Health

5 Earth Day Switches That Will Benefit Your Bod

April 22, 2015  |  By: Whitney E. RD

Happy Earth Day Everyone!

I hope you will all take moment today to step outside, breathe in some fresh air, catch a few rays of sunshine, and give thanks to whomever you credit for your existence for this beauty that we call Mother Nature.

Taking care of the Earth is a group effort everyday, but today more than any is a good time to remind yourself of the little changes you can make to contribute. They don’t require too much effort, but everyone chips in, the payoff could be huge.

The best part — if helping the planet isn’t incentive enough, maybe the health benefits you’ll personally reap are.

5 Earth Day Switches That Will
Benefit Your Bod

• Ditch the plastic water bottles.

Americans consume about 30 billion water bottles per year and use about 17 millions barrels of oil to do so. About 80% of this ends up in landfills, and the plastic they’re made with doesn’t completely biodegrade, only breaks into smaller and smaller pieces over the years. These tiny bits of plastic pollute our oceans, contaminate our soil, and overflow our toxic landfills.

So yeah, that sucks for the planet, but how would ditching plastic bottles help you? Many disposable plastic water bottles contain a harmful substance known as BPA, a hormone-disrupting chemical that can cause reproductive issues and pre-cancerous cell changes, among other scary things. Avoid BPA and help the environment by switching to reusable stainless steel or glass water bottles.

• Buy organic and non-GMO.

Despite the opinion of the general public, 89% of scientists believe that GMO products are perfectly safe for human consumption. Still, the environmental effects are still very highly disputed and we may not know their impact for many years to come. What we do know is that GMO’s may already be causing the decline of the Monarch butterfly population.  Again, this is still disputed, but suggestive. When you alter the DNA of organisms, we really don’t know what the long-term affects will be on our ecosystem.

I’m erring on the side of caution and avoiding them when I can.

So how does this benefit your bod? When you buy organic, not only are you avoiding potentially environmentally threatening GMO’s but you’re also getting a nutritionally superior product. Some studies show that organic vegetables, particularly green leafy ones, are lower in nitrates and higher in Vitamin C.

• Switch to all-natural home cleaning products.

Many home cleaning products are known to contain carcinogens, asthma irritants, and straight-up poison. You can avoid all of this — and their plastic containers — by making your own cleaners at home with natural recipes.

This article contains 67 of them!

• Cut back your meat consumption.

The fossil fuels required to raise cattle, lamb, and pork greatly exceed that of producing vegetables. According to the Environmental Working Group, if everyone in the United States ate no meat or cheese for just one day per week, it would be like taking 7.6 million cars off the road!

In addition to that, many studies show that women who eat a more plant-based diet are less like to be overweight/obese, and less likely to develop a variety of cancers. I’m not saying to cut out meat entirely, I’m just saying to get on board with Meatless Monday every once in a while!

• Walk – obvi.

There’s no better way to reduce your carbon footprint then to get out and make an actual footprint instead of a tire track. When you can, take the road less traveling and hoof it. Not only will you be helping the environment, you’ll be helping your waistline, your heart, and your mind.

Get those 10,000 steps people!

*And a big Happy Earth Day Birthday to my soon-to-be mother-in-law Donna, the biggest nature lover + protector I know!

Weigh In: What little switches will you make this Earth Day to help Mother Nature?