producers are addressing sustainability from the ground up, starting with the grains themselves. The Oregon DEQ also found that the growing and processing of raw materials for beer contributed 22% to its carbon footprint. Breweries following organic practices bypass the use of fertilizers and pesticides for their grains, which pollute nearby ecosystems and are toxic to vital species. Dogfish Head sources grain from regenerative farming operations, and partnered with Patagonia Provisions this year to create a pilsner made with the perennial grain (meaning it can be harvested year after year) Kernza, which protects soil and works as a carbon sink.

Apart from these large-scale producers, smaller breweries near you might also be adhering to sustainable practices. The Great Lakes Brewing Company in Cleveland, Ohio, for one, founded the nonprofit Burning River Foundation – named after the famous Cuyahoga River Fire in 1969 – which works to protect freshwater resources. Many breweries also donate portions of their proceeds to environmental nonprofits, like Blue Point Brewing Company, who has partnerships with different environmental organizations in the NYC region and uses their proceeds to support clean water initiatives and oyster reef protection. Finding sustainable breweries near you just requires some research. Some regions might make it easier by identifying sustainable businesses for you; Denver has the Certifiably Green Denver sticker, placed on businesses that earned the environmental certification, including breweries.

Enjoy Local Beer

The recent boom in craft breweries has made buying quality local beer a feasible option all over the country. According to the Brewers Association, more than 9,000 breweries operated in the United States in 2021 – a 6% increase from 2020. With craft breweries in every state, you’re bound to find something closer to home than big-name brands. 

When choosing your brew, think about the “food miles” of beer –  that is, the distance the product must travel to reach the bar or your home, encompassing every stage from growing, to brewing, to distributing. When possible, aim for hyper-local beer brewed within 100 miles. 

Choose Draft Beer

Kyle Monk / Tetra Images / Getty Images

When you’re out at your local beer garden or brewery, enjoy your drink in a glass rather than a can. Skip the waste (since we know that most recycles never end up getting recycled) by asking what beers are on draft. This isn’t possible everywhere, unfortunately; in Utah, for example, beers with over 5% ABV (alcohol by volume) cannot be sold on tap and must be packaged.

Opt for Kegs or Growlers 

For parties with a long guest list, ditch the packaging entirely and try a keg instead. Getting a keg no longer limits you to mainstream beer! Some stores and breweries now offer kegs for all kinds of unique and craft beers. Choose a keg based on the size of your gathering: a half-barrel of 15 gallons, or a six-barrel of 5 gallons. 

If your choice brewery doesn’t offer kegs, they might offer refillable growlers: large glass jars that can be filled over and over again. Find out what breweries in your area offer this option; some states or regions might have online resources to find locations, like the Colorado Brewery List, which has a map of growler-friendly breweries.

Sustainable Packaging 

Pick your brews based on packaging too. Aluminum cans are preferable to glass, which takes more energy to produce (unless it’s recycled glass). Choose loose cans if possible – like the build-your-own packs available in many stores – or cardboard boxes to avoid those little plastic rings. The Alchemist, a brewery in Stowe, Vermont, has ditched plastic six-pack rings for a compostable, biodegradable alternative made by E6PR, which more than 500 breweries around the world are using. 

If you can’t avoid plastic rings, check out the Ring Carrier Recycling Program. It’s a lot like Terracycle, and you can ship them the plastic rings to be properly recycled. This is a good option for the cleanup after large parties, or even bars that receive beer in plastic packaging, since they cannot be recycled by most municipal systems. 

Check whether those larger, thick plastic rings you might find on multi-packs can be recycled in your area, or whether the retailer accepts them back to be reused.

Recycle Cans and Boxes

 Dominic Lipinski / PA Images / Getty Images

As always, put recycling where it belongs. All cans, glasses, and cardboard boxes should go into their appropriate bin. Check local recycling rules to determine what can be recycled, although these materials are pretty universally accepted. Bring home cans and boxes from outdoor parties to recycle instead of just leaving them by the trash bins. Plan ahead and bring bags to carry the empties so you’re not balancing an armload of cans on your way home. 

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How to Bring Your Dog on a Hike

Posted on by September 28, 2022

There’s no better hiking companion than your favorite furry sidekick! Taking your dog into nature for a hike is not only a great bonding experience, but also keeps them physically active and provides important mental stimulation. Just like us, it’s important for our canine pals to get outdoors!

However, hiking with a dog does require some planning and adherence to trail rules. Here’s how to get outside safely with your pup. 

Research Regulations and Conditions

Before you head out, make sure your dog is allowed to join you on the trail. Trail regulations vary, and while many state and local parks are dog-friendly, some conservation lands or areas engaging in environmental preservation prohibit pets. Some National Parks, like Rocky Mountain National Park, for example, don’t allow dogs on any trails within park bounds. If you’re planning a trip to a National Park, check the National Parks Service’s pet map to find which parks allow pets. Keep in mind that some parks allow dogs in campgrounds or parking areas, but not on trails — so, while there is not an all-out ban on dogs, they might not be allowed to accompany you on a hike. Where they are permitted, it’s almost certain that they’ll be required to wear a leash.

It’s also a good idea to check out the conditions on the trail beforehand. Read up on the terrain and make sure it’s suitable for your dog’s abilities, as well as your own. If there are lots of man-made ladders or narrow ridges, it might not be ideal for pets. Apps like AllTrails allow users to share the terrain and current conditions of the trail, like slippery rocks and mud from recent rain or wildlife sightings. If the trail is run by an organization, their website might also list conditions and hazards. 

Leash Up

Virtually all National Parks and many other natural areas require that dogs be leashed in order to prevent damage to surrounding ecosystems, interaction with wildlife, or harm to your dog, especially if there are cliffs or dangerous sections of the trail. Not all trails specify that dogs must be leashed, but keeping them close helps ensure that they don’t get lost, ingest something poisonous, or interact with other hikers. Remember, your dog might be friendly, but not all other dogs are. An unleashed dog approaching another on the trail could be dangerous to all pets involved. 

Short leashes are the best bet in natural areas. A leash longer than six feet might get stuck in branches along the edge of the trail, or allow the dog to stray into protected areas. Make sure their collar also has a tag with their name and a contact number in case they get lost. 

Practice Trail Etiquette

Not all others on the trail — especially young children — are comfortable around dogs, so make sure to pull over and let others hike by. In general, it’s good trail etiquette to move aside for bikers, horses, and hikers climbing up while you’re climbing down. 

Make sure you’re able to keep your dog calm if other people, dogs, or horses come by. They should be able to stay close and follow commands. If they tend to get overly excited or aggressive, then well-trafficked trails might not be a good idea. Additionally, let oncoming hikers know that your dog is friendly and will not harm them. 

Keep at least a 1:1 ratio of pets to people — so, if only two of you are hiking, don’t bring more than two dogs. That way you can keep your pup safe and prevent interaction with others on the trial. 

Assess Their Physical Needs

Make sure your dog is physically ready for a hike before heading out. Remember, even if they do well on walks, hiking is much more strenuous and will be more challenging for them. Bones in younger dogs might not even be fully developed for the first year or so. Consult with a veterinarian about their physical preparedness, as well as their vaccine schedule. Assess where they are in building immunity to illness, and whether they’re ready for an adventure into the wild. 

