Cook Fast, Live Young: Celebrate Earth Day 2011 with Sustainable Food and Green Eating Habits

Every Earth Day you try to do something to make a world a little bit better. You bike to work instead of drive your car. Maybe you turn off the TV and read a book or play a board game. You might even plant some flowers or a tree. But there's one big part of your life you may be overlooking--your diet!

It's understandable:  Eating is something we do without thinking a whole lot about it unless we're trying to bulk up or lose weight. But just maybe, if you knew what kind of an impact your eating habits were having on the environment, you might be more inclined to try to do something about it.

Calculate it

Figuring out your carbon footprint is no easy task, but the creators of the Eating Green Calculator have made it a little bit easier. While by no means is this calculator 100 percent accurate, it will give you an idea of the environmental burden your current eating habits are creating. Simply plug in a few simple inputs--like how much meat and dairy you eat each week--and just like that, you'll be able to put a number on the damage you're creating. Learning that information is not the most pleasant experience, but it might be just the motivation you need to change. So how do you do that?

Buy local and organic

Pretty simple logic, but the less distance a food has to travel, the smaller its carbon footprint. Plus, buying near to home means you're supporting the smaller local farmers. This is good for the local economy and your health, since small farms tend to prefer growing organic food and leave out the nasty pesticides and preservatives. Plus, fresh, organic produce like the kind you get at a farmer's market tends to taste better and last longer than grocery-bought food. Figure out if there are any farmers' markets near you, and check out programs like Community Supported Agriculture for a list of produce that's locally grown.

Have it delivered

This might seem strange at first, but actually it's pretty logical. If you want to cut carbons, use a delivery service to have your food brought to you instead of driving to the store. Huh? Think about what's better: a dozen cars driving back and forth to go shopping, or one van picking up food and driving to a dozen houses? The van wins, hands down. Just make sure you're flexible with your delivery order so the driver isn't making a special trip just for you.

When possible, microwave

Keep in mind we're not talking about how to prepare the best-tasting food, but how to lower the carbon footprint caused by your diet. Looking at it in that way, microwave cooking just makes more sense. In most cases, microwaves use about half the energy of an oven. Moreover, in some ways microwave cooking is just healthier. Vegetables boiled on the stovetop, for example, actually lose more nutrients than those nuked in a microwave. However, if you have to use an oven, go for gas over electric.

Choose a vegan or raw food diet

Yes, that's right, even eating vegetarian isn't good enough, because diets that rely heavily on dairy still create a big carbon footprint. The best way to ensure a minimal carbon footprint is to go completely vegan or live off of a raw food diet. If none of these are for you--I know I don't want to live without any meat--work on limiting it. We practice "Meatless Mondays" in our household, and try to only eat meat for one meal a day the rest of the time.

Juliana Weiss-Roessler has ten years of professional writing and editing experience. For four years, she managed the web content for the star of an Emmy-nominated reality series. Currently, she is an editor for the geek girl e-zine PinkRaygun.com, a contributor to the career blog at Resumark.com, and owner of the food blog CookFastLiveYoung.blogspot.com. Follow her @cookfast on Twitter and learn more about her work at WeissRoessler.com.