5 Sustainable food choices you can make… 

1. Eat Your Vegetables!: Not only are veggies good for  you, but shifting to vegetable protein is good for the planet. Studies show that continuous consumption of red meat increases chances of heart disease and cancer by 30% in middle-aged individuals…and if very American skipped one meal of chicken per week, the carbon dioxide savings would amount to more than half a million cars off U.S. roads.^[1]
2. Know Thy Food: Processed food contains ingredients from all over the place that first had to be transported to a central location and then manufactured into something else, packaged, and shipped out again. Highly processed foods (say, chicken nuggets) also contain extra fillers, fats, and salt to make them “tasty” but not too healthy.
3. Get the 411 on Flipper: Global fish supplies have been depleted by 30% and according to the United Nations Environment Program there is a strong possibility of total depletion of our fisheries by 2050.^[2] If you decide to eat fish, try for breeds that make the Marine Stewardship Council list of sustainable options.
4. Pitch the plastic: Bottling and shipping beverages requires a substantial amount of water (one bottle of water requires three bottles to produce) and energy. Plus 77% of plastic bottles pile up as trash for 1,000 years until they can biodegrade. Want another reason? Plastic bottles can leach chemicals into your beverage, which tastes bad and really isn’t good for you.
5. Skip Gassy Food: Studies estimate that the average vegetable travels approximately 1,500 miles from farm to supermarket. That’s about the distance from NYC to Houston, Texas. Buying local food not only diminishes the impact of transportation, it also helps bolster local economy. Plus your local farmers’ market is a great social locale!

We have a great powerpoint that briefly explains what you can recycle, where you can recycle it, and what you can NOT recycle. It is a fantastic presentation and in less than 11 slides tells you everything you could want to know about recycling. This is definitely worth a gander or two:

http://yalestep.com/images/recycling_details.pdf

  Special thanks to Victoria Charette for creating this presentation. 

 Thursday, 4 Nov.  5:30-7:30PM  @Burke Auditorium, Kroon Hall, 195 Prospect St.

 Please contact Natalie Allan (first.last@yale.edu) to RSVP your attendance.

Trayless dining is really super awesome.  You should try it sometime.  And you waste less food.  How cool is that? 

Food waste measurements performed by STEP determined that people who dine trayless waste half as much food as tray users.  That adds up pretty quickly.  Trayless dining also looks classier.  And the dining halls save a lot of water when they don't need to wash as many trays.  These are all awesome things.  Try Trayless Today.

Here we'll keep you updated on our projects and events, and post sustainability tips.  Enjoy!