Most often, emissions are worse around low income communities.  Because residents of lower income communities often don't have the leverage to advocate for their concerns, the situations worsen.  This is a social justice issue because these environmental challenges impact people inequitably.

A major impact on deforestation is the consumption of palm oil, which appears in many processed foods and is now even used as fuel. Most of the times on the nutrition label, however, it is marked as vegetable oil, so consumers don't know whether the product they are using is contributing to deforestation or not. To help decrease my negative impact, my goal is to pay more attention to labels, since some companies are working on fixing this issue, and to limit the amount of processed food I eat.

I drive a Hybrid and I prefer road trips, so I will choose to travel that way most often, when possible.

Because I live in Decatur, I can easily walk to locations for groceries, food out, or to get a nice view of the community.  I combine all other trips to be as responsible for my transportation choices as possible.

Many places have compostable/plant-based options for silverware, etc., but I have purchased a set of bamboo utensils for takeout use as well as bamboo toilet paper.  I intentionally go to the store that sells it specifically for that purpose.

I would rather put this money toward savings, which is harder and harder to do.  Not wasting food is a big component of making that step.

Our overall health would benefit - when we fill our plates, there is often a compulsion to eat it all.  This encourages overeating, which leads to weight gain and obesity.  Smaller portions and smaller plates will keep us healthier!

In my opinion, Americans assume everything we want should be ours - food included.  So, the concept of choosing to not eat meat is foreign and "sacrificing," which Americans don't know how to do.  :(