The Red, White, and Green

Photo via Flickr: Shavar Ross

Last night’s 82nd annual Academy Awards ceremony was an unmitigated snoozefest, but there was one image that made me and my fellow Oscar-watchers snap to attention: A strikingly svelte Forest Whitaker, who took the stage late in the evening to introduce Sandra Bullock for the Best Actress nomination. While Whitaker has yet to talk about his weight loss, I’m betting that a healthy meatless diet likely played a role. That’s right, folks — the Academy Award winning actor is a vegetarian.

Check out this video he recorded with his adorable daughter a few years back for the animal rights organization PETA:

[Watch video on YouTube]

Inspired by Whitaker? Going vegetarian can be a great way to lose weight, as well as lower your risk for diet-related illnesses like heart disease and diabetes, since research shows that vegetarians are significantly slimmer than meat-eaters. But foregoing meat alone won’t be enough to get you in movie star shape; healthy, balanced meals are still a must. One friend of mine packed on the pounds after switching to a “vegetarian” diet. Only later was it revealed that she was basing her meals around pizza, mac and cheese, and tater tots.

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: Want to know what other celebs owe their red-carpet figures to a vegetarian diet? Click here.

More Meatless Monday posts:
Spring clean your diet: This Blissful Chef eCookbook has arrived!
Your holiday weekend read: The Flexitarian Diet

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Last night, Ben Stiller stopped by Conan O’Brien’s second-to-last Tonight Show to lend a little moral support, calling out NBC in the process for wasting $50 million worth of resources on a studio that will only have been used for seven months. Of course, the fake green PSA was hilarious as all get-out, but Stiller raises an important point — is NBC really going to trash this studio once the final curtain comes down?

[Watch video on Hulu]

This obviously wasn’t a night about eco-correctness, though, considering the mink Snuggie-wearing thoroughbred that Conan trotted out on the show earlier that evening.

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: Ben Stiller isn’t all fun and games; he and his Stillerstrong charity are working hard to raise money for the victims in Haiti. You can donate by credit card or text via the website.

Related post:
Devastating earthquake in Haiti: How you can help

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Photo via Flickr: Terren in Virginia

Looking for a bit of inspiration to join the Meatless Monday movement in 2010? Here’s a holiday reading list that will help jump-start you toward the cause. Don’t worry, though: This isn’t a compendium of scare tactic stories meant to ruin your Christmas dinner; in the nonjudgmental spirit of Meatless Monday, these books are fascinating reads for wanna-be veggies and hardcore meat-lovers alike.

So take a trip to your local library, download one of these to your brand-new Kindle (lucky you!), or buy a copy for a loved one as a last-minute stocking stuffer. Here, our Top 5 foods for thought:

1. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
Michael Pollan journeys the US to uncover the environmental, political, and ethical impact of four different meals (fast food, industrial organic, grass-fed, and hunted/gathered) in this now-classic.

2. The Flexitarian Diet
Have a hankering for tofu stir-fry but still can’t imagine giving up that hot dog at a baseball game? You don’t have to, as registered dietitian and author Dawn Jackson Blatner outlines in this reasonable approach to (mostly meatless) eating that will help you lose weight and live a long, healthy life.

3. Eating Animals
Celebrated novelist Jonathan Safran Foer (Everything Is Illuminated, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) takes a profound and surprisingly entertaining look at the horrors of factory farming and his own meat-eating history in his first foray into nonfiction.

4. The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet
Anyone who questions the health benefits of eating a plant-based diet need only look at author Alicia Silverstone’s clear skin, shiny hair, and enviable figure. And while you might not be ready to embrace her full-on devotion to a vegan diet, this book is chock-full of inspiring ideas and yummy recipes that will help get you started.

5. Food Rules
Alright, so it’s another Michael Pollan book and it won’t be released until Dec. 29, but I’m jumping on the pre-order bandwagon for this much-anticipated guide to sustainable eating that I’m guessing will follow his “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants” philosophy.

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: After you’ve finished reading your book, don’t just stash it on a shelf: Pass it along to a friend or family member (unless it has to go back to the library, of course).

More Meatless Monday posts:
Meatless Monday: Sweet potato latkes
Meatless Monday: Crustless rainbow chard quiche

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Put down those sprout burgers and sit your butt back on that couch — evidently, being fat and not exercising is better for the environment than staying thin and healthy. That is, according to the supposed eco-expert authors of a board game trivia question posted yesterday on the ever-hilarious FAIL Blog.

see more Epic Fails

In all seriousness though, it raises an interesting question: Is the up-to-a-decade shorter life expectancy of a seriously overweight person enough to offset a lifetime of consuming more of the world’s resources? (I’m not just talking about consuming as in eating; people who are heavier also place greater fossil fuel demands on their mode of transportation, whether it be by car or airplane.)

