Have you ever thought about making your Holiday cookie exchanges healthier and more sustainable? Every year thousands of people get together and exchange their favorite Holiday cookies. Why not make this tradition an eco-friendly tradition too? Start off by buy all organic ingredients which as we know are healthier for you and the environment. Then chose a recipes and use smart healthier choice ingredients, like using ½ applesauce and half butter or shortening. This will keep your cookies tasting great and healthy. When going to you cookie exchange try and carpool with some of your friends, you’ll have a great time catching up while lowering your carbon foot print!

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups rolled oats

Directions

1. In bowl beat butter till creamy. Add brown sugar, cinnamon, and baking soda. Stir until combined. Mix in applesauce and egg. Add flour, a little at a time. Stir in oats.
2. Drop dough onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Enjoy!

Courtesy of Allrecipes.com

Here in the Bay Area, we have hundreds of wonderful restaurants, from inexpensive ethnic cafes to luxurious establishments good for those once-in-a-decade splurges. And often the servings are so generous we can’t eat them all.

The sensible thing to do is to take home the extras. But what kind of packaging to use? Typically the restaurant decides and not all of them are conscious about waste. Sometimes I’ve been given my take-home on a heavy-duty plate, covered in aluminum foil, and placed in a paper bag.

Not too sustainable! Saving the food from being wasted is good, but it means adding to paper, plastic, and aluminum waste. One solution is to order your meal one course at a time, so you can stop when you’re full. Another is for family and really good friends – share the take-home container and divvy it up at home!

A new campaign is tackling this issue. Takeout Without, started by Lisa Borden, gives tips and encouragement to help cut landfill waste. Do check it out! And an article by Annie Urban points out the shocking amount of earth’s materials we throw away. You’re an earth-friendly person, so if you haven’t already begun raising the consciousness of restaurants, now is a great time to start.

My personal solution is to have a plastic bag in my purse at all times, so I can simply tuck the leftovers into my own tiny packaging. (Obviously this doesn’t work with everything).

Plastic, you say? Reused, of course, from the cookie that comes in a little plastic bag. Try it! Enjoy the cookie and then keep the bag in your purse or pocket. You’ll be helping reduce waste and make our food system more sustainable.

A Green Thanksgiving

Holidays aren’t  the easiest times to lead an environmentally friendly lifestyle.  Yet with a little planning, Thanksgiving can be just as green as any other day in your home. Try these  tips:

Keep it simple – You don’t have to amaze your friends and family with a gourmetspread rife with exotic ingredients flown in from around the world, or with a 6-course spread with choice of 14 side dishes. Most people aren’t looking for novel culinary fare on a day like this – they’ll be happy with traditional dishes that celebrate the bounty of the local harvest.

Buy local – Many of the veggies you need for your side dishes probably grow within 100 miles of your home. Check out your local farmer’s market for fall goodies like squash, greens, potatoes, yams, pumpkins and evergreen herbs like rosemary and sage. And don’t forget to check your local free-range farms for that centerpiece of the Thanksgiving piece, the turkey (unless you’re vegetarian, of course…).

Go vegetarian – If you’ve been thinking about trying out a vegetarian diet, Thanksgiving is actually a great time to do it. You’ll be amazed at how many luscious options there are.  Livestock put a huge strain on the planet, and factory farms do abominable things to those poor little animals before they end up on your plate.

Serve  local organic beverages – Pick up some local libations if you’ve got nearby breweries and wineries, especially if you have guests coming into town – it’s a great way to show off regional specialties. If you don’t live near any craft beer or wine producers, pick up a few bottles of organic brew – there are dozens of varieties available at most health-food stores.
Use what you have – This is one of the easiest, cheapest ways to go green any day of the year. You don’t need fancy dishware – your regular tableware will do just fine. If you’re the Martha Stewart type and feel that everything must match perfectly, consider renting tableware, chairs and linens – it costs less than buying new.

Decorate with natural materials – Skip the cheesy seasonal décor made in China, and take a cue from nature.  Many people like to place pinecones in a bowl or basket as a centerpiece, or wind a string of white lights around some branches in a planter or tall vase. You could also purchase a living plant that can go into the garden next spring, or pick up a bouquet or organic blooms from your local independent florist.

Compost your scraps –  Don’t toss those potato peels, celery tops and carrot ends into the trash! Put them in a bucket along with a handful of shredded paper, leaves or other organic  material (no meat or dairy). If you don’t already have a compost pile or bin, now’s a great time to start.   Another great way to start your composting is to ask  your local coffee shop for their used coffee grounds, which make great starter material.  Happy Thanksgiving Day!

If you’ve been dutifully choosing locally grown and processed foods, you’re part of a big (and valuable) market niche. According to the USDA, the last ten years have seen a surge in the number of farms selling directly and the dollar sales they make to local markets.

Some critics say that locally grown foods don’t solve global warming as much as we’ve heard from the enthusiasts – but hey, there are other issues that local food economies address: keeping family farms alive, providing alternatives to industrial/corporate food, creating sources for organic and unusual foods, and offering meaningful work.

About this last point, Tom Philpott, writing about the USDA report for Mother Jones, ferreted out this interesting fact: “Fruit and vegetable farms that sell into local markets employ 13 full-time employees per every $1 million in sales, versus just 3 employees for their counterparts that sell into global commodity markets. In other words, a dollar you spend at the farmers market supports four times as many workers as a dollar spent at the supermarket.”

Good news in this era of unemployment.

BUT the average age of farmers is increasing. Who will feed us when they retire?
Answer: A new generation of farmers! Might you be one of them? You’d be facing some challenges – finding the land, accessing capital and credit, mastering the complexities of soil, sun, and weather. Having made humble attempts to grow food, I’ve gained great respect for those who accept the challenge.

What if this career isn’t for you? Well, you can support your local farmers by buying at farmers’ markets, joining a CSA, or investigating Slow Money, which brings farmers and entrepreneurs together with investors. You could encourage military veterans you know to investigate this opportunity. As I’ve reported before, there are organizations and resources to help them make the transition.