The Being-Green-Guide: #1 Food, Shopping and You

Being 'green' is more than just using plastic packaging as containers to mix your paint, or recycling your waste paper. It's also more than just trying to save water or fitting energy-saving lightbulbs in your home. It is also about living green in everything you are doing, such as walking or cycling to the shops and getting your statements and bills online, and changing your personal hygiene products.

Food is used as comfort and is used as main activity in social get-togethers, whether a pre-exhibition dinner, celebratory event or normal Sunday braai. More importantly, we also need food to survive. Whether you eat big meals, or graze in-between working in your studio, food is an integral part of our daily life, which makes it a good place to start when living sustainably. Food doesn’t need to be boring, limited or expensive to be sustainable.

FOOD #1.1 - Check the Packaging

Look at the packaging of the things you buy. Packaging forms a large part of living sustainably. Most of us are already aware that plastic is toxic for the environment, but so is polystyrene. Unfortunately these are used plentiful in vegetable packaging. Try to avoid these packaging by rather buying fresh produce from farmers markets or buy the fruits and vegetables packaged in boxes. Or join a vegetable box scheme, such as:

• Ethical Co-Op has a veggie box as part of their very large selection of ethical and organic produce and products: www.ethical.org.za
• Havest of Hope delivers to many collection points in and around Cape Town: harvestofhope.co.za
• Think Organic also delivers veggie boxes in the Cape Town area: thinkorganic.co.za
• Wensleydale Farms have an organic vegetable box scheme with collection points in Johannesburg: wensleydale.co.za/OrganicBoxes.aspx
• Have a look at the many initiatives or projects offered by the Organic Emporium in Bryanston: organicemporium.co.za
• In KZN, Earthmother Organic offers vegetable boxes at their market on Tuesdays. Alternatively you can collect a box after you phone in your order. The shop is located at 106 Bulwer Rd, Glenwood 031 202 1527
• Timberlake, close to Sedgefield and Knysna, also has a box scheme and you can choose which veggies should go into your box: timberlakeorganic.co.za/healthy/organic-veg-box
• Contact Dovehouse Farm Organics in Howick, for weekly veg boxes delivered to Howick and Hilton, and trading early Saturday morning at Pietermaritzburg farmers market. dovehouse@absamail.co.za, tel 033 330 3554 or 082 868 4517

When it comes to milk and drinks, if you can’t find box or glass bottled versions, then what you’re buying is probably not worth putting into your body anyway. Again, be wary of what glass and boxes are used, as some are recyclable but others are not. It would be best to look properly at the packaging before buying.

Also read Life in Balance's "10 ways to re-use garbage", and check out all our posts on this blog about art from waste.

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This is one of a series of posts, written by Michelle Albinson, that deal with turning your lifestyle around to being as fully eco-friendly as possible in easy and do-able ways.

IDEA: Art Gardens

The Mud Man and Moss Maiden - source

I've been following the blog Gardens in unexpected places, and always admire the innovation, creativity and ingenuity of people in other countries, planting food gardens in public spaces, as well as improving urban areas through guerilla gardening.

Closer to home, in Jozi, we've got Linzi Lewis, a.k.a.  leading an urban gardening revolution that not merely improves spaces, but also connects people to each other, their culture and the environment in which they work and play. Read more about the project:

• Article in the Cape Argus
• AMbush Gardening Collective
• M&G Young South Africans

Source

One of the best ways to eat healthy, GMO-free, organic vegetables, is to grow your own. Check out Square Foot Gardening: sfgsa.co.za. Now, how about using your considerable creativity and skills as an artist to create an Art Garden?

Source

As an artist you have skills that you have developed that could result in something really unique!

Garden, installation at Lockport Gallery, Illinois State Museum, Illinois by Michelle Stone. Source.

contextual art installation by Anouk Vogel and Johan Selbing. Source

You don't need to be a qualified landscaper or horticulturist to create a garden. Ask someone who loves gardening to teach you the basics, read some library books, browse the web for countless articles and guides about gardening, or learn through trial-and-error.

Source

You don't need to have an architectural degree to plan or build something. If you don't know how to use the materials, learn how to, join a workshop or find an artist who specializes in the materials or techniques you need to create an art garden.

Source

What's stopping you? Start now! Don't have your own garden? Why not create a balcony, vertical garden or indoor garden? Or start an urban garden in your neighbourhood? The sky is your limit!

Source

Some more ideas and more, and even more

WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY: 5 JUNE

What are you going to do this year for World Environment Day? Show your commitment to the preservation of our environment, and your awareness of our dependance and interconnectiveness to nature by doing one or more of the following:

• HOST A LUNCH
  Host a lunch in your home, invite your friends and ask them to donate anything from R25-R200 to a great cause, Soil for Life. You cook and your friends donate online and you all stand a chance to win great prizes!
  Read more on http://www.eatfortheearth.com/
  
• DONATE A TREE with Greenpop
  http://www.greenpop.org/
  
• VISIT THE EARTH FAIR FOOD MARKET
  Give the franchise supermarket a skip, and buy fresh foods at the Earth Fair Food Market in Tokai. Open every Saturday 9.00 am - 2.00 pm
  
  More info and a map: http://www.earthfairmarket.co.za/
  
• GO HIKING
  
  Wherever you are, find a place to go and walk - breathe in the scent of dried leaves, and enjoy the colours and variations that autumn brings, with the stark and interesting shapes of bare branches against a blue sky.
  
