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Sustainable wellbeing and green living

Let's find ways to Flourish!

Getting the most out of your food choices

The natural world very directly impacts our physical, mental, and emotional health every single day, whether we realize it or not. And yet, it can be easy to forget about the deep connections we share with nature.

Sure, we know that clean air and clean water correlate directly with our health. But we rarely think deeper than that.

We also depend on trees, plants, and algae to produce the oxygen we breathe in and recycle the CO2 we breathe out. Carbon sinks such as wetlands and forests play an important role in mitigating the effects of pollution by drawing large amounts of carbon out of our atmosphere. 

Healthy water systems do so much more than provide us with clean water. They transport nutrients, mitigate flooding, support local biodiversity, and work to remove toxins and waste from our surroundings.

These ecosystem services are of vital importance in our day-to-day lives.

Our bodies and our environment

On a much smaller scale, our relationship with our environment is...

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The Gardening Life with Lori and Keith Michaelson

Want to be transported to a gorgeous fall day for a tour of a regular city yard where Lori and Keith Michaelson grow dozens of varieties of vegetables, beans, berries, and even fruit in a city that gets only 120 frost-free days each year? It is an urban farm that not only produces food to be enjoyed all year round but is a connecting point for the community's kids and neighbours.
 
It might surprise you, to find the variety of foods that can be produced from a garden in this climate and some of the edibles may also be new to you - Hosta sprouts anyone?
 
 
 
So, I rode my bike over to Lori and Keith's house for a tour of the garden - yes, that is my beautiful salvaged bike there in the photo below! We started out in the backyard (or back 40) as Keith likes to say. After all, he does have a background in agriculture, so this might seem like a natural trajectory, but, I think that he would agree that most of what he and Lori do with their gardening has come...
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Recipe for a Litterless Lunch

Every meal is an opportunity to live sustainably. This is a topic we’ve explored before – the food we eat has a significant impact on the environment. Some negative consequences of our food choices include excess carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions, synthetic chemical use, animal welfare problems, unfair labour, wasteful packaging, and environmental pollution.

On the other hand, making positive food choices like eating local, choosing organic, and growing your own produce help mitigate these issues and bring you one step closer to sustainable wellbeing.

In short - food is one of our most direct connections to the natural world, and we can really make a difference to our wellbeing and that of the planet with our food choices.

However, being environmentally conscious when it comes to our food choices isn’t just about the food itself, but also about the way we package our meals when we’re on the go.

We can elevate our food choices by looking at the big...

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How to enjoy seasonal whole foods with Getty Stewart

Eating whole foods - those that have not been processed or packaged, and that often are also local to us is the cornerstone of every healthy eating plan, and the bonus is that it is also really great for the planet. Eating whole foods and eating in season dramatically reduces the carbon emissions, waste and plastic associated with our foods.
 
Ok, we are sold, yes, it is the right thing to do for our bodies and for the planet. But, how exactly can I do this with my real-life constraints of time and money and other demands? That's where Getty Stewart comes in. She is a professional Home Economist and loves to help you eat these whole foods, and find ways to prepare them that are simple, flavourful and good for your body!
 
 

Follow the Calendar
 
We begin by talking about taking this easy approach to navigate food by simply following the calendar. By looking at what is in season locally first, we can plan meals that contain those ingredients when they are at...
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Eat out without the guilt

Food is a vitally important part of every day of our lives, and every meal is an opportunity to choose sustainability. Whether it be buying Fairtrade products, reducing food waste, supporting local producers, or reducing meat consumption, we do our best to eat sustainably.  When we decide to eat out, we want to know if the restaurants we support are doing the same. Enter Green Restaurant Certifications.

These certifications assess factors such as water efficiency, sustainable food, energy, and waste reduction to determine whether or not the establishment meets the requirements to be certified green. Green Restaurant Certifications are a great way to help identify restaurants in the community that are striving to promote sustainability so that we can support their efforts while enjoying a delicious meal. In North America, the Green Restaurant Association and LEAF Certification assess restaurants to determine their level of sustainability and then publish these results on their...

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The push for greener grocery stores

Pursuing a green lifestyle isn’t always easy – it’s true that eco-friendly goods and services aren’t always available, accessible or affordable, never mind convenient. As much as we may try to minimize our impact on the planet, sometimes the systems in place make that difficult.

While we are seeing many businesses going green and making commitments to reduce their environmental impact, there are still some businesses (especially essential services) that seem to be stuck in their environmentally harmful ways.

Take grocery stores, for example. Grocery stores are vital components of the built environment that make neighbourhoods and communities liveable. While it is possible to purchase some of your food from alternative sources such as farmer’s markets, community gardens, community supported agriculture, and your own backyard, chances are that you’ll still need to visit the grocery store every now and again.

So, given the fact that shopping at...

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Eating for the planet

I love food and eating. Food fuels our bodies and is how the earth directly supports our existence, and yet we have corrupted this relationship in so many ways, harming the planet, animals and even our health in the process. In this episode, I get into the issues with our food and find the 4 big ways that we can eat better for the planet - and for our bodies.
 

Meals are how we fuel our bodies, but they are also important as time to gather as a family, to celebrate together. Meals signal feelings of home, family, identity, and culture. They are tied to place, the region, our history, and the generations of cooks and bakers who have come before us.
 
Eating locally means that you are sampling what grows in the area, as well as the cultural traditions, stories, legends, and meaning behind the food. Just think of paska bread, or the polish white borscht, or hummus, and so on. They all hold meaning.
 
We use food to mark holidays, celebrate together weddings and...
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