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This Saturday!
11am-2pm
NATURAL FOODS
Individuals Nourishing Community Since 1971
baby steps
to going green
Cheap and easy tips for any budget
G
BY CORINNE BOYER
oing green can be achieved by making changes big or small. Three main
contributors to greenhouse gases are transportation, what types of food
you buy — i.e. where it comes from and how it’s packaged — and how
you heat and cool your home, according to Linda Kelly with 350 Eugene.
“One of the main things to think about is our personal habits that can
really affect our carbon footprint,” she says.
Little changes that people can make at home begin by taking shorter
showers, washing clothes in cold water and putting on a sweater instead
of turning up the heat.
“Get to know your neighbors,” Kelly tells me. Before going out to run
errands, plan your trip. If you can’t bike or walk, Kelly suggests carpooling
with the people next door.
Making sustainable changes on a budget in a small space may be more
attainable than you think. At home, I use cooking products like olive oil or coconut oil —
which double as my face and body moisturizers, eye makeup remover, shaving cream and
deep hair conditioning treatment — to save money, and these oils don’t contain chemicals
found in most moisturizers and beauty products.
Apple cider vinegar is great on salads and can be used for fighting off that icky onset of
a cold — it also works well as a facial toner and a clarifying hair rinse. Instead of buying
disposable plastic storage containers or plastic sealing bags, I use Mason jars for storing
leftovers.
You can save money at the grocery store and transportation costs if you save the stalks
of your romaine or butter lettuce. You can regrow them in a bowl of water
and they tend to last for a couple of weeks.
I also hang all of my clothes on a drying rack instead of
throwing them in a dryer.
Kelly says limiting dependence on fossil fuels, which is in-
tertwined with almost everything we use regularly like trans-
portation and product packaging, can begin by eating less meat.
Buying locally grown food plays a big role in sustainability.
“You can go to the farmers market and use the SNAP
[Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program] card
there,” Kelly says. “If you don’t have a backyard, you
can get a plot at the community garden and meet a new
friend.”
While there are tons of little changes you can make,
advocacy is something everyone can take part in.
“Advocate for what you want and what’s hap-
pening on the very local level,” Kelly says. “Pay
attention, go to city council meetings, go on-
line and see what’s important like advocat-
ing for better and more consistent public
transportation.” ■
Local Foods Fair
Meet your favorite Eugene food companies & enjoy free samples on Earth Day!
Saturday, April 22nd 11am to 2pm
Vendors include:
Sundance Kitchen
Toby’s Family Foods
Nancy’s Yogurt
Genesis Juice
Hummingbird Wholesale
Coconut Bliss
Grizzlies Brand
Cafe Mam
Mountain Mel’s Teas
Sweet Creek Foods
De Casa Fine Foods
Pasta Gardner
Nectar Creek
Zenergy Energy Balls
Soma
Nourishing Kitchens
Radical Salsa
Local Cheeses
Local merchants, the heart of our community
24th & Hilyard • 541-343-9142 • open daily 7am-11pm
&
E
E
FR EN
OP LL!
to A
BIRTHDAY
BLOCK
PARTY!
Come celebrate the YMCA’s 130th Birthday!
This Saturday! April 22nd
11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
2055 Patterson Street
EVERYONE is INVITED to our FREE Birthday Block
Party! There will be live music from the Jimmy
Bobby Band, inflatable bounce houses, an obstacle
course and more. Food will be available for purchase
from local food trucks Every Day Kine Grindz and
Sammitch. And of course there will be birthday cake!
WWW.EUGENEYMCA.ORG
ILLUSTRATION FOR EUGENE WEEKLY BY LILY PADULA
541-686-9622
eugeneweekly.com • A pril 20, 2017
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