As their caretaker, you know their physical fitness best! Honestly assess their abilities beforehand: Are they able-bodied and fit? Do they do well on long walks with strenuous activity? Brachycephalic breeds like boxers, Boston terriers, and pugs sometimes have difficulty with heat and have lower endurance, but all dogs have unique needs and capabilities. 

If they aren’t prepared to hit the trails just yet, start a trail-training regime. Begin with shorter hikes (under an hour), and if your dog still has energy and enjoyed the hike, make the next one a little longer with some more elevation gain. Nature walks in nearby local parks are a great way to get started. This will help toughen up their paws gradually too before getting on rockier trails. It’s also a good idea to incorporate some longer walks and active playtime into their routine to build endurance. Additionally, if you’re taking a backpacking trip or camping, practice sleeping in the tent in a yard or nearby campsite before heading out into the backcountry to make sure they’re comfortable with it. 

Consider the weather too — if they don’t handle heat or cold well, consider going out on another day.

Prepare for Wildlife 

Another point for the leash: keeping your dog safe from plants and animals that can cause harm. 

Plants like nettles, poison ivy, sumac, hemlock, some types of mushrooms, and poison oak should all be avoided (dogs don’t often get a rash from poison ivy or oak, but remember their coat can pick up the oils and easily transfer it to you). Foxtail is especially dangerous, and is often found in grassy areas. Their prickly seed pods can easily get stuck to fur and sensitive areas, and can be fatal if they reach vital organs. After your hike, check your pup for burs and ticks, and remove immediately. 

Consult with a veterinarian about the best course of action for snake bites and other safety issues that might arise, but keeping them close will prevent a lot of unwanted interaction with dangerous plants and animals. 

First Aid Preparation

While packing your first aid kit, make sure to throw in a few dog necessities too. A basic kit for your pup should include tweezers to remove ticks and burrs, bandages and gauze, liquid bandages for paw-pad cuts, pet-friendly antiseptic and antibiotic ointment, an antihistamine in case of snake bites, and Tecnu for poison ivy. The list should be more extensive for multi-day backpacking trips, and include styptic powder to stop bleeding and calamine lotion for itchy bug bites. In case of a foot injury, bring a few old wool socks and tape to create an emergency boot.

Additionally, make sure to monitor your dog throughout the day for heat stroke and overexertion. Listen to their breathing to make sure they aren’t overextending themselves, and if you notice them heading towards shady areas to rest, they’re probably hot and need a break. Instant ice packs or wet rags can help if they’re overheating. Press against the jugular vein in the neck or the femoral artery along the inner thigh to help them cool down. 

Food and Water

We all know the best part of the hike is a summit snack, so make sure to pack a dog-friendly one too! Like us, pets need more calories as they exert more energy. Before a hike, make sure they get food with high protein and fat levels to keep them satiated, and bring extra food for the hike. Generally, plan to bring an extra cup of dry food per 20 pounds of their weight for every meal (so, if you have a 40 pound dog and will be eating two meals on the trail, bring two extra cups of food for lunch and two extra for dinner). For backpacking trips, bring dehydrated, high-protein food that you can rehydrate along with yours. 

Don’t forget water! Larger dogs typically drink 0.5-1 ounce of water per pound every day, and small dogs (less than 20 pounds) need about 1.5 per pound. On a hike, they’ll need even more. Bring a collapsible dish to pour water into, or they can lap as you pour it, although be careful about wasting water if you only have a finite amount. A dry nose means a thirsty dog, so check up on them frequently! 

While those alpine lakes and streams look fresh and clean, they might harbor pathogens like coccidia, giardia, leptospirosis. Try to keep your dog from drinking directly from natural water sources. If you’re backpacking and relying on filtration systems, you’ll need to filter water for them as well. 

Consider Their Gear 

Not only are doggie booties adorable, but they help protect sensitive feet from sharp rocks and snow (however, bring a couple of extras just in case they get lost). Their bare feet will toughen up over time, so you can forgo boots during the warmer season if they’re ready. Bring a jacket if it’s cold (remember, it’s even colder on the mountaintop), and an extra towel for backpacking trips to wipe off their feet before getting in the tent. 

Dog packs are helpful for packing waste in and out of the park, or carrying snacks and water for your pup, especially if you have a heavy pack yourself or are carrying children. Start by having your pooch wear the empty pack around the house, then on walks, then add some weight to it, evenly distributed on each side. Make sure it’s never heavier than 25% of their body weight (or even less, if they’re older or less able-bodied). Many packs also have a handle so you can help them over steep or dangerous sections of the trail. 

If you’re camping, you’ll also need to think about your sleep system. Bring a tent that fits an extra person, and have a small foam mat and blanket ready for your dog. 

Leave No Trace

LNT: the mantra of the trail! 

Just like humans, dog waste needs to be dealt with property. Their poop is very destructive to native fauna. Many animals also communicate with scent, so unfamiliar and foreign scents can be harmful to them and mess with their territorial claims. For day hikes, bring poop bags to pack your waste out — and no, compostable bags cannot be buried in nature. Packing out is also the only option for alpine areas without soil, so bring bags no matter what. 

On backpacking trips, you can’t always pack out waste. Follow the same LNT rules for your dog as you do for yourself: bury waste in a hole at least six inches deep, and at least 200 feet from the trail, campsite, and especially water sources. A good trowel comes in handy! 

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Fine Dining Finally Goes Plant-Based

Posted on by September 14, 2022

The upscale restaurant and fine-dining scene is undergoing a major change. 

Over the past several years, a wave of well-known, upscale restaurants have announced transitions to plant-based menus. Many vegan and vegetarian restaurants — like Pietro Leemann’s Joia in Milan Italy, the first vegetarian restaurant to earn a Michelin star in Europe, or King’s Joy in Beijing, awarded three stars and the Michelin Green Star for gastronomy and sustainability — have boasted plant-based menus for years, but some big names are beginning to reckon with the environment impact of the animal products that dominate the industry and our plates. 

Eleven Madison Park, Chef Daniel Humm

In 2021, New York City’s Eleven Madison Park — which ranked number one on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2017 — announced that their menu would be going entirely plant-based, shocking the fine-dining world. 

After COVID-19 shut the restaurant’s doors in 2020, Chef Daniel Humm redesigned the entire menu of the well-regarded, decades-old institution. The popular honey lavender duck and maple syrup-soaked foie gras were replaced by summer squash with marinated tofu, and eggplant paired with tomato and coriander. “It became very clear to me that our idea of what luxury is had to change,” Humm told The New York Times shortly after announcing his decision in 2021. “We couldn’t go back to doing what we did before.”

Eleven Madison Park’s chef Daniel Humm. elevenmadisonpark / Instagram

While many critics balked at the $335 price tag on a meal without meat — and the miso-glazed sunflower butter beside their bread — Humm made a case for these alternative dishes. “We celebrate caviar as a luxury ingredient,” he said at the 50 Best award ceremony last year. “But there’s nothing luxurious about caviar any more. It’s the opposite. It’s farm-raised, it’s flown in from far, it’s not rare at all, and it doesn’t taste good like it once did. It’s an old idea we’re holding on to.”

