Earth Day: 3 Ways You Can Help the Earth

 

 

 

 

 The good news is making healthier choices for your body and the earth are one and the same. Consider these simple changes you can make to help your body and our planet earth be healthier places to live.

1) Consider a Vegetarian Diet. Regardless of your personal thoughts on meat-eating, meat production in the U.S. pollutes our land and water.  Factory farming relies on the millions of acres of heavily chemically sprayed feed corn grown right here in our backyards. These chemicals have terrible negative health consequences for humans and our ecosystem, causing cancer, polluting water, harming wildlife, plant life, etc. For a country and planet, trying to conserve it's precious resources and put less toxic chemicals in our bodies, on our soil and in our water, choosing a vegetarian diet is a great step you can take to help clean up this planet! 

2) Choose Natural Cleaning & Beauty Products.
Natural versions of these products are healthy for you, your family and the planet as well as being very cost effective when you DIY.  

Cleaning products that are good for you and the environment
Use: vinegar, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and castile soap 
To clean: sinks, toilets, floors, windows, countertops, etc. Add essential oils for a fresh twist.

Beauty products with a few simple basics you can do almost anything:
  • Olive Oil for skin moisturizer-olive oil contains elastin which keeps skin taut
  • Coconut oil for make-up removal, rub on-wipe off all natural and safe around your eyes
  • Castile soap makes great body wash, shampoo, hand soap and dish soap, if you buy it concentrated (like dr. bronner's) you can dilute it and add any essential oil you fancy.

3) Buy Organic Produce and Products.  The only way to avoid dangerous, toxic foods these days is to buy organic; organic produce, organic packaged foods, organic beverages, etc. Conventional (or non-organic) produce is covered in incredibly harmful chemicals like glyphosate which are sprayed on our local cornfields and are known to cause cancers like brain and breast cancer, lymphoma, kidney/liver disease, heart disease, IBS, celiac's disease, ADHD, alzheimer’s, autism, allergies, etc.
The many drawbacks of conventional agriculture include that it: 
Degrades and contaminates soil & water and drains aquifers
Contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, reduces biodiversity & kills and butterflies
Worsens food safety & promotes disease, nutritional deficiencies and poor nutrition
Conventional produce is also genetically modified (or GMO) which has many negative side effects on our health and our environment.  Numerous health problems have increased after GMOs were introduced in 1996. The percentage of Americans with chronic illnesses and food allergies has skyrocketed, and disorders such as autism, reproductive disorders, digestive problems, and others are quickly on the rise in direct correlation to the unhealthy changes we have made to our food.
GMOs contaminate―forever, Self-propagating GMO pollution will outlast the effects of global warming and nuclear waste.