Jasquatch's First Foray into Public Speaking - "Environmental Kindness: How to Care for the Earth and Yourself"
3.1.2020
2020 is the year of moving beyond comfort zones and illuminating as many souls as possible; so I accepted an invite from our dearly loved Kathy Haendle, and this morning I summoned up the spine to give a speech at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Auburn.
It was titled “Environmental Kindness: How to Care for the Earth and Yourself”, and I came bearing a laundry basket of zero-waste examples, and a promise to post the text soon thereafter so they could see the links…and read sentences likely lost in the whirl and blur of my trademark rapid-fire-breathless-way of relaying info.
Afterward was a swirl of great questions, open discourse, a request to do more talks in the future, and sweet Q whispering how proud he was that I did my “first TED talk!” (<—Someday, kid)
There is so much to say, and I’ll be learning how to say it better and slower. 💚
Brought examples of cutlery, plates, napkins, mason jars, Glasslock containers, how to bring food home zero-waste, rag options, and Ian’s every day drink containers.
Hi There! My name is Jacqueline Cappello. This is my first public speech, and I was reminded by my prolifically orating father that I should speak loudly, so if you can’t hear me: give me a holler and I’ll raise this mind-rattler up a few notches. There’s a table in the back full of items I’ll be discussing, and I’ll also post this on my site (jasquatch.com) after this, so if there are any references you want to follow up on, they’ll be available.
I am a lifelong environmental empath & enthusiast; but, I was also raised in a perpetual junk-food Hobbit household, and was so thoroughly addicted to a feast of unhealthy delights, that I couldn’t think beyond the haze to see how those foods were affecting the same earth (and body) I was trying to protect and heal.
This talk is a path of where we started, where we’re at now, and how we’re always learning and growing forward; and I say “we” because it was actually meeting my future-husband in 2005 that woke me to the reality that I needed to change the fuel I was feeding my system. Fifteen years ago, my diet was all refined carbohydrates, cheese, meat, and my relationship with vegetables was limited to salsa, ketchup, and sauce. Unsurprisingly, I was in the worst health of my life.
Ian got us off of processed foods, I got the lot of us off animal products, and that change of nutritional input brought a keen-minded laser focus on more environmental and nutritional research; what I learned made me want to illuminate as many souls as possible (for the sake of their bodies and the rest of the planet); and now I’m here --outside of my comfort zone-- relaying that light.
Let’s start with the basics:
For most of us, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” was the path in which we learned about waste-streams & the environmental wake of our consumption. That rolled out in 1976, but it wasn’t until the last few years that collective souls have started to absorb the horror of waterways and animals choked with plastic; and now we’ve gotten as far as banning plastic bags (<—how many people have you heard griping about this simple step forward?); but we’re still far, far from where we need to be, because we’ve had 40 years of filling our oceans, streams, and streets with convenience packaging and emissions for items that could/should be made by other means, or never be created in the first place.
We need to be mindful and present about our choices. Daily. It’s that simple and that wrought.
We’ve run out of time for the nonsense of once-used-beverage-containers, plastic wrap, paper towels, single-use items, etc. Medical purposes aside, if there’s an item you’re only using once (and it can’t be recycled), chances are high there is a sustainable alternative on the back-end of a simple search.
I started with thinking about what I was using each day and whether a more sustainable option could take its place. For a few examples, instead of:
Plastic Wrap - try using reusable glass containers. You can reheat them within the dish, they make great lunch containers, and they are airtight. One of our sets is 10 years old and still going strong.
Paper Towels - make rags out of super old clothing, towels, linens, etc. Wash them on hot and reuse indefinitely.
Paper Napkins - cloth napkins live so long ours are over 10 years old and still aren’t rags! Clean them with the rest of your laundry and buy dark ones so you don’t drive yourself crazy over stains.
Plastic Cutlery/Plates/Cups - There are feasts of on-the-go cutlery options. I brought my favorite. We have a whole stack of cheap/hand-me-down plates and cutlery we use if we have a lot of people coming over, and we use mason jars as cups or pull out mixed-mashed glasses gathered over the years. It takes a little more time to clean up, but the footprint is zero: not a large bag of party trash that will sit around for eternity.