UK scientists estimate that a fat person is responsible for about 1 metric ton (1.1 US ton) more CO2 emissions a year than a fit person, so let’s do the math:

Average US life expectancy: 78 years
Average US life expectancy of an overweight person: 73 years
Average yearly CO2 footprint of an American: 27 tons
Average yearly CO2 footprint of an overweight American: [27 tons + 1.1 tons] = 28.1 tons
Lifetime CO2 emissions of an American [27 tons x 78 years] = 2,106 tons
Lifetime CO2 emissions of an overweight American [28.1 tons x 73 years] = 2,051 tons

Now obviously, this is a very rough estimate — especially considering that since one-third of Americans are obese, that segment of the population is figured into those baseline life expectancy and yearly CO2 emission estimates — but it looks like the trivia card is right: An overweight American will emit slightly less carbon over his lifetime — to the tune of 55 tons.

My guess, however, is that there’s probably not a person on earth who would want to meet an early grave in the name of reducing CO2 emissions.

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: We all need to reduce consumption whenever and wherever possible, regardless of our life expectancy. So get in shape! Your body and the earth will thank you for the time you’re here.

Related posts:
High-fructose corn syrup lobby hits the airwaves
Meat lobby fighting Meatless Monday

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Global warming guru Al Gore has taken a lot of flack recently from the environmental community for his meat-eating ways, so I was thrilled to see the former vice president call out factory farming in his appearance this weekend on Saturday Night Live.

[Click here to watch clip on NBC.com]

Could the vice president’s slimmer physique be attributed to a less meat-intensive diet? While earlier this month, Gore said on Good Morning America that he has no plans to become a vegetarian, he did say that he now eats less meat than he used to. And that he pointedly mentioned factory farming on SNL means he’s at least cognizant of the reality that 51 percent of greenhouse gas emissions are attributed the meat and dairy industry. I’m sure he’s now thinking twice (and taking a good look around him to see who’s watching) before digging into that proverbial cheeseburger.

It may be an unpopular stance in the environmental community, but I don’t think Gore — or any environmentalist, for that matter — needs to become a vegetarian or vegan to prove his commitment to fighting climate change. Animals have an important role to play in sustainable agriculture, and I’d eat pasture-raised beef over a GMO soy–infused Boca Burger any day. (Before you take issue with this comment, pick up a copy of The Omnivore’s Dilemma.)

Unfortunately, examples of sustainable animal agriculture are few and far between in this country; until that changes, less meat, less often will be my mantra.

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: This Meatless Monday, make a pledge to challenge yourself for the remainder of this week: The only meat you eat will be from pasture-based, sustainably raised livestock. Not sure what this means? Click here.

More Meatless Monday posts:
Meat lobby fighting Meatless Monday
Baltimore schools make national headlines for Meatless Monday effort

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I guess I fail to see the connection between nudity and greenhouse gas emissions, but if a Greenpeace hottie named Dave wants to strip down while explaining the intricacies of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and the role they play in global warming, who am I to argue? He’s got my attention.

[Click here to watch video on YouTube]

Those of us who are old enough to remember spraying our hair with giant cans of Aqua Net in the ’80s (or at least remember our moms spraying their hair) probably recall the ensuing publicity about chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and their role in the depletion of the ozone layer of the atmosphere. When CFCs were banned in 1987, HFCs — or F-gases — were thought to be a better alternative. Oops.

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: HFCs have an even greater impact on our climate than the much publicized CO2. Sign the Greenpeace petition to ensure that an HFC ban is included in the Copenhagen deal.

Related posts:
Why aren’t Angelenos using those green bins?
Germans say no to underground CO2 storage

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Antonio Gaudi often recycled broken dishes, glass, and tiles by incorporating them into his works. Photo via Flickr: Karynsig

I tend to think that art is inherently green — it doesn’t take a lot of materials to produce, can last for centuries, and doesn’t require any fossil fuels for you to enjoy it other than the metro ride or car trip it took you to get to the gallery or museum (well, unless you hop on a transatlantic flight to visit the Louvre). But if you can create art out of trash or other recycled materials and teach people about conservation at the same time, why the heck not?

I’ve spotted some pretty interesting eco art recently, from the fabulously kooky (The Mercedes Pens) to the slightly creepy (BananaBoyRoy) — though all of it creative, nonetheless. So I was pleased to hear about The Green Art Project website, which features green art for art’s sake as much as for the planet’s. My favorite part of the site, though, is the how-to art projects, which would be great to tackle on a rainy fall weekend with your kids.

The Green Art Project is pretty new, so I expect there will be more creative projects up in the months to come, but in the meantime, why not get cozy, order up a pizza, and then make a Pizza Box Portrait?

There’s been a lot of doom and gloom lately. Green art may not save the world, but it may provide the inspiration. (And at the very least, it’ll keep your kids away from the Xbox.)

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: Encourage your kids to start collecting difficult-to-recycle materials (buttons, postage stamps, soda can tabs, etc.) and use them for their own creative art projects.

