5 Ways to Be Healthier and Help the Environment

As more people are becoming aware of the need to protect the environment they are looking for ways they can help. Some people, however, are worried that they will need to make huge changes in their lifestyle to be better for the environment. In reality there are many small changes that you can make to be more environmentally friendly right now. I discussed a few of these small changes in my articles 5 Simple Ways You Can Reduce Pollution, Live Healthier, and Save Money and 5 Ways to Make Grocery Shopping More Earth Friendly. While making small changes can be a great benefit for the environment, making the right small changes can also be a benefit for you. By just making five small changes you can not only help the environment, you can also help yourself to be healthier.

Eat Less Meat

Making the choice to become vegetarian is one of the most environmentally friendly actions a person can take. The amount of land used for grazing animals such as cows can have a huge environmental impact. In some areas, especially in Latin America, deforestation is immense. Even more than just the land used there is also a significant amount of pollution generated by the large factory farm that sell most commercial meat products. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency Animal feeding operations (AFO), whichare farms or feedlots where animals are kept and raised in confined areas, have contributed to negative environmental and human health impacts. The pollution associated with these AFOs threatens our drinking water sources and may harm air quality. Choosing not to eat meat can be a benefit to the earth. If more people ate less meat the demand would drop, thus lowering the number of animals needed to keep the supply up. Even by just reducing the amount of meat and animal products you do consume you can help the environment.

However choosing to eat less meat can benefit your health as well. Diets high in red meat have been shown to increase your risk for heart disease and increase cholesterol levels. Some studies have even linked frequent red meat eating with increased risks of certain cancers, such as pancreatic, breast, prostate and renal cancers. Those who eat meat often are also as risk of more broken bones as animal protein leaches calcium from your bones. The World Health Organisation recommends a diet high in fresh fruits and vegetables with limited preserved and red meat. Choosing to cut back on the amount of meat you eat, or to cut it out completely, and replace it with a healthy balance of fresh fruits and vegetables, grains, and beans/legumes can mean increased health for you and for the environment.

Eat More Fresh Foods

Many people choose foods that are convenient to them. Prepackaged, preprocessed, and precooked are the common attributes to most foods found in the grocery store. However buying all of that convenience food can have a negative impact on the environment. From start to finish these typical foods create waste and pollution. The factories that prepare the foods, the chemical preservatives to store the foods, the packaging that is often tossed out as trash, and the fuel used to ship these food staples across the country. In some instances foods that are out of season locally are shipped in from other countries, increasing the fuel consumption used to get them to your grocery store.When you consider how many of these convenience foods are in your grocery store the amount of pollution and waste seems enormous. By choosing to buy local fresh foods, or even growing your own in a garden, you are cutting out all the unnecessary waste generated to get the foods.

Eating fresh foods can improve your health as well. Fresh foods such as fruits and vegetables loose many of their nutrients during processing. Eating canned foods can mean you are not getting as many healthy vitamins and minerals as you would in fresh fruits and vegetables. You also get to skip the many preservatives, dyes, artificial flavors, and other chemicals used in processed foods. A diet poor in fresh fruits and vegetables can increase the risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer and other illnesses. Fresh foods are the healthiest foods you can buy.

Drink The Water

There are a few thousand different beverages available in hundreds of thousands of flavors. With so many great tasting things to drink it can be hard to decide which to choose. However all of those colorful cans and bottles can add up to an environmental mess. Most simple throw away the containers when they are done, increasing the amount of trash being generated. Even with the increase of recycling the factories producing the beverages and their containers, and the trucks used to ship said drink across the country, create pollution and use more fuel. Skipping the packaged drinks can add up to a huge amount of trash and pollution not created.

Our bodies require water to function properly, yet many people drink too little. Choosing water is also healthier for your body. All of the caffeine, sugar, dyes, and artificial sweeteners can hurt you if you drink them too often. Not only is it devoid of nutrients, drinking too much can increase your risk for heart and kidney trouble, obesity and tooth decay. Even supposed "healthy" drinks often contain high amounts of sugars and carbohydrates. Buying a reusable water bottle and refilling it from the tap ensures that you have a drink with you without generated more trash from packaged drinks.

Take A Walk

Most people understand the negative impact that driving can have on the environment. From the pollution created by cars and motorcycles to the fuels used to run these vehicles using your car can be a blight on the environment. Even with reduced numbers of vehicles on the roads due to carpooling and public transport some feel that this is not enough. Choosing to give up driving, or reduce it to times when absolutely necessary, is a great way to help the lower your impact. Walking or riding a bicycle creates no environmental impact when compared to that of most vehicles. You can easily lower the amount of pollution you generate by choosing to walk or bike more often.

Regular exercise is also good for your health. Frequent walking or biking is a great way to get exercise in, especially if you might not have the time for regular exercise programs. Walking or riding to work or to the store will help strengthen your cardiovascular and respiratory systems, manage your weight, keep your muscles strong and in goo shape, reduce stress and depression, and even help you sleep better. All of these great benefits to your health come with almost no negative environmental impact.

Be Chemical Free

Most homes today have a wide assortment of chemical cleaners in them. While these sprays and powders all promise a clean and shiny home they also can come with a negative impact on the environment. The various cleaners are often full of dangerous chemicals that end up in our water or in the ground when they are disposed of. The bottles, cans, and boxes also become more trash, sometimes fatal trash to animals or children that may discover tossed out packages. As I shared in my article 5 Chemicals You Can Remove from Your Home Right Now there are many safe and effective cleaning methods that you can use instead. Using natural cleaners, such as baking soda or lemon juice, are safer and far more environmentally friendly.

Removing the common household cleaners can be great for your health as well. Breathing in the fumes from most cleaners can cause an assortment of problems. From respiratory problems to headaches, or worse, using these harsh chemicals daily can be hazardous to your health. They can also become deadly if they were to be swallowed on accident. Safely disposing of these chemical cleaners and using non-toxic cleaners instead can keep yourself safer and improve your health.

Less is More

When it comes to your health and to the environment a good rule of thumb is that less is more. Less meat, less prepackaged foods, less time spent sitting down, and less dangerous chemicals are all great ways to help the environment and improve your health. By making small changes you can quickly become more eco-friendly and get an added benefit of improved health.