• HELP CROCHET A CORAL REEF
  The Woodstock Art Reef Project gathers every Saturday between 11am and 4pm in the Blue Shed at the Waterfront. They are building a crocheted coral reef as an art installation that aims to raise awareness for our oceans and the effects of global warming on sea life.
  artreefproject.ning.com/
• READ AND SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT SUSTAINABILITYGo and read up about the ways that you can help and support sustainable development, how you can make a difference by making small changes in your lifestyle, and what you can do to make more people aware.
  Read about the pros and cons about each energy option on Life in Balance:"Energy - what is the answer?", an insightful article by Richard Asher
  
  Read The Advanced Energy [R]evolution: Greenpeace's energy blueprint for a sustainable future and green development

...and after World Environment Day:

If you're an artist, come to the GYA (Green your Art) gathering at White Rabbit Studio on 17 June in Gardens, to talk about what we're going to do for Moving Planet on 24 September 2011.

I saw this on the Cape Town Talent Exchange Announcements list, and immediately decided to post it here so more people can see:

"PLEASE DONATE PRIZES

Western Cape-based NGO, Soil for Life exists to help alleviate poverty and hunger in the area by teaching people to grow their own food.

We’d like to reward the Best Soil for Life Home Food Gardeners for 2010 by awarding some really useful prizes at our annual prize-giving. If you can assist us with prizes – or know a business that can donate any of the following in good condition (new or used) - we would be very grateful: small kitchen appliances or cooking pots and utensils, bedding, clothing for adults and children, good books, toiletries and dry food stuffs.

We are also prepared to swap some of our talents for suitable prizes and collect donations in the area.

Your donation will be appreciated and acknowledged. Donations are required by Friday, November 19, 2010.

Soil for Life has helped hundreds of people to build up poor soil, dig trench beds and cultivate seedlings outside their homes to grow good, organic veggies. This means that fewer families are going to bed hungry and more people are eating healthily. In addition, people are being taught to use the exchange system to build community spirit. Skills taught include hot box methods of cooking to save on electricity, food preserving methods to deal with surplus crops, creative use of waste and a lot besides.

Visit www.soilforlife.co.za to read more."

12 September at Muizenberg Village Festival!

Please join at the Ecojunki participation space on the festival day! Bring waste materials and join us in being creative ;-) The details:

Muizenberg Village Street Festival!
Sunday 12 September 2010
10am - 5pm

Muizenberg Village, Palmer & Church Street, Muizenberg


If you have the time and energy to help out with the festival decor, this also promises to be lots of fun and you'll meet interesting, inspiring people! Here's the opportunities that Claire Homewood emailed to people a few days ago:

Fri 3rd Sept and Fri 10th Sept:
Elizabeth is the lovely lady running Friday afternoon programs at The Melting Pot with kids from Lavender Hill and Capricorn Park who are part of the Africa Sinomusa Foundation. The kids come to Muizenberg for an afternoon of arts, crafts and musical play.They are also given lunch sponsored by Woolworths.

For the next two Fridays we are going to combine their activities with decor making. So if you are keen to get involved in paper mache', paint, sewing of flags and loads of creative fun please come join us!!

Sat 11th (the day before the festival)
We will continue with decor making and signage making from 10am outside Roots Bar

Please bring along:
Newspapers
Useful recycling materials
brushes
fabrics
bits and crafty pieces

All help will be greatly appreciated!
more info contact Claire 074 3485744 or Elizabeth 072 6544788

Get involved, get creative

What do you love doing?

Do you love writing, doing performance art, taking photos, designing posters, drawing?

How would you love to make a difference and help our environment?

Ecojunki is looking for enthusiastic people to contribute towards raising
awareness for the ways in which we as humans are interacting with our natural
environment. Participation on all levels are encouraged - whether you want to
help with management, organizing, being creative, creating ideas, updating the
blog, telling people about the environment, or even help us hug and plant
trees!

How do I get involved?
Email something about yourself, the things you love doing, and the ways that you would love to get involved to ecojunki@gmail.com. Allow your imagination to run freely - ANYTHING goes. Be creative and lose your reservations and limitations! NO idea is too crazy.

Viva for veggies

Read this! (yes, click on "read this") here's an excerpt:

The scientists have spoken, and the politicians are getting edgy. Vegetarian campaigning charity Viva received a leaked email from an official at the Environment Agency showing that the Government is trying to work out how to get us to eat less meat. "The potential benefits of a vegan diet in terms of climate impact could be very significant," it said, adding that eating less meat is one of the "key environmental behaviour changes" needed to save the planet.

It's about the importance of a vegan lifestyle to reverse global warming. No, I won't try and convert you, and I'm not telling you that you HAVE to become vegan (I'm still learning to cope with being a vegetarian, really missing fish and sushi, so nevermind cutting out milk, chocolate and cheese which I absolute LOVE). I'm just saying that the more people change to a vegan lifestyle or at least reduces their dietary focus on meats and animal products, the better it will be for our environment, and the sooner we are really starting to make a change. Even small change is good, because a lot of drops into a bucket makes it full. If you can't live on veggies and raw food alone, or feel really unable to eliminate meat from your diet, then try just reducing your intake of red meat, fish, poultry, milk, eggs and cheese and you'll be surprised at how good you will feel! The article also gives these pointers:

How to be a caring carnivore

* Elect to eat one or two organic, locally produced cuts of meat a week rather than eating cheap processed meat every day

* Roast a chicken and live off it for a week, making stock from the bones and eating the leftovers avoiding wastage

* Investigate meat alternatives such as tofu (pictured left), tempeh, textured vegetable protein and Quorn

* Buy organic milk, or try soya (pictured right), almond, oat, hazelnut or quinoa milk instead

* Chicken and pork are more carbon-efficient and produces less methane than beef

* Be aware of other good sources of protein. These include pulses, beans, nuts, seeds and, of course, soya beans

* Many kinds of bread and even some vegetarian products contain unnecessary milk products like whey, buttermilk or lactose, or eggs. Check the packaging and avoid buying non-organic dairy by avoiding these products