Related post:
Good, green fun! ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ fort-building contest

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Nature’s Express, a vegetarian fast food restaurant with locations in Yuma, AZ, and San Diego, isn’t threatening to take down McDonald’s anytime soon, but I love the chain’s if-you-can’t-beat-’em-join-’em approach to our nation’s dependence on the drive thru. And for those who think fast food can’t be healthy, consider that one of the founders of the restaurant is an oncologist. When is one coming to Los Angeles?

A few more reasons to alleviate your fast food guilt, should you be fortunate enough to reside near either location: In addition to serving a completely plant-based menu, the restaurant also buys organic whenever possible, recycles its cooking oil into biofuel, uses biodegradable containers and cutlery, and incorporated renewable materials into the construction of both locations.

I never eat fast food (believe it or not, I can count the number of times I’ve eaten at the golden arches in the past 15 years on three fingers), but I would be hitting up Nature’s Express for a South of the Border Burger and sweet potato fries practically every Meatless Monday. Yum!

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: In honor of 350.org’s Global Day of Climate Action on Oct. 24, Nature’s Express is offering special coupons to all its customers who pledge to go meatless one day a week for a year. Find out more about the 350.org campaign and how to get involved here.

More Meatless Monday posts:
Meatless Monday: The PB&J Campaign
Baltimore City Public Schools first district in nation to adopt Meatless Monday

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With all the PlayStations and Xboxes and Wiis and things that kids need nowadays to entertain themselves (don’t worry, I’m not about to break out in a rendition of “Kids“), it was really refreshing to see so many people enthusiastically enter a fort-building contest for the Where the Wild Things Are release tomorrow.

Photo: weloveyouso.com

Remember when all it took to make you happy was a couple of sticks and some old sheets? This photo, more than anything, reminds me that we really don’t need all the “stuff.” Maybe if more kids in this country were building forts instead of looking at Facebook, we wouldn’t have a nearly 20 percent childhood obesity rate.

Check out more of the amazing submissions on the We Love You So website.

–Jennifer Grayson 

Do this now: Got kids? Tell them to go play outside.

Related posts:
Baltimore City Public Schools first district in nation to adopt Meatless Monday
Grow up strong with vitamin D-fortified crap!

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Photo via Flickr: Cherrylynx

I usually like to keep things pretty positive here, but the other night I had a dream I just can’t seem to shake. In it, I was told that the earth’s population will be a mere 2 billion by the year 2103, having reached its peak of 9 billion sometime in my lifetime and then drastically reduced by whatever catastrophic consequences are set into motion by global warming. The message imparted in the dream was that I should focus on teaching my future children how to be self-reliant, for they would need all of the survival skills now lost to most of us in a modern society: how to grow food, harvest medicinal herbs, sew, make soap, bake bread from scratch, etc.

Now, there are those of you who may argue that the future survival of the planet hinges not on what to teach our children but rather, whether or not to have children at all, but that wasn’t really the point of the dream. I believe they were mentioned as a way to illustrate the necessity of passing down knowledge and skills that will be essential in the coming years.

The population of the world declining by over 80 percent in little more than half a century is certainly a doomsday scenario, and maybe I’ve had DIY on the brain since attending an Urban Homestead event a couple of weeks ago, but this sentiment of self-sufficiency is one I hear over and over again in the environmental community.

A documentary filmmaker friend of mine, who was an integral member of the environmental movement in the ’60s and ’70s (and is still an unending advocate for social justice and green issues), echoed this in a recent conversation we had. “If I were young, and just starting out as an environmentalist, I would be learning all the skills that were so important in years past — especially how to grow my own food,” he said.

Now I’m not writing about this to scare you. In my waking life, I still believe that we have the chance to reverse a lot of the damage, especially when it comes to technological breakthroughs that will take us away from our dependence on fossil fuels. But there’s no arguing that we’ve already started to see the effects of climate change — just yesterday, two German merchant ships made it through the Northeast Passage after global warming and melting ice opened a route from South Korea along Russia’s Arctic coast to Siberia. And there is always the wild card factor: Let’s not forget that the Black Death wiped out a quarter of Europe’s population in the Middle Ages. Public health officials are already planning for how to deal with the spread of infectious diseases due to warmer temperatures.

OK, so maybe it all is a bit scary. But in the days since the dream, I haven’t been dwelling on the fear. Instead, I feel committed to taking reasonable steps to prepare for an uncertain future. Let’s hope that everything turns out OK and I just wind up with some new bread-making skills to show off to dinner guests.

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: Learning how to grow food isn’t only a beneficial skill to have for what possibly lies ahead; it’s also a great way to lessen your impact on the environment now. For an in-depth experience, consider an internship at a local farm. Check out the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service for opportunities.

Related posts:
Small steps to sustainability
The planet will survive, but will we?

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