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In living green, little things count.

Article Excerpt
Byline: FRESH APPROACH By Jan Roberts-Dominguez For The Register-Guard

In the wake of Earth Week, if you've given any thought at all to your carbon footprint, then you realize that as deeply committed as you are to reducing it, there's always more that you can do.

But so what? If you're doing something, then at least you're not doing nothing. Little efforts are huge when accomplished by many. Which is why I keep chipping away at our food gathering and cooking habits.

With each upgrade in your behavior - be it using more seasonal ingredients and fewer paper towels or boiling only the exact amount of water you need for tea - your grandchildren will have a better chance of growing up in a more hopeful world.

Take your shopping behaviors. Every cloth shopping bag you bring along to the supermarket is one less plastic bag in the landfill. If you hang out more in the bulk foods aisle than the over-packaged convenience foods aisle, that translates into even greater amounts of stuff not ending up in the landfill.

Meanwhile, if you just cook with greater care about how you fit into the big picture, you have instantly become a part of the solution. So instead of focusing on all the big things you aren't doing to save the planet, let's explore a few of the most basic ways you can help.

Keep your food out of the garbage. New York City celebrity chef Mario Batali had a meltdown when he caught one of his kitchen apprentices tossing celery leaves into the garbage. "Remember our rule," he urged the frightened young cook. "We make money by buying food, fixing it up, and getting other people to pay for it. We do not make money by buying food and then throwing it away."...

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