A healthy environment goes hand-in-hand with a healthy lifestyle. There are many ways to go about supporting the environment while eating nutritious foods. Every meal you eat has an environmental impact, from the pollution caused by farming to the carbon footprint of delivering it to your home. There are some simple steps you can take to help the planet and to be sure that your environmentally friendly eating actually helps the environment.
So, here we put together a few tips that will help you start your environmentally friendly way of shopping and eating:
1. Eat Sustainable Seafood
Fishing is one of the most significant drivers of declines in ocean wildlife populations. Overfishing not only damages the marine environment, but billions of people rely on fishing for their income or for protein. Fishing is not inherently bad for the ocean, except when is done in size that can recover – overfishing. Overfishing and climate change are negatively affecting the fish population.
As CTVNews pointed out here, the Bluefin tuna population has fallen 97 percent from its historic levels. In the last few years, many governments have introduced regulations to help fish recover, but it is important the consumers to understand what steps they can take to ensure they are buying seafood that is not raised in any way that hurts the environment.
2. Buy Local
When you buy from stores that feature local products, like the food at farmers markets, you help the environment, because these goods were not shipped to you and no fuel has been used and cause less environmental harm. The ‘Buy local” movement is growing, you have to understand the environmental benefits of buying local. Understanding how is your local produce grown is important to keep in mind. For example, if you buy local produce from a greenhouse gas perspective compare to grown in fields you may not be doing any good to the environment. So if you want to support the local economy, understand how the local produce is grown.
3. Don’t Waste Food
The global volume of food wastage is estimated at 1.6 billion tonnes of “primary product equivalents.” Total food wastage for the edible part of this amounts to 1.3 billion tonnes.
The movement to reduce food waste is gaining traction. France has introduced legislation preventing grocery stores from wasting food, new apps can connect retailers with consumers willing to buy food near expiration, and people are becoming more aware.
Packaging not only protects food quality and safety, but also brings damage to the resources and the environment, and even leads to serious ecological problems. Most of the things we use at home and at work are produced somewhere else so that they have to travel to get to us. Consumers benefit from packages because they protect products as they travel, whether fast food or refrigerators, no matter how far they have to go.
It is important to recognize the potential reduction in pollution that would result from reusing and recycling containers. A new system is needed in which consumption is decreased, and materials are reused and recycled.
5. Reduce Meat Consumption
Eating less meat is better for animals, people and the planet. Sustainably produced meat is slightly more expensive than that from animal factories, reducing the amount of meat you eat will also mean you save money.
You can reduce your overall meat intake by eating some vegan or vegetarian meals and by reducing the amount of meat you eat in each meal.
Tasmania is known for its spectacular beauty, rich heritage, and abundant wildlife. The island was permanently settled by Europeans in 1803 as a penal settlement of the British Empire.
The first humans arrived in Tasmania around 40,000 years ago. Tasmania was known by its Aboriginal inhabitants as Trowunna and was divided into nine tribal areas.
Tasmania is an archipelago of 334 islands with the size of Ireland. There are often flights and it takes less than an hour’s flight south of Melbourne to visit Tasmania. This is Australia’s only island and the last landmass before Antarctica. It is an ancient, heart-shaped land, an extraordinarily diverse from New Zealand, South America, mainland Australia.
The tallest flowering trees in the world, reaching more than 100 meters in height, tower over millennia-old precious wildlife-filled alpine plateaus and button grass plains that release tannins that stain the pure water streams the color of tea. Some 2,800 miles of coastline, including the highest cliffs in the Southern Hemisphere, hug a landscape of such raw, ravishing and largely untouched natural beauty that it leaves one gasping in astonishment at almost every twist and turn as one travels around Tasmania.
Explore Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park
Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park is located in the middle of the island of Tasmania.
This is one of Australia’s most beautiful national parks. With magnificent views of alpine lakes and majestic mountains, it’s no surprise the Overland Track remains the number one way to explore this stunning national park.
Stop by waterfalls and explore myrtle forests with beech trees more than 60 million years old.
Tasmania has year-round opportunities to see the southern lights and will give you a chance to see this amazing phenomenon.
