How Locavores Will Save The Planet

This is my entry for the World Environment Day Blogging competition #wedblog2015, share to help me win!

When I go out for food I skip the grocery stores with aisles full of plastic and artificial additives and opt for the Farmer's Market.  When I need new pants I head away from the billboard ads and lit up store fronts and head towards the thrift stores in search of the perfect pair.  And when I need to get somewhere I bike passed the gas stations and truck stops and pedal my way to self sufficiency.  Why would I do that? Because I am a Locavore.

A Locavore is a person who lives and acts by consciously supporting the local economy, building community and being healthy all along the way.  We are the people who read labels to find out where things come from, ask questions about how products and foods are made, and choose local before any other alternative.  Being a Locavore is a sustainable choice for one to make that helps reduce our impact on the environment instead of mainstream consumer lifestyles that abuse it.  While western culture has shifted to a 'don't ask don't tell' model of buying products and food with no idea to how it was produced or where it came from, Locavores take the time to investigate these questions and make more ethical purchasing decisions.

Right now, I am nearly eight months into a year long Locavore project where I have not purchased anything from out side of my province.  I buy clothes from the thrift store, food from the farmer's market, and bike to get around.  By making these switches I have reduced my dependency on fossil fuels and subsequently my footprint.  Products that are bought and sold locally reduce transportation impacts associated with global supply chains. Also, by shopping only from local business I am ensuring that the money I spend goes towards families and neighbours instead of corporations. We also promote the economy by offering jobs and supporting community projects.  By eating locally sourced foods I am reconnecting with my roots and learning about what is native to my bioregion.  My food does not come pre-packaged, doesn't contain ingredients I can't pronounce, and is always fresh.

Locavores create less waste, have a smaller carbon footprint, and are overall more ethical consumers.  If our population continues to rise we will soon have more consumers than ever before.  If more of us were able to begin thinking about consumption and take the steps to improve our behaviours, then it may be possible for us to share this planet.  All around, the Locavore 'diet' or lifestyle is about reconnecting with nature and discovering how people lived years ago that effected their planet less then we do now.  If we continue to consume without thought to our repercussions then the temperatures will continue to rise, forests will continue to disappear, and mutated crops will continue to grow.  All of this will lead to a bleak future for subsequent generations if we continue on the path of blind consumption.

It may seem daunting to give up that half-fat mocha and designer purse for the sake of someone else's survival, but it is entirely possible to live well and be apart of the global economy and live within our means. At the end of the day it will be those little changes in consumer behaviours that will go a long way in changing the world.

Have a lovely day,

Melanie


"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; it's the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead

Cracked!

I'd like to think I take care of my stuff. I've had my laptop going on 5 years, I still have cloths from high school and I've been wearing the same winter jacket since 2006. My motto has always been if it ain't broke don't fix it, so I am not frequently replacing things even when they have minor defects (like my iPod that doesn't have an on button anymore). My cell phone is a 6 year old iPhone 3g, for our 5th anniversary I bought it a new case even though it hasn't done the internet for the past 3 years so it hardly deserved it. It has definitely fallen before, survived 2 dips in the toilet (and subsequent rice baths), countless slip and falls and who knows how many times its been roughed up, but it still makes calls so I keep it around. So you can imagine I was quite upset when it fell out of my pocket last week while I was biking and the screen cracked! As if it wasn't enough of an issue reading the screen with lines all across it (I probably could have lived with that), the glass is now falling off in little pieces...I am thinking finally something has to be done. Hence the problem, if I replace the screen the parts can be purchased from a local business but will obviously be straight from China OR I can buy a used phone. I usually like to fix what I have instead of buying something new, but what is more local? HELP!!!!???

I've also been thinking about batteries lately, I will eventually need them, what do I do? What happens when Angela needs new bike parts? Some things you just can't get used... can you? This is where the limitations of a local lifestyle come into play, it's go big or go home in my house right now but I am not sure how long that will/can last!

XX Melanie

"To find better means of fixing the brain, we first need to achieve something more fundamental. We must understand how it works." -Sebastian Seung