Atelier Crenn, Chef Dominique Crenn

Land animals are off the menu at Atelier Crenn. In 2017, Chef Dominique Crenn announced that the upscale San Francisco restaurant would no longer be serving meat — and, two years later, all restaurants in the Crenn Dining Group followed suit. Diners can still enjoy seafood at Atelier Crenn, sourced from local, sustainable fisheries. 

Atelier Crenn’s chef Dominique Crenn. dominiquecrenn / Instagram

Crenn cited the climate crisis as a major influence on her decision. “Meat is insanely complicated — both within the food system and the environment as a whole — and, honestly, it felt easier to just remove it from the menus all together,” she announced in a statement. “Local and sustainable fish and vegetables are just as, if not more, versatile — and delicious.” After the restaurant’s award of three Michelin stars in 2019 and a Michelin Green Star for sustainable gastronomy in 2020, Crenn proved that plant-based eating has a place in the fine-dining world. 

In partnership with UPSIDE Foods, Atelier Crenn is preparing for another new menu item too. The UPSIDE uses small amounts of animal muscle cells to grow chicken in a bioreactor, and diners will soon be able to enjoy their lab-grown chicken in the restaurant.

ONA, Chef Claire Vallée

ONA has been serving exclusively vegan fare since they opened their doors in 2016 in Arès, France, but their recent award of a Michelin star — the first ever given to a vegan restaurant in France — has elevated this plant-based restaurant to the top of the fine dining scene. They also received a Michelin Green Star for their commitment to sustainability. 

Chef Claire Vallée of ONA — which stands for “Origine Non-Animale” — wants to reshape how people view fine dining, especially in France, where meat still dominates the culinary scene. Her unique dishes have included combinations of boletus mushrooms and sake, fir, and tonka, and all ingredients are seasonal, organic, and often grown within close range of the restaurant. Even the furnishings are vegan: no fur or leather in sight. 

Chef Claire Valée of ONA. ONA Gastronomie Végétale / Facebook

“I trained in restaurants as a chef where meat and fish had to be predominant in the dishes,” said Vallée. “I had some opportunities to create vegan dishes but not enough and that’s why I created ONA, to express myself fully in what I had to say.” 

ONA is temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Geranium, Chef Rasmus Kofoed

Ranked #2 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, Copenhagen-based Geranium announced in 2021 that they would no longer serve meat from land animals. Instead, the restaurant began focusing on local seafood and vegetables grown on organic and biodynamic farms in Denmark and Scandinavia. Forest mushrooms with beer and smoked egg yolk, and butter beans with toasted pumpkin seeds have replaced typical meat dishes.

Restaurant Geranium / Facebook

Chef Rasmus Kofoed has eaten a plant-based diet at home for five years, so he says the transition was a natural next step for the restaurant. “My kitchen at Geranium has long been focused on vegetables, fish and shellfish as the star on the plate, with small quantities of meat,” he said in an Instagram post. “The menu is a reflection of me, of who I am and how I am evolving as a chef and as a human being. I haven’t been eating meat for the last five years at home, so to no longer use meat on the new menu was a logical decision and a natural progression for Geranium.”

Gauthier Soho, Chef Alexis Gauthier

Founded in London in 2010, Gauthier Soho has taken a surprising shift away from classic, popular dishes like foie gras — of which the restaurant once sold 20kg a week —  to plant-based inventions. Gauthier told Business Insider that he used the restaurant’s closure during the pandemic to redesign the menu and transition to exclusively plant-based foods, adding dishes like Golden Fennel Boulangere, Summer Truffle Tortellini, and caviar made with kelp. He emphasizes that, while getting creative with his menu, he’s still “remaining 100% French, the flavors, all the tralala you think about when you go to a French restaurant.” Half of the menu is devoted to vegan versions of traditional French foods — like the infamous foie gras — and the other half features more experimental dishes. 

gauthierinsoho / Instagram

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5 of the World’s Coolest EcoVillages

Posted on by September 7, 2022

They’re exactly what they sound like. 

Ecovillages are intentional communities designed to be environmentally, socially, and/or economically sustainable. The concept gained popularity in the 1960s and 70s when communes became more widespread, although many traditional, rural communities have long engaged in these practices. Following the publication of the landmark study “Ecovillages and Sustainable Communities” by Robert and Diane Gilman in 1991, the first ecovillage conference took place in Findhorn, Scotland (where there is now a thriving ecovillage). Now, more than 400 such communities exist all across the globe.

While each community is different, they all share a few common elements. These might include locally grown and managed food sources, renewable energy and waste treatment systems on the property, shared spaces and resources, community gatherings, or shared businesses. Many ecovillages also run educational programs for residents and visitors alike. An awareness of their environmental impact and social responsibility are usually key components, as is the contribution of all community members to maintaining their village.

If you’re looking to visit — or even join — an ecovillage, here are a few of the coolest that are well worth the trip.  

The Farm — Lewis County, Tennessee, United States 

What started as 300 like-minded individuals in San Francisco led by Stephen Gaskin has become one of the oldest ecovillages in the country. Founded on principles of nonviolence, vegetarianism, and respect for the planet, The Farm is now home to 200 residents and 20 Farm-run businesses.

Farming, composting, and alternative energy production are important parts of the village, as is spirituality, although the group follows no specific doctrine. Their members place great importance on community-building, and are bound by the desire to make positive change in the world by working collectively and peacefully. 

The Farm also runs a well-recognized midwifery center with workshops, an international development and relief nonprofit, a K-12 school, a book publishing company, and the Swan Conservation Trust to protect nearby lands, among other projects and initiatives. In 1994, they opened the Ecovillage Training Center, which teaches students about permaculture, green building, renewable energy, and other important tenets of eco-living. 

The village is open to day and overnight visitors, with extensive accommodations in private guest houses, campgrounds, or in the homes of current residents. 

Crystal Waters Eco Village — Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

When Crystal Waters Eco Village was founded in 1984, it was the world’s first permaculture village. Their 250 residents now enjoy 640 acres of bushland, which is classified as “Land for Wildlife” and is abundant with birds, kangaroos, frogs, and wallabies. 20% of the land is occupied by the residents, and 80% is available to be licensed by them for agriculture, forestry, recreation, and habitat projects.

The Village was founded on the principles of clean air, water, and soil, the freedom of spiritual belief, and meaningful social interaction among their members. The community was also formed based around the values of permaculture — a holistic and technical approach to living in harmony with nature — and members work with rather than against nature when building settlements and farming the land. These permaculture concepts also influence their forestry and water management practices, as well as their way of life. 

The homes at Crystal Waters are clustered together in smaller groups to foster a greater sense of community and connection while living a rural lifestyle, and the Village Green provides space for their monthly markets and musical performances. Visitors can take a tour of the property, or stay overnight in the Eco Park camping area, complete with campsites, vans, cabins, and bunkhouses. They also run a permaculture course that teaches participants technical skills and the theory behind permaculture. 