The southern lights or aurora australis are visible in the southern hemisphere only. The scientific explanation for aurora australis is the same as its northern sibling aurora borealis. When charged particles emitted by the sun strike atoms in the atmosphere of earth, electrons in those atoms change energy states and when they return to their resting state they emit light.
Hobart, capital of Australia’s island state of Tasmania, sits on the River Derwent. It is famous with its Salamanca Place, old sandstone warehouses host galleries and cafes.
With its captivating history, picturesque waterways, rugged mountains, and gourmet experiences, the city has something for everyone.
Hobart is close to many of southern Tasmania’s best travel experiences such as historic Port Arthur and the rugged Tasman Peninsula to Bruny Island, the Huon and Derwent Valleys and Mount Field National Park.
Freycinet is a national park on the east coast of Tasmania, Australia, 125 km northeast of Hobart and home to Tasmania’s most photographed view and situated on the breathtaking east coast
The powder-white beaches and transparent waters of Tasmania’s oldest park, formed over 400 million years, are home to native wildlife of 49 species that can only be found in Tasmania.
You can Kayak, snorkel, dive or swim in the clear waters to get up close to abundant marine life.
The Tasmanian Devil Unzoo is not a nature park and not a zoo. It is a four-in-one wildlife nature experience that combines up-close animal encounters, wildlife adventures, a Tasmanian native garden and original art.
Tasmanian Devil Unzoo is the world’s first intentional Unzoo—a revolutionary project to create a model wildlife and nature experience of the future. During your time with us, you’ll be inspired, intrigued, challenged and entertained. Sometimes, you might even find us a little outrageous. Our hope is that your visit to the Unzoo will challenge you to think about the natural world and your place in it, in a completely new way.
After 10 years of effort, it is now working well with wild wallabies, echidnas, possums, native fish and nearly 100 bird species living around our Unzoo bush garden.
The Centurion is the world’s tallest known individual Eucalyptus regnans tree. The tree is located in southern Tasmania, Australia and was measured by climber-deployed tapeline at 100.5 meters
The diameter of Centurion is 4.05 metres, its girth exceeds 12 metres, and its volume has been estimated at 268 cubic metres. The tree is in a small patch of very old forest surrounded by secondary forest.
The mountain ash Eucalyptus regnans is well represented in Tasmania but also grows to some extent on the Australian mainland in Victoria and southeast Australia. More than 140 specimens have been recorded in Tasmania above 85 metres in height with a number of these well over 90 metres.
Famous for its soaring sea cliffs and monumental rock formations and the World Heritage-listed Port Arthur Historic Site, Tasman National Park is an area of dramatic beauty and natural diversity.
Tasman National Park takes up more than 107 km². Tasman National Park is also renowned for its golden beaches, sculptured granite cliffs, and its world-famous coast track.
The tracks are carved throughout the park and range from pleasant and leisurely strolls to challenging multi-day walks.
Bruny Island has some of Tasmania’s most beautifully preserved natural environments with abundant wildlife and stunning cliff top views.
The island is Tasmania’s premier island destination. Including the Bruny National Park, the island provides the ultimate Tasmanian wilderness experience with many spectacular bushwalks, coastal tracks or beach strolls.
The island showcases a variety of artisan cheese, oysters, seafood, berries, fudge, wine, whisky, gin, beer and a selection of cafes and restaurants. There are lots of places to stay with accommodation ranging from friendly campsites to luxury beachfront retreats.
Famous for its crystal-clear waters, white sandy beaches and orange lichen-covered granite boulders, the Bay of Fires is one of Tasmania’s most popular conservation reserves.
The bay was given its name in 1773 by Captain Tobias Furneaux.
The Bay of Fires is located on the northeastern coast of Tasmania. It includes a gorgeous coastline that stretches over 50 kilometers from Binalong Bay. The Binalong Bay and nearby Humbug Point Nature Recreation Area include lovely spots like Skeleton Bay, Grants Point, and Elephant Head.
Liffey Falls is considered one of the island state’s prettiest waterfalls and is a series of four distinct tiered–cascade waterfalls on the Liffey River, is located in the Midlands region of Tasmania.
The area surrounding Liffey Falls was a meeting place for Tasmanian Aborigines for thousands of years.
