How To Build A Hydroponic System

 Does eating "green" conjure up images of spinach or broccoli, or asparagus? While these are undoubtedly the green food, thoughts not what it is to be eaten, but rather of how a small change in eating habits or practices can reduce your personal footprint of energy use and contribute to the health of the environment. You do not have to be a vegetarian to make a difference!

Growth and transport of food accounts for an estimated 17% Total energy consumption in the U.S.. With foods that make up such a large portion of U.S. domestic energy consumption, each of us has the means to reduce our total energy consumption through relatively simple measures.

The guilty

 • Food Shipping

 • Food Processing

 • Fertilizers and Pesticides

 • Kitchen Appliances-refrigerator/freezer and stove / oven

Rethinking the use of these voracious energy consumers contribute to the conservation of energy, reduced emissions carbon and a healthier environment.

Choose Local Foods in Season

Foods produced locally simply not require sophisticated, expensive transportation systems that consume 14% of energy from food use to arrive at the table. And if chosen with reasonable care, food produced locally is fresher and tastes better. Selecting years, seasonal fruits and vegetables was much easier before, when markets were naked peaches, the nectarines, artichokes, tomatoes and other foods in both January and February. However, these foods appear in our markets throughout the winter and the trend is to bring more and more products from faraway places to our markets and our tables during the winter.

The lesson is simple:
elimination transport directly reduce energy consumption. Remember, the beautiful winter grapes probably come from 1000 miles away or more.

Choose organic food

Neither fertilizers or pesticides that together represent more than 1 / 3 of the energy used to make food are used in growing organic food. The good news: an exhibition space every day in our supermarkets is devoted to organic foods. The best news: Local farmers markets are flush always local, organic foods and their purchases of promoting the expansion of local organic food movement.

Whole Foods, unprocessed

You guessed it, another 15% of the energy used to produce food enters the processing. If you spend most of its time to buy fruit and vegetables, milk and eggs, meat and fish, was wonderful.

Farm raised beef and poultry

Range pasture or raising animals naturally eat grass fertilized as its mainstay. Any animals of the mega-producers, typically located at great distances from home are reared on a diet of highly fertilized, improved pesticide grains. Purchase locally grown meat, poultry, milk and eggs to remove the transportation component of energy required to produce their food. And to support local farmers and their community.

Other suspects

 • Drinking water

The popularity of bottled water is the result of huge marketing efforts. Global consumption of bottled water came to 41 billion gallons in 2004, 57% in just five years. In the U.S., drinking four bottles of 16 oz per week on average and each bottle is processed and shipped, sometimes from sources as far away as Europe and even Asia. A Year's supply of plastic water bottles in the U.S. consumes 47 million gallons of oil. Alternatively, the tap water filtration systems are easily accessible, easy to install and very effective. And there are plastic bottles for recycling or trash.

 • Plastic or paper?

Regular canÂ't or plastic bags for recycling, can take 500 years to decompose.

plastic garbage or kills 1 million of seabirds and 100,000 mammals each year.

or paper bags are recyclable and biodegradable but if not recycled end up in the landfill, sealed and are not biodegradable.

o The answer: Reuse the bags. Cloth bags are environmentally friendly!

 • Recycling and composting

In most supportive, friendly communities and conscience, 30% or more of the material that ends up in rubbish bins and sent to the landfill is really recyclable or compostable. Proper classification of garbage will keep a "cap" to the expansion of landfills, while reducing the need of a new production of paper and plastics. In most places, organically grown raw materials including food scraps (fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, seafood, shellfish, bones, rice, beans, pasta, bread, cheese and egg shells) can be composted.

Compost or disposer? It no competition. Composting reduces waste and the need for waste disposal.

Stan Gassman is a co-founder and principal of BSC Sustainability Services, http://www.bscsustainabilityservices.com a consulting company devoted to helping clients increase marketplace value by incorporating sustainability within their culture and operations.

Contact Stan via email, sgassman@bscsustainabilityservices.com

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