View the 90-minute documentary film about Crystal Waters, directed by Michael Ney.

EcoVillage — Ithaca, New York, United States 

Located only two miles from downtown Ithaca, EcoVillage sees itself as “part of a global movement of people seeking to create positive solutions to the social, environmental and economic crises our planet faces” — and they’re succeeding. The ecological footprint of EcoVillage residents averages about 70% lower than the typical American.

Three neighborhoods in the village — named Frog, Song, and Tree — contain 100 homes for more than 200 multi-generational residents, but 80% of their 175 acres is to remain open space indefinitely. Their green buildings use passive solar design for natural heating and cooling, and some have photovoltaic panels for solar power. Additionally, homes in the Tree neighborhood follow Passive House design methods, and their homes are air-tight so that no heating/cooling energy is wasted. 

EcoVillage embraces a co-housing model of community-oriented living: cars are parked outside the neighborhood, paths connect the homes, and communal spaces are used for community meals, play areas, and classes. Three organic farms on site provide fruits and vegetables to the village, and many residents grow things in their own plots or one of the community gardens housed in each of the three neighborhoods. 

Through their education program called Thrive, EcoVillage hosts internships, webinars, and on-site workshops on foraging, farming, green building, communal living, and more.

The Findhorn EcoVillage — Scotland

First established in the 1980s in Moray, Scotland, Findhorn EcoVillage is now the largest single intentional community in the UK, and has been instrumental since the beginning of the ecovillage movement. Its founders were even involved in establishing the Global Ecovillage Network. 

The Findhorn Foundation is housed at their main facility, The Park, in Findhorn Bay, and maintains three other sites as well: a nearby former Victorian hotel called Cluny Hill, a small community on the Isle of Erraid, and a retreat center on the Isle of Iona. 

The “living laboratory” EcoVillage — which received the Best Practice designation from the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements — thrives on place-based and low-carbon practices, and seeks to demonstrate the connections between the social, spiritual, economic, and ecological aspects of life. The village has one of the lowest ecological footprints of any community in the developed world, and half the UK average. It’s been used as a model of a “20-minute neighborhood,” where all necessities are within a twenty-minute walk, thereby reducing dependency on cars.

Sustainable architecture plays a large role in Findhorn’s environmental ethic. Many buildings utilize passive solar features, “breathing walls” (which interact with the outdoor climate to benefit the inhabitants), efficient heating systems and insulation, water-conserving technology, and sustainable materials, like natural clay, straw bales, and even recycled car tires. Along with solar panels, four community-owned wind turbines supply more than 100% of the energy needed for the community. 

At COP26, Findhorn Ecovillage announced their plan to become carbon neutral by 2030, focusing more on offsetting the travel-related carbon emissions from their many visitors and offering more online alternatives to in-person programs. 

Findhorn has been a valuable resource for nearby schools and visitors, offering permaculture design certificate courses, foraging classes, and online seminars, as well as on-site retreats and events.

Eco Truly Park — Aucallama, Huaral, Peru

On the Peruvian Pacific coast, eighteen iconic conical stone buildings house Eco Truly Park’s  artistic, self-sustainable, and spiritual community. Its members follow Indian Vaishnava-inspired ideals of healthy living, yoga, and leading a simple and thoughtful life. They believe that caring for the land is an important part of daily health, and through their Agro Awareness project have transformed the sandy soil into a productive organic farm. Vegetarian food makes up their daily diet, and the community emphasizes the impact food has on both our bodies and the environment.

Eco Truly Park is also home to The School of Conscious Art, which has a gallery and a workshop. They welcome visitors to their compound to enjoy vegetarian food, tours, workshops, and yoga classes. The community is known as an important tourist destination by the government, and more than 75,000 visitors have come since it was created. For those who want to stay even longer, Eco Truly Park hosts a volunteer program where participants learn organic farming techniques, art, and take yoga and philosophy classes that teach their principles of non-violence and respect for nature. 

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How to Grow a Late-Season Vegetable Garden

Posted on by September 1, 2022

It’s not too late! The main growing season might be waning, but you can still plant crops for some late-season gardening this fall. 

Summer garden staples like tomatoes and eggplant can’t handle the coming fall frosts, but many crops thrive in the chillier temperatures. Growing a successful fall garden is all about predicting the weather, choosing the right crops, and protecting the plants on frosty mornings. 

Dig out those seed packets from the beginning of the season, and follow these guidelines to get started.

Determining Your Frost Date 

Fall temperatures look different around the country, so optimal growing weeks will vary by location. Some seed packets will list “zones” the crop can survive in, referring to the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, which splits the country into 13 zones based on average annual minimum winter temperature. In Zone 10 areas, a crop you’d need to get into the ground in mid-August in New Hampshire, or late September in the Pacific Northwest, you might even be able to plant in December! 

USDA

Frost dates – the average date of the first light freeze in the fall – are another important factor in planting time, and vary widely by region and climate. For example, New York City’s frost date is November 14th, San Francisco’s December 15th, and Denver’s is much earlier on October 6th. To determine when a crop should be planted, refer to the seed packet for the number of days the plant takes to reach maturity. Plants grow a bit slower in the fall, so add at least a week to the maturity time. Then, add in the length of the harvest period listed for the vegetable. From the first frost date, count backward by the total number of days to determine when the seeds should be planted by. If you’re behind by a few weeks, use transplants instead of seeds to speed up the process. Predicted first frost dates are not a guarantee, however. Check the weather report to know of upcoming temperature and weather events so you can protect your veggies accordingly.

Remember that fall temperatures will alter your watering schedule too. Generally, fall crops need about an inch of water per week. Give them plenty when the late-summer temperatures are still high, but they’ll need slightly less once it starts cooling down.

Preparing the Garden 

Pexels

Before getting your seeds in the ground, you’ll need to clean up after your summer crops to ensure that your fall veggies have room to grow. Remove any crops that aren’t doing well – like those overrun with pests or disease – and pull out those that are past their season. Remove any weeds and freshen the soil with some new compost. 

When you’re ready to get seeds in the ground, remember to plant them a bit deeper than you normally would. The soil will be warmer further down, which helps the seeds germinate.

Choosing Plants

When it comes to fall growing, not all plants are created equal. Based on maturation time and ability to withstand frost, here’s a general guide of what to plant and when. 

10-12 Weeks Before First Frost

Many cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower will grow happily in the late summer into the fall. Some of the young plants will die in cold frosts – like broccoli – so quick-growing varieties are preferable, if you can find them. To achieve tighter, fuller heads, cauliflower should actually be planted in the fall as opposed to the summer, but the plants take between two and three months to fully mature, so they should be planted early. 

Green beans – only the bush variety, however – mature in under 2 months, making them an excellent fall crop. The plants can’t handle any frost exposure, so planting at least 10 weeks out from the first frost date is crucial. Squashes like pumpkins, cucumbers, and both summer and winter squash (ironically) make good late-season crops, can’t handle frost either, so be sure to get them in the ground quickly. 

