The Environmental Atheist

Not sure what I want to say here. I'd like to create a blog where I not only share ideas about how to improve the planet, but do it in a way that helps people rethink the way they live, move, consume and interact with each other and their environment. I'll start small, and hopefully I'll pick up momentum.

I was making dinner last night and going through the fridge for ingredients. Some of the vegetables weren't quite up-to-snuff. The caulifower was on the verge of going rotten, but definitely salvageable. The celery wasn't as crisp as it could be. In another time I would have just chucked them and gone with fresher ingredients. But it occurred to me that if food is wasted, it's also a wasted journey.

I'm no saint in my endeavor to live sustainably. I'm improving the way I live every day. I would love to be organized enough to consume food that has only been produced in a 100 mile radius of where I am. I will be some day, just not today. So now, I'm ashamed to admit that much of my produce comes from California (I live in British Columbia) and some comes from as far away as Chile. I've already burned more than my sane share of hydrocarbons in just buying that food. How can I justify tossing it out if it's still edible?

By throwing out food that could have been eaten and replacing it with fresh, we prove that there is more demand for off-season produce then there actually is or actually could be. By consuming what we have already bought, even though it might not be fresh, but is still perfectly palatable, we push that demand further into the future. It's a small thing we can do to live more responsibly, but it's huge in that it brings to the fore the real cost of what we consume.