Pledge For More Sustainability

Ahhh! Australia was wonderful... and life changing. It is also surprising when you think about the 1 1/2 weeks that I have been back (still feel the need for more sleep) and what has changed because of my time in Australia.

First, Rescue Dave's comment (from the Manly Environment Centre) about not eating as much fish and if you are going to eat fish, eat low on the food chain, has really stuck with me. His concern is that if everyone on the planet ate fish, the oceans wouldn't have any fish left. His comment about eating low on the food chain has to do with pollutants in our oceans and rivers. Contaminants such as heavy metals intensify up the food chain... a tuna that has eaten cod, that has eaten a herring containing mercury will have a lot more mercury built up in its system than the herring. So it is healthier to eat the herring. Rescue Dave recommended eating sardines (small fish) if you eat a lot of fish... they don't live as long in the mercury poisoned water and don't have as much mercury built up in their systems.

Also, while I was following up on the whole mercury/sardine issue I found information on how bad farmed fish are for the environment. Most fish farms employee practices that degrade the water quality and the farmed fish are a species mutation that can actually destroy a species by mixing with it. Most are fed meal or pellets from ground up fish that have been caught by abusive factory trawlers so you probably kill more wild fish when you eat a farmed fish than when you actually eat a wild one.

Here is the link about this New York Times article: http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/mark-kurlansky-on-sustainable-seafood/

My pledge to live more sustainably involves never buying farmed fish again, having reduced my garbage pick-up at the house to once per month, trying harder to always remember my reusable shopping bags, and to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).

I have researched local CSAs. Zestful Gardens wants $550 up front at the beginning of the season. That one is not in my budget. Terry's Berrys only requires $150 to start an account and they have two sizes of baskets, a small one for $18 and a large one for $30. Chrissy Cooley also told me that she could get me a 10% discount on a CSA that delivers to PLU.

I do wish that more was being done in America to live more sustainably, but it is kind of comforting and inspiring knowing what is being done in Australia. Janet