Carol White

UNMC/Nebraska Medicine LiveGreen

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
538 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

2.0

conversations

with people
UP TO

20

minutes

spent learning

Carol's actions

Food

Smaller Portions

#3 Reduced Food Waste

I will use smaller plates and/or serve smaller portions when dishing out food.

COMPLETED 20
DAILY ACTIONS

Materials

Recycle Everything I Can

#55 Household Recycling

I will recycle all materials that are accepted by local haulers or drop stations in my community.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Materials

Share Bioplastic Disposal Tips

#47 Bioplastic

I will spend at least 20 minutes researching how to properly dispose of bioplastics in my city and share this information with 2 friends, family and/or colleagues.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Support Nutrient Management

#65 Nutrient Management

I will research and support local farmers who have made the decision to not use synthetic nitrogen fertilizers.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Participant Feed

Reflection, encouragement, and relationship building are all important aspects of getting a new habit to stick.
Share thoughts, encourage others, and reinforce positive new habits on the Feed.

To get started, share “your why.” Why did you join the challenge and choose the actions you did?

REFLECTION QUESTION
Food Smaller Portions

Fun fact: Your brain and stomach register feelings of fullness after about 20 minutes of eating. While dishing food out, we tend to load our plates with more than we need. Using smaller plates helps to mitigate this. Aside from the environmental benefits, what other benefits might come out of eating smaller portions?

Carol White 4/24/2019 6:30 AM

I've been changing my lifestyle over the last several months—one better choice at a time. I started eating fewer processed food products and more real whole foods. Then I bought fluoride filters so my water doesn't kill me. Did you know that fluoride is a neurotoxin? Now I'm about 95% organic, even found an excellent source for grass fed, grass finished meats. If it's not grass finished, why bother? I'm just starting to change over to plant based cleaning products and tackling the nightmare of finding cosmetics without chemicals. Actually that part isn't so hard. It's finding anything without soy, but that's a different soapbox.

Organic produce is expensive here but I feel so much better that it's well worth the cost. By eating real food, I find that I don't need to eat as much as I did on the standard American diet of processed food products. So I can naturally reduce portion sizes and stay fuller longer. Eating less means I can buy less which means I waste less.

Diverse organic food production is better for the planet. To start with it's real FOOD. Did you know that about 80% of US corn production is used for biofuels and animal feed? The corn that does make it to your table is mostly in the form of high-fructose syrup. Fructose is metabolized in the liver and is usually converted immediately to fat because of limited storage which can lead to a fatty liver or diabetes. Organic farming practices produce higher yields than mono-cropping, don't saturate the ground and water with chemicals and toxins, and don't require deforestation of huge tracts of land.

I recently learned that if you chew each small bite of food 40 times and use a chewing motion when you take a sip of liquid, it signals your brain that you're full even faster. Phenomenal thing the brain.

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