Saving the Planet One Meal at a Time Episode 68

March 20, 2018

Being a vegan is one of the biggest ways to reduce your carbon footprint. Our guest, Jennifer Deurloo, says she didn’t become vegan to be sustainable, but it was a bonus for her. She told us vegans don’t consume anything from animals or produced by animals. A tip Kinga learned from JAM was anything that has eyes, vegans don’t eat or don’t eat what they produce. It’s much easier to be vegan now because it’s on trend and restaurants offer more options than ever. Being vegan isn’t necessarily healthy, you can be an unhealthy any type of eater.

Did you know Oreos are coincidentally vegan? You can eat only Oreos and call yourself vegan! Jennifer says being vegan is cheaper than eating the normal American diet, whether we’re talking about the groceries you buy, or what you eat at a restaurant. She made a really good point about how the strongest animals (elephants, rhinos, etc.) on earth eat primarily plant-based foods.

Protein can be an important factor in someone’s decision to take the vegan route, so we asked her what foods she eats to get protein. Apparently, seeds, nuts, and beans are the biggest sources of protein for her. Jennifer also chooses not to use leather products because of how unsustainable they are. The way leather factories produce these products uses massive amounts of energy and produces toxic chemicals in the factory and to surrounding land. She also doesn’t particularly like sitting on a dead being’s skin.

Dyan Getz thinks we need to educate people more as one step to solving sustainability issues. One interesting way she thought to do that would be to start charging for plastic bags, like many other states and cities have already done. We should make it easier for people to be sustainable.

Our sustainable rapper, Jason Zeikowitz, brought ASU School of Sustainability events coordinator Meghan Herrick to the show. Some of her job duties include putting on sustainable lectures, films, tours, etc. She tells us sustainability starts at the local level and local action can make a huge difference.

Our musical guest, Shawn Johnson, played an amazing rendition of Big Yellow Taxi, you should really check out his music!

Don’t forget National Epilepsy Day on March 26th, some of our viewers reminded us to wear purple on this day!

 

Petition at cleanhealthyaz.com

March 24 at Rock Bar 9 p.m. performing www.shawnjohnsonmusic.com

jennifer@witnessingnature.net

Meghan.Herrick@asu.edu