As for root crops, carrots produce relatively quickly, and can be easily sprouted inside ahead of time to prepare for fall planting. Turnips, on the other hand, take 100 days to mature. They’ll be more flavorful when they grow in those cool fall temperatures, but they’ll take a while to reach that point, so your best bet is to plant them well before the first frost. 

8-10 Weeks Before First Frost

Leafy greens like arugula, Chinese cabbage, collard greens, kale, lettuce, spinach, and Swiss chard can go in a bit later. 

Lettuce will grow quickly, but its shallow roots make it a candidate for frost damage. To keep the plants going, grow them in containers that can be easily moved inside when frost is predicted. Kale is much hardier. The leaves can handle light frost, and the seeds can germinate in relatively cool soil. There’s no need to pull your summer Swiss chard crop either; the cool temperatures will bring the plants back to life!

6-8 Weeks Before First Frost

If the first frost is quickly approaching, quick-maturing plants are best, like arugula, bok choy, spinach, radishes, and turnips. You’ll be able to get a good harvest before the cold kills them off. 

If you have less than two months before that first cold night, beets and radishes are your best bet. They can often survive through mild frosts right into the winter. Radishes, in fact, sometimes get woody and bitter when grown in the spring, so they’re a perfect fall/early winter crop. Some winter radish varieties like black Spanish radish and watermelon radish prefer to be planted at the end of the summer and harvested in fall or early winter.

But, don’t let the labels get you down – plants may surprise you and continue producing! Spinach and kale can often survive into the winter if you let them continue growing and keep them from going to seed.

Protecting Your Crops Against the Cold 

Pexels

Even if you plan everything right, sometimes that first frost can sneak up earlier than anticipated. If that happens, don’t panic! Your crops still have a fighting chance if you take steps to protect them from the cold. 

If frost is predicted, cover the plants in the early evening with an old blanket, sheet, burlap, or tarp. Many garden stores will sell polyester row-covers too, designed for this exact purpose. Whatever fabric you use, drape it loosely around the plants, taking care not to touch the plant itself and to leave space for air circulation. Keep the plants covered all night and unwrap in the mid-morning as the sun starts to warm the ground. Store the fabric somewhere dry until the next cold night.

Cold frames are a more permanent solution in a late-season garden. By this method, plants are covered with a bottomless, transparent box with a cover that can be closed at night to trap in the heat. While cold frames require more space and money to maintain, they’re great for gardeners committed to late-season growing in the long term.

For root vegetables that grow underneath the soil, you can simply mulch the ground above them. Even if the greens on the surface die, the roots underneath can continue to grow into the winter if covered.

Preparing for Next Season 

Pexels

Even if you aren’t planting a late-season garden, you can still get a jump-start on next year and prepare your garden beds for the spring. 

Pull out all the remaining dead (or dying) plants first. Don’t worry about pulling out all the roots – they’ll feed microbes in the soil, enhancing the soil quality for next year. Then, add 3-4 inches of fresh compost over the soil. If you’re not planting a late-season garden, you’ll be able to do this while the soil is still warm, and the microbes and bugs will begin breaking it down. Apply an organic fertilizer if you wish, like bone meal, blood meal, rock phosphate, or another organic product. Whatever you put down, cover the garden with leaves once you’ve raked up a pile in the fall. This will keep the soil insulated and warm, and the critters in it active. 

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Backyard Chickens: Where to Start?

Posted on by August 24, 2022

There’s nothing like a farm-fresh egg — or, maybe a backyard-fresh egg. 

You don’t need a farm-sized plot of land to raise a few chickens, since even a small, urban backyard will do. Raising the birds and collecting your own eggs is not only an educational, entertaining experience for children, but is also a great way to mitigate the environmental impact of your diet.

If you’re looking to raise a few hens and harvest your own, backyard-fresh eggs, here’s how to get started. 

The Basics

Before beginning your backyard-chicken adventure, there are a few things to keep in mind. Consider the time requirements of raising chickens: hens require year-round care, and can’t be left alone for too long. If you go away, you’ll need a chicken sitter the same way you’d need a pet sitter. 

Also consider the lifespan of chickens and how many you’ll be able to care for. Chickens are social creatures and need interaction, so between three and six birds is ideal for beginners. Relatively speaking, the egg-laying years of hens are rather limited. Hens generally live 5-7 years (although some can live 10-15 years!), and the first two or three years are the most productive, after which their egg production will taper off. If you want a steady supply of eggs, you’ll want to add younger chickens over time.

Why Raise Your Own Chickens? 

Raising chickens has many benefits, both environmental and personal. By producing your own eggs, you’ll no longer be participating in the industrial agriculture system that’s notorious for its inhumane and unsustainable practices. Many large egg producers are notorious for killing unproductive hens, and, while the percentage of cage-free chickens has grown exponentially — from 4% to 28% between 2010 and 2020, according to PBS — that still leaves hundreds of millions of commercial laying hens in confined spaces with little-to-no access to fresh air.

Factory-farmed eggs also have a large environmental footprint. The excessive manure produced by hens delivers more nutrients to the soil than it can handle. The excess nitrogen and phosphorus eventually seeps into the groundwater supply, causing algal blooms and die-off of species, reports Food Print. Hen houses also release noxious gasses like ammonia that pollute the air and can cause respiratory illnesses in poultry workers and nearby communities. The packaging, transportation, and storage of eggs also creates waste and emissions along the way, which you can avoid by keeping the entire system local to your own backyard! 

A Denver, Colorado resident feeds hens in her backyard. Cyrus McCrimmon, The Denver Post

Chickens are very beneficial to gardeners as well. Let them loose in your (enclosed) yard, where they will eat all kinds of unwanted insects, fallen/spoiled produce, and dead stalks. You can even add their manure to the compost, as long as it reaches 130-150º, which will effectively kill any bacteria.

Learning the Laws

The laws around owning backyard chickens vary widely by location, and should be consulted before purchasing chicks or erecting a coop. The last thing you’d want would be to invest your time and money into chickens only to learn that they’re not allowed in your city.

Different rules about keeping chickens are in place at the state, county, and town levels, and are often impacted by zoning. These rules typically regulate the number of chickens you can have, their sex (many places don’t allow roosters), and how close they can be to roads and buildings. Some municipalities even require registration or permits to be issued. Before beginning, take other laws about noise and pests — like rats, which love to nest under coops — into account. If there are strict rules about noise in your neighborhood, a large flock of birds might violate them. 

If you’re unsure of the legality of raising chickens in your area, lawyers specializing in zoning and ordinances can be a helpful resource.

Purchasing Chicks

Finding chicks will look a bit different depending on your location. In areas with widespread agriculture, check out local farm supply stores and breeders. Otherwise, many hatcheries sell chicks online and ship them to your doorstep (yes, in the mail!). You’ll also want to determine which breed is best for your climate, spatial constraints, and egg-production needs. Consult this chart from Michigan State University’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources to find the best breed for your circumstances.

A chick for sale in a store. Petit Valentin / EyeEm / Getty Images

Setting Up 

Choosing the perfect spot for your coop is an important first step. The birds will need access to some shade and a good deal of bright light: 14-16 hours a day, in fact, to lay eggs (occasional cloudy conditions can’t be helped). The coop should also be placed on high ground to prevent flooding and dampness, as well as keep the birds safe from predators like foxes, raccoons, dogs, snakes, and coyotes. If you don’t have high ground in your yard, raising the coop up on cinder blocks or stilts should do the trick. 