Diaper/Menstrual/Hygiene Products: There are a bunch of cloth/reusable options in this realm too: diapers, absorbent underwear, pads, cups. If you’ve been along a waterway --like us-- you likely spotted a single-use plastic tampon applicator: they are one of the most wasteful nonsense creations on this planet, especially given all the available alternatives.
Buying Plastic Water Bottles or Plastic-Topped/Contained Coffee (or their ilk) - Always (ALWAYS) bring a canteen! Water is the healthiest thing you could be drinking. And you’ll save resources, a lot of money, and waste by making your own hot beverages, or by bringing your thermos to your local cafe and asking them to fill it. (Stay away from soda bottles, that elixir is terrible for your whole system, and all the resources thrown into its creation are assisting in the ruination of this planet.)
Snack-Food/Junk-Food Packaging: if it comes in a bright, plastic sheath, it often fills your body with inflammation, and then that wrapper sits around for eons. Avoid both and head for whole-foods, fresh fruits, vegetables, or nuts: you’ll have a healthier body and leave a smaller footprint. We always have some snack in our bag so we can avoid unhealthy/environmentally-unkind choices; and we make sure to bring an empty container in case we need it.
My every day carry: tiny, mighty backpack (that spreads equilibrium across my back) and can carry a large canteen, two U-konserve containers (one full of nuts, the other empty just incase), cutlery for Q and me, and knitting for moments where my hands are free.
We started thinking beyond convenience, became mindful of our environmental wake, and are daily working on new ways to cut back. A recent loss was Cape Cod potato chips because of their slick plastic packaging. It caused a Hobbit howl of sadness, but their taste wasn’t worth the waste of health or resources.
And speaking of pruning unkind paths: as we all learn and grow, that “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” continues to add more powerful “R” words of action, and the most important is: refuse.
Beyond refusing an errant straw, plastic bag, or needless packaging --if you truly want to be environmentally focused and simultaneously heal the earth and yourself-- the single biggest thing a soul can do is refuse to participate in animal agriculture and adopt a plant-based whole-foods diet.
And here’s where it’s best to be an actual medical professional, so in the words of
Dr. Joanne Kong (from her brilliant plant-based TED talk)
“I want to make clear that my intent is not to be judgemental, but instead to increase your awareness and give you important information which you may not know. Going greener with your diet, could be one of the most powerful and transformative decisions you ever make in your life, for three significant reasons: it has tremendous benefits to your health, it’s critical to the sustainability of our planet, and it will widen your circle of compassion.
Overall vegetarians have a longer life expectancy and substantially lower rates of heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, cancer, obesity, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and the list goes on. But don't just take my word for it. Support for vegetarian diets comes from numerous organizations, including: The American Cancer Society, American College of Cardiology, The Mayo Clinic, Harvard School of Public Health, and the National Institute of Health which says: ‘Vegetarians may be missing out on grilled hamburgers at picnics, but they also tend to miss out on the major health problems which plague most Americans.’”
And Dr. James Bennie
“In the world of medicine, if I put you on a pill, I could see you back every three months for the rest of your life. That’s how we make money in medicine. If I put you on a plant-based diet and you get better, I may never see you again.”
A recent power lunch for Q: easy avocado, kale & quinoa, black rice, peanut sauce, and apple.
We switched to plant-based whole-foods and the entire family became healthier. Prior to the shift one or multiples of us were suffering from: chronic inflammation, perpetual pain from past Lyme’s, irritable bowel syndrome / gastrointestinal distress, eczema, acne, depression, anxiety, fatigue, and failure-to-thrive. Those are all gone. Without prescriptions and with no other changes --just dietary-- we are now healthier than we’ve ever been, more energetic, and are no longer sore and stiff when we wake up.
To explain the environmental end, I highly recommend researching the environmental impact of animal agriculture, reading through the links in my “Why We Switch to Plant-Based Whole-Foods” Post, reading the book “We Are The Weather” by Jonathan Safron Froer, and watching the movie The GameChangers on Netflix. The latter is full of medical and scientific leaders and Game Changer’s equally helpful website, is where I found the following well-laid out explanation of the environmental impact and an inspiring call to action:
“ According to researchers from Oxford, meat, dairy, egg and fish farming use 83% of the world’s farmland, yet provide only 18% of the world’s calories.