The waterfall is best viewed towards the end of winter through to early spring.
Feature photo credit: Steven Penton / Flickr
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Jackson Hole is a valley between the Teton Mountain Range and the Gros Ventre Range in Wyoming sitting near the border of Idaho.
Mammoth Hot Springs
Mammoth Hot Springs are a must-see feature of Yellowstone National Park. The limestone is a relatively soft type of rock and it is allowing the travertine formations to grow much faster than other sinter formations.
Mammoth Hot Springs has two terrace boardwalks, the Upper and Lower. Approximately 50 hot springs lie within the area.
Mud Volcano is created by the eruption of mud or slurries, water and gases. Mud volcanoes do not produce lava.
It was first discovered in the 19th century when the rumbling eruptions could be heard half a mile away. After an earthquake in Yellowstone in 1978, the soil temperatures increased to nearly 200 °F and the slope between Sizzling Basin and Mud Geyser, once covered with green grass and trees, became a barren landscape of fallen trees known as “the cooking hillside.”
Norris Geyser Basin is home to the largest active geyser in the world, Steamboat Geyser. It hosts 550 geothermal features including Yellowstone’s tallest active geyser, Steamboat Geyser, which spouts water more than 300 feet in the air. A 2-mile trail winds through Norris Geyser Basin leads you to Black Growler Steam Vent, Ledge Geyser, the basin’s second-highest geyser.
The Fountain Paint Pot is a mud pot located in Lower Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park. The Fountain Paint Pot is named for the reds, yellows and browns of the mud in this area. The differing colors are derived from oxidation states of the iron in the mud.
The National Museum of Wildlife Art (NMWA) is located in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. In addition to 14 galleries, the museum has a sculpture trail, museum shop, restaurant, children’s discovery gallery, and library.
The Museum is a nonprofit, with a mission to collect, display, interpret, and preserve the highest quality North American wildlife art, supplemented by wildlife art found throughout the world.
There are more than 5,000 cataloged artworks and 550 artists represented in the museum’s permanent collection.
The museum’s Sculpture Trail, designed by award-winning landscape architect Walter J. Hood, opened in fall 2011. The three-quarter-mile long trail extends to the north and south of the museum and host 30 permanent and temporary works of art.
There are always fun activities that everyone will love – from the world-class ski and snowboard terrain at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in the winter, to exploring the parks through the Wild West in the summer.
Snow King Mountain or Jackson Hole Mountain Resort ski resorts have invested in turning their bases into exciting summer destinations that the entire family can enjoy. Skiers and snowboarders come from all over the world to test their skills on the world-class mountains of Jackson Hole.
Canyon Rim South Trail to Artist Point is a 2.5-mile trail located near Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, primarily used for hiking and walking, that features a river and is good for all skill levels.
Yellowstone National Park has the largest concentration of wildlife in the lower 48 states. The wildlife that visitors want to see the most in Yellowstone are Bears, Wolves, Moose, Elk, Bison, Badgers, Otters, Fox and others.
Wild animals, especially females with young, are unpredictable. Keep a safe distance from all wildlife. Each year a number of park visitors are injured by wildlife when approaching too closely.
Yellowstone also has a wide variety of plant life. In the spring and early summer, wildflowers appear in abundance. They are well worth viewing, and it is usually safer to approach them.
Do not approach bears! Bears are unpredictable and may attack people without warning. Never leave food or garbage unattended and do not feed wildlife.
Jackson Lake Kayaking and Snake River Rafting
Incredible sea kayaking on Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park combined with a Scenic Raft Trip down the Snake River are some of the most popular activities. You can raft a beautiful and scenic few miles section of the river inside Grand Teton National Park where wildlife sightings are common.
Grand Prismatic Spring
The Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park is the largest hot spring in the United Statesand it is the most photographed thermal feature in Yellowstone.
The hot spring has bright bands of orange, yellow, and green ring the deep blue waters in the spring. The reason for the multicolored layers are different species of thermophile (heat-loving) bacteria living in the progressively cooler water around the spring.
Featured image photo credit: Tim Lumley / Flickr
Want to learn more about other sustainable destination? Check out section sustainable travel destinations.