Chickens need both indoor and outdoor space to thrive. When choosing a space, remember you’ll need room for water, feeding troughs, and some empty outdoor space for them to run around. Generally, you should plan for 3-4 square feet inside and at least 8 outside per chicken. Lack of space will cause diseases to spread faster and the chickens will be more likely to peck and harm one another, so giving them sufficient space is crucial. Some people choose to elevate the coop by a few feet and fence in the area underneath if available yard space is minimal. Hens also like to bathe themselves in dust, so leaving room for a small box of sand or fine dirt in the yard will allow them to clean themselves.

Pre-made coops are plentiful online and in stores, or you can design your own. All materials used should be non-toxic and non-corrosive, like plywood: a preferable option for coops, although the legs should be pressure-treated to prevent rotting if the coop is elevated. Every coop should have a roosting area for birds to perch in the rafters (about two feet up from the ground, 8-10 inches per bird), and nesting areas (usually one square-foot box per three chickens, positioned low in the coop). Fill the nesting boxes and cover the ground in straw or sawdust to protect the eggs. You’ll also need separate doors for both yourself and the chickens, adding a ramp if the door is high off the ground. Cut holes near the ceiling for ventilation, and cover them with hardware cloth to prevent predators from entering. Raccoons are especially clever and adept at finding their way into coops, and can open all kinds of locks. Padlocks, carabiners, and other spring and barrel-style locks are safest for locking up at night. 

Electricity isn’t necessarily essential for the hen house. Chickens can handle lower temperatures, so you don’t need to heat the coop (unless you live in an extremely cold climate), although a low wattage light bulb might help prolong the laying season as the days get darker. 

Expect set-up costs in the range of $500-$700, says Almanac, although costs drop after the first year. 

Chicken Care

Chickens are relatively low-maintenance farm animals, but they do require daily care. Here are the basic daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly tasks you can expect.

Daily:

  • Check the water supply. Refill and refresh the water every day, especially if it’s been contaminated with dirt or feces. 
  • Feeding. Put food in the feeding trough every day, or try a hanging feeder. For a flock of six, expect to buy at least one 50-pound bag of quality chicken feed every month, reports Country Living, which should run you about $50. Hens aren’t picky eaters, and while commercial feed contains most of the vitamins and minerals they need, supplementing the hens’ diet — especially during the cold months when they’re not foraging outdoors as much — is important. Most fruits and vegetables, berries, grains, leafy greens, and cooked beans are good supplemental foods. Certain things are toxic to the birds, however, such as onions, rhubarb, avocado, and citrus. Be sure to research specific foods before throwing them in the pen.
  • Collect eggs (during laying season). Checking the coop for eggs every morning and evening prevents them from getting cracked. 
  • Check up on chickens. Make sure they are not injured, and look bright-eyed and alert. Their feathers should be shiny and smooth, and their comb should be red. Monitor their typical gait during the first few weeks so you can notice injuries or inconsistencies in their walk. 

Weekly: 

  • Clean out the water and food toughs with a 10-to-1 mixture of water and bleach, then scrub with dish soap and water.

Monthly:

  • Change the bedding every month in small coops, or add a few inches every month in larger coops, then clean out completely every six months (otherwise known as the “deep-litter method”). You should also clean out the nest boxes and add new straw or sawdust. 

Yearly:

  • Clean the coop thoroughly once or twice a year. Take out everything that can be removed and completely sanitize with the same water-bleach mixture. Check for any necessary repairs, and ensure that ventilation is still functional. 

Besides caring for their physical needs, it’s important to care for the emotional needs of your chickens as well. These sentient creatures are proven to have complex positive and negative emotions, and benefit from human touch and entertainment. Put some toys in their pen, like plastic balls with bells inside, and old CDs for them to peck at and interact with their reflection. In the fall, leave piles of raked leaves in their outdoor area for them to rustle around and find bugs in. Chasing food like mealworms and crickets (which you can buy at most pet stores) is fun for them too. Some people even hang small chicken swings or add ladders in the coop to keep the birds entertained.

Eggs

Lastly, collect your prized eggs! Hens will begin to lay eggs — usually one per day — after about 20-24 weeks. Check the entire coop every morning and evening, including inside the nesting boxes. To collect the eggs from underneath a hen, gently shoo the bird away, or carefully pick them up.

Hens begin to lay eggs after about 20-24 weeks. Westend61 / Getty Images

Freshly laid eggs don’t have to be refrigerated. Eggs are coated in a natural “bloom” that protects the egg from any bacteria entering, which is eliminated once it’s washed. After collecting your eggs, they can be kept (unwashed) on the counter for several weeks, although you should wash them directly before using. While the U.S. typically sells refrigerated eggs, it’s common in other countries to sell them unwashed — in fact, the European Union prohibits egg producers from washing their eggs. 

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8 Zero Waste and Toxin-Free Cleaning Hacks

Posted on by August 18, 2022

It’s common to have a cabinet under the kitchen sink filled with plastic bottles of sprays, solutions, and solvents for every cleaning need. But did you know it’s easy to keep your home spotless and sanitary without toxic chemicals and extra waste? Here’s how to get started.

1. Make Your Own Cleaners

Many household cleaners contain chemicals that are harmful to both human health and the environment. After being used, these chemicals make their way into waterways, polluting and disrupting the balance of ecosystems. Alkylphenol ethoxylates — a common ingredient in cleaners, for example — is known to affect reproduction in wildlife, and the volatile organic compounds (VOC) found in many products impact both indoor and outdoor air quality, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Avoid these chemicals and the extra plastic by making your own simple surface cleaner with white vinegar and leftover lemons. This acidic combo is perfect for tackling greasy countertops and wiping down bathroom surfaces: lemons are high in citric acid, which has strong antibacterial properties, and the acetic acid in vinegar helps break down grease. However, avoid using it on natural stone — like marble countertops — or grout, as the acid can degrade them over time. To make the cleaner, fill a large glass jar with white vinegar and store it in the fridge. As you collect lemon rinds from squeezing or zesting (or, if you happen to have a couple extra on hand), add them to the jar. After a few weeks, remove the lemon pieces and strain the liquid through a cheesecloth. Mix equal parts of water with the lemon-vinegar solution in a spray bottle, and use liberally.

2. Try Baking Soda

Baking soda is one of the magic-makers of non-toxic cleaning. It’s slightly basic in pH, and helps deodorize and dissolve organic compounds — and, you probably already have it in your cabinet. Spread it on dirty stainless steel surfaces, like the kitchen sink, and simply wipe clean. Sprinkle a bit on a damp sponge and clean the tub, toilet, refrigerator, or even painted walls. To clean up tarnished silverware, boil a tablespoon per liter of water, then add the utensils and a sheet of tinfoil, which helps facilitate the chemical reaction. Remove from heat, and let rest until the silverware looks shiny and new. 