The reason livestock require so much land is because animals are actually just the “middlemen”, consuming on average six times more protein than they even produce.
And with more than 70 billion animals consumed globally every year, growing animal feed requires vast amounts of land. Which is why the single biggest source of habitat destruction is said to be the livestock sector. For example, in South America, some 70% of former forests in the Amazon are now used to graze cattle, with much of the remainder used to grow feed crops for the cattle.
While rain barrels and low-flush toilets are important, only 4% of humanity’s water usage actually occurs in the home. By contrast, 27% of humanity’s “water footprint” is used to produce animal foods. This is because, once again, animals are the “middlemen”, requiring on average six times more protein than they produce, which requires an immense amount of animal feed, which in turn requires vast amounts of the world’s freshwater.
Unfortunately, it's not just water depletion that’s an issue, it’s also water contamination. In the United States alone, farm animals produce nearly 50 times more waste per year than America’s human population, polluting rivers, lakes and groundwater across the country. Globally, livestock production is one of the leading causes of water pollution.
The livestock sector is responsible for 15% of global man-made emissions. To put that in perspective, that's about the same as all the emissions from all the transport in the world (including planes, trains, cars, vans and ships.)
Our food choices play a significant role in the biggest environmental challenges of our time. Just as the food we choose to eat is part of the problem, thankfully it is also the solution. For example, in the US, where per capita meat consumption is three times the global average, shifting away from an animal-based diet would reduce agricultural emissions by up to 73%, and save one million liters of water per person, per year.
Globally, this would free up 3.1 billion hectares, an area the size of all of Africa, taking pressure off the world's most endangered ecosystems and species.”
After cutting out single-use plastics as a means to save the earth, I couldn’t learn the above and continue on a carnivorous path: it was harming our fragile environment and the health of everyone I loved; and by contrast, a plant-based diet is kinder to the earth and better for our bodies. We decided to grow forward and this meant turning our backs on foods we once adored.
We’ve never regretted the decision (we feel better than ever, and I still cook & eat with joy), but the transition has brought admitted frustration. Americans are a folk obsessed with foods that are terrible for us, and by excusing ourselves from these unkind choices we’ve received mocking, vitriol, outright hostility, and watched loved souls exit stage left for reasons unexpressed.
Pushback be damned --and with stumbles along the way-- our path went as such: we started with refined carbohydrates (we did this for health/inflammation purposes, but it caused increased energy and mental clarity for all involved); with a newly clear mind/heart, I cut out meat (originally this was for compassionate reasons -- after years of eating mounds of meat, I was suddenly perpetually nagged by the hypocrisy in eating another soul, knowing there was evidence to prove I could get enough protein without playing a part in another’s suffering-- and then research lead to the environmental and body impact.) There was no going back, so I swept up Ian and Q.
Cheese was the last thing we cut, but Boy Howdy should we have done so sooner! We felt better in ways we never imagined (no more sinus infections, no more stiffness, go more wobbly/gassy/achy stomach), but it is also terrible for the environment and is riddling everyone’s bodies with inflammation and growth hormones you want no part of.
Thankfully though, there’s never been an easier time to make a switch to plant-based whole-foods! There are endless websites and recipes to be found; and on the grocery store and wallet front: the foods that are already lower in packaging happen to also be the same ones that are best for your budgets and bodies (vegetables, fruits, nuts, and grains), and you can get them in your bulk and produce sections and bring them home absolutely zero-waste. If something has to come in a container: aim for materials that can be recycled/reused. If that isn’t possible: do as you need to, and ruminate later on whether there was a sustainable option that could have come from pre-planning or refusing. (<---That’s what I do. It’s all about learning and growing!)
In our home, meals once colored cream-to-brown, are now a rainbow of antioxidants and vitamins. Where there were past plates of muscle and pasta, there are now plant-based proteins (like: beans, lentils, nuts, oats, black rice, polenta, quinoa, etc) and gut-healthy arrays of vibrant vegetables, fruit, and fiber.
We’ve moved forward full of health and happiness; and my hope is that you will open your mind and join us on a path full of vitality and environmental kindness.
Thank you.
