Celebrate Earth Day!

It’s Earth Day! What can you do today to celebrate the earth? Here are just a few ideas:

1. Walk or bike ride to class or work instead of driving your car. Or at least, take public transportation!
2. Join a CSA. That’s community support agriculture for those of you new to the sustainable or local food movements. Find a farm near you at: http://www.localharvest.org/
3. Recycle. Or better yet, fill up a reusable water bottle from the tap before heading outside.
4. Offset your emissions. There are a number of places you can do this. Check out Carbon Fund or Terra Pass
5. Power off and get outside and enjoy the day – rain or shine! And, when you power back up tomorrow, share with us how you celebrated Earth Day today so that we can take your advice tomorrow. Every day should be Earth Day!

Go Green by Choosing the Greens in Seafood Guides

Did you know there is actually a cheat sheet you won’t get in trouble for using?  Yep, it’s a cheat sheet that will help you choose seafood that is sustainable.  Several organizations make these cheat sheets, or seafood guides, that take into account many different factors including the level of bycatch (see previous entry), impact of the fishing gear on habitat, and the status of the fish populations.  Using color codes, the seafood guides indicate which seafood you should pick.   Green means go for it!  To no surprise, red means stop or think twice before buying this seafood.

Check out the regional pocket guides, available from Seafood Watch at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  There’s even a guide for sushi! Print one out or download it to your iphone and take it with you to restaurants and grocery stores.  How does your favorite seafood rate?

What’s the True Price of Your Seafood Dinner?

That’s what I have been studying since I graduated from Bates in 2000. Did you know that commercial fishing vessels haul a lot of other marine life aboard their vessels in addition to whatever it is that ends up on your dinner plate? All that “other” marine life, the fish, marine mammals, sea turtles, sharks, sea birds, and invertebrates that are accidentally caught, are called bycatch. Bycatch is one of several things to consider when seeking out sustainable seafood. I am going to post several entries on sustainable seafood and other related topics over the next several months as Bates contemplates these important food issues. What is most important to you when choosing seafood for dinner?