Baking soda is even more powerful when mixed with vinegar. To clean greasy, scorched pans, boil a cup of water and a cup of white vinegar in the pan, remove from the stove, then add a tablespoon or two of baking soda. Let the mixture sit, and once it’s cool enough to handle, scrub the pan with a scouring tool (keeping in mind that some non-stick pans can’t tolerate heavy-duty tools) like a bristle, sponge, or steel wool. To clean out a clogged drain, pour some baking soda down, followed by hot vinegar, which will froth and break up whatever’s blocking your way. 

Or, create a paste, using the gritty structure of baking soda as an abrasive. This method is especially useful inside ovens, where food residue and oil really build up. Rub a mixture of baking soda and water on the oven walls, then spray with vinegar until it bubbles. Wipe away the paste and all of that greasy grime along with it. 

3. Ditch the Paper Towels

Keeping the kitchen stocked with paper towels has a higher environmental cost than you might realize: to manufacture just one ton of them requires 20,000 gallons of water and 17 trees — and, in the end, millions of tons of these towels are dumped into landfills every year. Ditch the 50-pack of disposable rolls and instead choose a set of reusables, like the popular Unpaper Towels, which can be rolled up and unraveled just like their paper counterparts. 

4. Embrace the Broom

The mighty broom doesn’t need to be plugged in to tidy up a space. Sweep hard surfaces instead of vacuuming, when possible. 

5. Try Castile Soap 

Besides being extremely versatile, castile soap is a vegetable-derived rather than animal-derived soap, and is both non-toxic and biodegradable, unlike many conventional soaps. You might recognize the Dr. Bronner’s liquid castile soap and its endless uses: dish soap, body wash, laundry detergent, floor cleaner, etc. 

To make an all-purpose cleaner, mix one part liquid castile soap with 24 parts water. Keep in a spray bottle to clean floors, surfaces, and bathrooms (even the toilet). Add a few drops of essential oils for a fresh scent, if desired, although the oil might leave streaks on glass and chrome fixtures. 

6. Reusable Swiffer Pads

Instead of buying costly (and wasteful) containers of disposable Swiffer wipes, check out a local hardware or home goods store for a reusable pad that fits your mop. Or, make your own low-cost pad by attaching a rag to the mop with rubber bands. Either way, the all-purpose lemon-vinegar or castile soap mixtures are excellent floor cleaners. 

7. Let the Microwave Clean Itself 

Hate a splatter-filled microwave? Fill a bowl with water, the juice of 1-2 lemons and the lemon halves, then microwave for three minutes, and then let it sit for 5 more minutes for the steam to fill the machine. Wipe the walls clean with a cloth. No chemicals needed! 

8. Crack a Window

When the room needs some refreshing, you can rely on good ‘ole fresh air. Canned air fresheners contain all kinds of chemicals, which are inhaled easily and are associated with migraines, breathing difficulties and asthma, as well as illness in infants. In a windowless (or particularly stuffy) room, use a homemade spray of one part water and two parts rubbing alcohol, mixing in a few drops of your favorite essential oil for scent. 

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What Is Slow Living?

Posted on by August 10, 2022

It’s about just that: slowing down 

Burnout from our culture’s perpetually fast pace is impacting our mental health, physical health, our environment, and our communities. The slow living movement is about bucking the expectations of hustle culture; instead of doing as much as possible as fast as possible, it’s about doing things more deliberately, and prioritizing what gives your life value. “Life is what’s happening right here, right now — and only by slowing down can you live it to the full,” says Carl Honoré, author of In Praise of Slow and several other books about the Slow Movement. “If you are always rushing, you only skim the surface of things.” To slow down is to live life intentionally and experience each moment more fully. 

How Did the Movement Start? 

The concept of slow living has roots in the Italian slow food movement of the 1980s and 1990s, spearheaded by journalist Carlo Petrini, who organized protests when the first McDonald’s in Italy was slated to open in Rome right by the iconic Spanish Steps. Petrini and his followers wanted to retain the traditions around preparing and enjoying food, emphasizing pleasure and community and rejecting the culture of haste inherent to fast food: hamburgers eaten while walking down the street, rather than enjoying a meal over several hours while talking with family and friends. Slow living adopts these concepts in all facets of life, not just food.

The origins of the movement are also seen in traditional Indian culture. “Dhairya (patience) and santosh (satisfaction) have been two vital elements of Indian teachings and these are the major underlying elements of slow living,” said Kumar Vishwas, writer and motivational speaker, in an interview with Financial Express on slow living. “India has seen everything from moderate slow living to extreme slow living in its thousands of years of being. It’s a term connected well to Indian roots.” 

Why Is Slow Living Important? 

Our culture of haste is perhaps most visible in how we work. While the majority of Americans find some meaning in their jobs, The Pew Research Center reports that 60% of adults sometimes feel too busy to enjoy life — and technology has only quickened our pace. Even before the pandemic, nearly 40% of employed Americans said that technology has made their jobs more demanding. “The modern workplace also pushes us to work faster and longer while technology encourages us to do everything faster and faster,” says Honoré. We are always reachable, always available, always pushing to be as productive as possible. “Faster is not always better. Being Slow means doing everything at the correct speed: quickly, slowly or whatever pace works best. Slow means being present, living each moment fully, putting quality before quantity.” 

Slow living, in many ways, is a movement against the hustle culture that grips and molds our society. We are encouraged to monetize our time, so hours spent relaxing are often seen as hours wasted. Hustle culture, according to Joe Ryle, the Director of the 4 Day Week Campaign, is all “about work dominating your time in such an unnatural way that we have no time to live our lives.” A 2021 study by the ADP Research Institute found that 10% of employees surveyed put in an extra 20 hours of unpaid work each week. So much value within our personhood is ascribed to our careers, that overworking like this is even seen as a good thing — perhaps in your own job you’ve felt admired (or admired your coworkers) for sacrificing your personal life for work, and perhaps have even felt guilty when you don’t. In a culture that prioritizes productivity and work, we’re both explicitly and subversively encouraged to become the Gary Vaynerchuks and Elon Musks of our day, who are notorious for promoting hustle culture and working excessive hours. Musk famously tweeted that “Nobody ever changed the world in 40 hours a week.” 

However, during the early days of the pandemic, we were all forced to slow down a bit. We couldn’t grind through life in the same way, moving from the office to the gym to home and back again. Grocery store shelves were emptied of flour and baking supplies as people began making their own food, and hiking trails filled up with families seeking nature. According to Google, there were four times more searches for videos with “slow living” in the title in 2020 than in 2019. Many people become more interested in slowing down than in speeding up, and prioritizing other facets of life than work. 

How Is Slow Living Good for Our Health?

The grind has been glamorized. Instagram and TikTok videos of girls in matching workout sets waking up at 5am to work out and drink protein shakes before a full day of work abound — but that might not be what health looks like for everyone. 

Excessive work is associated with burnout: a condition that only worsened during the pandemic as work shifted to virtual spaces and began permeating personal lives with ever-increasing reachability and nebulous work hours. In 2021, more than half of survey respondents reported feeling burnt out, which has a noticeable impact on physical health. People suffering from burnout experience insomnia, fatigue, headaches and stomach aches, to name a few. Too much work is also associated with worse sleep, and higher rates of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many Americans are unable and unwilling to work the way they have been. 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs in December 2021 alone, a trend which is becoming known as the “great resignation.” 

