By Mandy Kendall

I read something the other day which shocked me (and that’s not easy I can tell you). According to EarthSave.org, it takes 2,500 gallons of water, 12 pounds of grain, 35 pounds of topsoil and the energy equivalent of one gallon of gasoline to produce one pound of feedlot beef. Figures from other organizations differ slightly but the general consensus is that it takes a lot of resources to produce meat, especially beef.

When you consider how many people could be fed on the grain that is used to produce one 8 ounce steak it really doesn’t make sense. If giving up one steak could essentially feed many people, maybe we really can each make a difference? I know it’s easy to think “What can I possibly do that will make an impact?” and not bother trying, but as my dear old Mum used to say. “Where would we be if everyone did that?” If we all decided that we were able to make a difference, just imagine what we could achieve.

Mandy Kendall

So I got to thinking about what day-to-day things we can do as individuals that would make a difference and impact the world in some way.

Here are some Qwik-e tips that really do make a difference:

1. Go meat free at least once a week. If Americans ate just one fewer meat dish per week, it would free up 7.5 million tons of grain, enough to feed the 25 million Americans who go hungry each week. If 10 percent of the world’s population gave up eating meat, it would be enough to feed the estimated billion people who go hungry annually.

2. Paper or plastic? Well, neither is good to be honest. Last year 12 million barrels of oil were used to make the 88.5 billion plastic bags used in the United States alone. Try keeping reusable shopping bags in your car but if you forget the usable bag (as we all do), choose paper, if you will recycle it, or plastic, if you will reuse or recycle it.

3. Bottle your own water. It takes 26 bottles of water to produce the plastic container for a one-liter bottle of water, and that process pollutes 25 liters of groundwater. Stainless steel water bottles are the most durable. If you do have to buy water in a plastic bottle check the number on the bottom first. Plastics with numbers 3, 6 and 7 could pose a health risk so try and find ones numbered 1 ,2, 4, or 5.

4. Unwanted catalogs. Every year, 53 million trees and 56 billion gallons of water are used to produce the 19 billion catalogs mailed out to Americans. CatalogChoice.org allows you to stop unwanted catalogs and help you do your bit for the environment.

5. Laundry. Almost 90 percent of the energy needed to wash laundry goes to heating the water. With modern day detergents most clothes will come clean in a cold water wash and rinse. Also, these days many natural detergents are just as effective at cleaning clothes at lower temperatures as their less environmentally-friendly counterparts. Try one that’s biodegradable as well and double your benefit to the earth.

6. Leaking toilets. Apparently as many as one in five toilets leak, which wastes between 30 to 500 gallons of water a day! To test your toilet, put a few drops of food coloring in the toilet tank and if the dye shows up in the water bowl after 15 minutes or so the toilet has a leak.

7. Paper towels. If every household in America replaced one roll of “virgin fiber” with 100 percent recycled paper towels we could save 544,000 trees. Better yet, try using re-usable microfiber cloths for mopping up those spills.

8. Dishwasher. If you have a dishwasher, running it (fully loaded) without pre-rinsing the dishes can use a third less water than washing the dishes by hand, saving up to 10 to 20 gallons of water a day. Also using the air dry setting (instead of heat dry) will use 50 percent less energy.

9. Standby. Computers and monitors left on overnight or appliances left plugged in will continue to draw electricity even when they are not being used. Unplugging appliances that are not used very often (TVs in guest bedrooms, etc.) can save upward of 20 percent of a household’s electricity bill.

10. Tires. If everyone kept their tires properly inflated (which apparently a third of us don’t do!) we would save the country 2.8 billion gallons of gas a year.

11. Finally, my favorite tip (because it’s got to be the easiest one): Brushing your teeth. If you are brushing your teeth for the recommended two minutes (of course we are), switching off the faucet whilst brushing can save approximately 5 gallons of water. This can be extended to hand washing too. Every little helps.

Until next time.

Mandy Kendall operates Health Connective in South Lake Tahoe. If you have any questions, would like some advice, or would like to request some Qwik-e tips on any health and wellbeing topic, please feel free to drop me an email at healthconnective@gmail.com, visit us on Facebook, or keep an eye out on Lake Tahoe News for regular Qwik-e tips on how to make healthy changes one Quick and Easy step at a time.