“Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘let’s party!’ ” – Robin Williams
All winter we rush indoors to beat the cold. It is now time to stop and breathe the refreshing spring air. As we start into a new season, a new beginning, why not take greening seriously?
If anyone has heard the Al Gore presentation on protecting the earth, you will recognize the urgency of slowing global warming.
Why is this phenomenon such a big deal, you ask? The answer is straightforward – it can make existing problems happen more often or more severely. For example, global warming’s impact on people includes:
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- Increased problems associated with heat, sunstroke and dehydration.
- Increased respiratory troubles and asthma due to higher numbers of smog days.
- Faster and easier spread of infectious diseases (West Nile virus, Lyme disease) since insects and parasites can live in areas that were too cold for them before.
- More cases of diarrhea and food poisoning since warmer temperatures make it easier for germs to grow in food and water.
- Harsher weather like hurricanes, tornadoes, storms, floods and droughts, which increase the risk of injury to people.
Take the first step by deciding to make a difference.
Go green with food
For a pretty, long-lasting table centerpiece, try cutting a few budding branches from early flowering shrubs or pussywillows and enjoy the following meals.
Hamburger salad makeover
Fresh crispy lettuce makes this salad.
4 flour tortillas (9 inch/22 cm)
3/4 pound extra lean ground beef 375 g
1 tablespoon chili powder 15 mL
1/2 cup salsa 125 mL
1 cup canned kidney beans, 250 mL
rinsed
4 cups spring or mixed 1 L
salad greens
1/2 cup shredded cheese of 125 mL
your choice
1 cup chopped tomatoes 250 mL
2 tablespoons Catalina or 30 mL
ranch dressing
Preheat oven to 425 F (220 C). Crumple four large sheets of foil to form four three-inch (7.5 cm) balls; place on baking sheet. Top each ball with one tortilla; spray with cooking spray.
The tortillas will drape over balls as they bake. Bake six to eight minutes or until tortillas are golden brown.
In the meantime, brown meat with chili powder in nonstick skillet. Add salsa and beans; stir. Cook until heated through, stirring occasionally.
Place a tortilla shell on each plate. Fill evenly with salad greens, meat mixture, cheese and tomatoes. Drizzle with dressing. Serves four.
Source: Adapted from Kraft.
Greek chicken and rice skillet
Ready in just 30 minutes. Serves four.
1/2 cup Greek salad dressing 125 mL
1 pound chicken, cut 500 g
into small chunks
2 teaspoons dried oregano 10 mL
leaves
4 cups cut up vegetables, such 1 L
as broccoli, peppers, carrots
1 can (10 oz.) low sodium 284 mL
chicken broth
11/2 cups instant rice, 375 mL
uncooked
1 lemon
Heat dressing in large deep nonstick skillet on medium heat. Add chicken; sprinkle with oregano. Cook five minutes or until brown, stirring once. Add vegetables and broth; simmer five minutes. Stir in rice and cover. Simmer five minutes. Turn off heat. Let stand, covered, five minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
Grate one teaspoon (five mL) lemon peel; sprinkle over chicken. Cut lemon into four wedges and serve with chicken and rice mixture, if desired.
Dad’s cookies
Try this recipe that has more flavour than the traditional oatmeal cookie. Green it up by adding hemp hearts, which are a good source of protein. Hemp hearts are shelled hemp seeds obtained at health food stores. Add a glass of milk for dipping and some fresh fruit.
1/2 cup butter 125 mL
1/3 cup oil 75 mL
3/4 cup sugar 175 mL
1/2 cup brown sugar 125 mL
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla 5 mL
11/2 cups flour 375 mL
11/4 cups oats 300 mL
1/2 cup coconut 125 mL
1/3 cup hemp hearts 75 mL
1 teaspoon baking powder 5 mL
1 teaspoon baking soda 5 mL
dash of salt
1 cup chocolate chips 250 mL
Cream the butter, oil, and sugars. Add egg and vanilla, beat well.
Add flour, oats, coconut, hemp hearts, baking powder, baking soda, salt and
chocolate chips. Stir until blended well. Form into one inch (2.5 cm) balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 F (180 C)
for 12 minutes.
A green home
- Compact fluorescent light bulbs: Where I live, the average household has about 40 light bulbs, accounting for approximately 21 percent of monthly power consumption. If every household replaced just two 60 watt incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lights, the energy saved would be enough to power more than 11,000 homes.
This would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 81,000 tonnes a year, says SaskPower.
- Outdoor solar lighting: These yard or patio lights cost less than $20, and they don’t burn any electricity or produce any carbon dioxide.
- Programmable thermostats: Though these thermostats cost from $50 to $100, they cut your heating and cooling costs. Set so it’s a little bit cooler in the winter and warmer in the summer when you’re not in the house. A difference of two degrees can reduce a home’s CO2 emissions by up to nine percent over the course of a year.
- Air filters: Changing the air filters in your heating and cooling systems regularly can knock two percent off your CO2 output each year.
- Look for items without extensive packaging. Most food packaging material uses some petroleum-based plastic. There are several ways to cut down on the energy and waste this produces. Look for minimally or unpackaged items instead. Experiment with bringing your own packaging or buying in bulk.
- Your own bag: Bring a cloth bag to the grocery store instead of using its plastic bags. An estimated 500 billion to one trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. That’s one million bags used per minute.
And according to the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States, more than 380 billion of those are discarded in the U.S.
Less than one percent of those are actually recycled. Instead, these bags will clog landfills, create litter, choke streams and harm marine wildlife like whales, seals and sea turtles.
Recycling and reusing bags makes a difference. Visit myplasticbags.ca for information on your municipality’s environmental
programming.
- Use the dishwasher: The newest models are more efficient than handwashing. You can also compost your kitchen waste. This eases the piles in landfills, gives you terrific soil and keeps your kitchen garbage basket from stinking.
- Electric hot water heater blanket: Hot water heaters use a lot of energy and generate a lot of CO2. A blanket costs less than $18 and can cut your home’s CO2 emissions by more than four percent.
- When you’re shopping for major home appliances, look for the Energy Star label. This is a signal that you’re getting an environmentally efficient appliance that’s going to save you money at the same time.
- Green, the colour of nature, is known to calm and refresh the spirit. Upgrade your rooms and yard with different hues of green plants and flowers, green paint or accessories.
- Plant trees whenever and wherever you can. Just one tree will absorb one tonne of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. Try simplifying your life and save trees by paying bills on-line.
- Go green websites: Idealbite.com, Greennest.com, Treehugger.com, Davidsuzuki.org, Lesstoxicguide.ca.
Jodie Mirosovsky is a home economist from Rosetown, Sask., and one of four columnists comprising Team Resources. Send correspondence in care of this newspaper, Box 2500, Saskatoon, Sask., S7K 2C4 or contact them at team@producer.com.