Slow living often means not sacrificing sleep for work, or personal health and life satisfaction for productivity. It’s also about nurturing our mental health, which can suffer just as much as our physical health when we’re living “fast.” Burnout is known to develop alongside depression and anxiety. Living slow means taking time for family and friends, and prioritizing the relationships that enrich our lives over long hours at the office. 

How Is Slow Living Good for the Planet? 

In many ways, slow living fights against the concepts of capitalism and consumerism that drive waste and overconsumption. Like baking bread on your own during those early pandemic days of stay-at-home boredom, the concepts of slow living might encourage us to make more of our own food rather than purchase pre-made items at the store, or even grow our own vegetables and sidestep destructive industrial farming practices. 

It can also mean taking the time to fix things. For example, instead of buying a cheap IKEA bed frame that can be assembled at home and is easily discarded, upcycle a used frame with a new paint job, a few repairs, etc., or mend clothing and home goods instead of running out for a new one or picking the fastest solution to the problem. 

Proponents of slow living, like Carl Honoré, also emphasize the importance of spending time in nature: listening and looking at the ecosystems around you, and feeling more connected to the world. Slowing down also allows us to become more in tune with our neighborhoods and communities; localization and strong communities are crucial elements to combating the climate crisis.

How Can You Live Slower?

Of course, slow living is not equal in its accessibility. It is wrapped up in privilege and resources, like many social and environmental causes. Low-income communities, working parents, and hourly workers don’t always have the luxury of time, and slowing down or doing less simply isn’t an option. The concept of slow living needs to be adopted by modern workplaces — like those experimenting with the four-day work week — and higher wages and more affordable homes, schools, etc. are important for accessibility. 

Here are a few ways to begin living slower:

  • Limit screen time. Set timers on social media and limit your hours in front of the TV or other screens. 
  • Take walks outdoors and exercise in ways that are more integrated with your daily life, like walking or biking instead of driving. Enjoy the process of getting from point A to point B rather than moving as quickly as possible. 
  • Deliberately take days off from work and home tasks, either on the weekend or on vacation. 
  • Grow food and cook meals, especially with family or friends, and eat together at the table.
  • Enjoy and nurture your hobbies.
  • Fix items in your home instead of replacing them, including clothes, furniture, etc. 
  • Prioritize sleep.
  • Choose the activities you want to engage in. Resist saying yes to every opportunity out of a sense of obligation. 
  • Reach out to your neighbors and work on building a strong community around you. 

The post What Is Slow Living? appeared first on EcoWatch.

Are Scented Candles Actually Bad for You?

Posted on by August 4, 2022

What is a spa day, romantic dinner, or cozy night in without a candle or two to set the mood? For over a decade, headlines have warned consumers about toxic chemical exposure when burning candles indoors, but new research tells us that our worries might be overblown. 

A study published in 2009 found that burning paraffin wax releases potentially dangerous chemicals like toluene, and it is true that some scented candles do contain cancer-causing chemicals like benzene and formaldehyde. While very high concentrations of these chemicals might indeed be harmful, recent research has found that the amount of particles and vapors emitted from burning household candles is lower than the limits recommended by the World Health Organization. In fact, a 2014 study that analyzed the air quality of rooms of various sizes after burning candles for four hours found that the highest measured levels of these chemicals were only half of the recommended limits set by the WHO. Yes, toxicity will increase if multiple candles are lit in poorly-ventilated areas for prolonged periods of time, but normal use is not generally a cause for concern.

Respiratory toxicologist Nikaeta Sadekar told The New York Times that exposure to chemicals emitted by scented candles “is so low that they pose no significant risk to human health.” Ultimately, this exposure is trivial compared with the cocktail of toxic chemicals in the air on a busy metropolitan street. 

We might not have the noses of our canine friends, but humans can smell scents at relatively low concentrations, so don’t be fooled by a strong aroma: it doesn’t necessarily mean higher toxicity. However, “scented candles tend to burn with more soot because the compounds added for scent change the carbon-to-hydrogen ratio in the candle, which affects the way it burns,” said Mary Brummitt, N.P.

Soot — the byproduct of incomplete combustion — has been a source of concern as well. Both carbon and soot are released during burning, but according to the National Candle Association, the amount of soot produced by burning candles is low, and similar to that produced by kitchen toasters and cooking oils, and not that of coal or gasoline. 

The wick is often a factor in soot production. While lead wicks were banned in the US in 2003, wicks are often made of a blend of materials that produce emissions as they burn. To prevent additional emissions and minimize soot, look for 100% cotton wicks (or, better yet, 100% organic cotton wicks, which also minimizes pesticide use and other harmful farming practices). If you are especially concerned about soot, or would like to minimize staining on nearby walls, keep candles away from drafts and ensure that the melted wax is clear of debris, and keep the wink trimmed between 15mm. 

Even if their impact on human health is negligible, candles do have an environmental impact, notably from paraffin wax. Paraffin — a by-product of gas and oil refineries, major drivers of climate change — is a common ingredient in candles, but soy candles have become a popular, lower-impact alternative. Sure, soybeans aren’t barrels of fracked gas, but the crop is still notorious for deforestation, GMOs, and heavy use of pesticides. Beeswax is a favorable option for candles too: the wax of honeycombs that is harvested along with the honey made in beehives. The wax is, however, considered an animal byproduct, so many vegans won’t purchase products containing beeswax. 

Besides the contents of the candle itself, the container is another source of waste. A candle or two a month might brighten up the home, but it also sends a few dozen containers to the trash every year. If given a choice, glass is easier to recycle than plastic, and can more easily be upcycled. Keep the jar and the lid for storing food, visiting a refillery, or even refilling with wax to make your own candles. To remove the waxy residue in the bottom, pour boiling water into the jar and allow the wax to slowly rise to the surface, then remove and clean the container with soap and water. Better yet, some smaller companies or individual candle artisans will collect the containers and upcycle them into new products, like Colorado-based Old Pine Candle Co, which has collection locations for jars to be collected and reused by the company. 

For the candle fanatic, there are a few tactics for purchasing products with the least environmental impact and lower chemical emissions. Look for those that don’t contain petroleum products, like soy candles, or beeswax, stearin, and vegetable-based waxes that are biodegradable. Certain strong fragrances might also cause allergic reactions in a smaller percentage of people, or irritate some with asthma. To avoid this, look for candles scented with essential oils rather than fragrance chemical oils (or consider an oil diffuser instead). Be wary of greenwashing when browsing the shelves as well. Terms like “natural” or “green” are not regulated, and aren’t attached to any standards for products. Brands like Hyggelight, Eco Candle Co, Sanari Candle, and Nightshift Wax Co use alternative ingredients and consider sustainability during production. 

Ultimately, the general scientific consensus on candle-burning is that normal use — especially in a well-ventilated area — is not a cause for concern, so you can still enjoy your holiday-scented and atmospheric favorites without fear, but consider the environment too when choosing products. 

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