#earthmonth2023

[offshoregenix]

Earth Day provides an opportunity to raise awareness about environmental issues such as climate change, pollution, deforestation, and loss of biodiversity.

By educating people about these issues, Earth Day can inspire individuals, businesses, and governments to take action to protect the environment.    

Earth Day promotes sustainability and encourages people to adopt eco-friendly practices such as recycling, reducing waste, conserving energy, and using renewable resources.

These actions can help reduce carbon emissions and minimize the impact of human activities on the environment.

[downtoearthmarkets]

April is Earth Month although, here at Down to Earth Markets, we like to treat every month as Earth Month. Our planet is facing a multitude of challenges including climate change, waste management, pollution and biodiversity loss to name just a few. Responsible environmental stewardship lies at the very core of our mission to provide access to locally, sustainably grown and produced food. But there’s more than one way that a weekly trip to your Down to Earth farmers market can reduce your carbon footprint and have you treading lighter on mother earth all season long. If you’re looking to cut back on the volume of waste you generate this month and beyond, read on to learn more about some of the initiatives we’re taking: Textile Recycling The average American consumer throws away 81.5 pounds of clothes every year and, in New York City alone, more than 400 million pounds of clothes are discarded annually! It’s estimated that 85% of this waste ends up in landfills and incinerators, which has major environmental implications as textile production requires significant amounts of chemicals, energy, water and other natural resources. Furthermore, it can take 200+ years for materials to break down in a landfill, during which decomposing textiles generate greenhouse methane gas and leach toxic chemicals and dyes into the groundwater and soil. Down to Earth has partnered with Green Tree Textiles to provide textile recycling in many of our farmers markets since 2013. Green Tree Textiles strives to protect the planet by collecting unwanted textiles for repurposing by environmentally minded manufacturers and designers. They accept clothing, shoes, accessories, and household linens. Gently used pieces are re-donated to local and overseas charities, while those in poor condition are sold to fiber and rag manufacturers. If you’d like to divert your unneeded textiles from the overburdened waste stream and give them new life, click here for a list of our locations with Green Tree Collection Bins. Food Scrap Recycling The FDA estimates that between 30-40 percent of the U.S. food supply is wasted every year, amounting to a whopping 219 pounds of food waste per person. In fact, Americans throw away more food than any other country in the world! Industrial food production entails massive quantities of land, water and energy while discarded food generates significant greenhouse gas emissions. According to the World Wildlife Federation, carbon emissions from wasted food in the United States is equivalent to that of 37 million cars. While there are plenty of reduction hacks you can follow, generating a certain amount of food waste in the kitchen is unavoidable. Items such as eggshells, coffee grounds and vegetable trimmings can easily be composted in a backyard setup. If home composting is not your bag, many New York state municipalities now offer food scrap recycling programs that accept the full spectrum of food waste including meat, fish and dairy. Among them is New York City, which is in the process of relaunching its brown bin curbside pickup program. Down to Earth Markets works with local community organizations to host onsite educational tables about the benefits of food scrap recycling and provides municipal food scrap collection bins in several of our farmers markets. This makes it easier for shoppers to source their food locally and recycle it locally, easing the transition towards a closed loop, greener food system. Plastic Waste Reduction and Recycling A 2022 Greenpeace report revealed that the recycling rate for municipal plastic waste stands at only five percent nationally – just a fraction of the 40 million tons that Americans generate each year. Approximately 36 per cent of this plastic waste is used in packaging, including single-use plastic food and beverage containers. Unlike most industrially produced supermarket foods, the food sold in our farmers markets has minimal to zero packaging. Plus, we encourage shoppers to bring their reusable totes to the market to avoid creating waste from disposable plastic shopping bags. To extend our efforts in this area in celebration of Earth Month, Down to Earth is providing Terracycle Zero Waste Boxes in select farmers markets for two weeks starting over Earth Day weekend (April 22nd & 23rd). Shoppers will be able to drop off clean, hard-to-recycle plastic food containers made from any flexible or rigid plastic, except compostable plastics. The waste collected will be processed into raw materials that can be reused instead of sent to landfills. These are just a few examples of the many ways in which Down to Earth Markets is helping curb unnecessary waste with the goal of creating a healthier, greener food future for the region in which we operate. We look forward to exploring and embracing further initiatives whenever feasible. Happy Earth Month to you all 💚.

[heavenboy09]

Happy 31st Anniversary To 20th Century Animated Classic Film of 1992

Journey Into A World Unlike Any Other

Unseen By Man

But Deep Within Their Is Unbelievable Magic

Just Beyond Your Dreams

Lives A Secret World 🌎

Where Every Tree 🌳 Is A Home 🏡.

Every Sound Is A Song 🎵

And Humans Exist

Only In Fairy Tales 🧚‍♀️ ✨

Until Now.

20th Century Fox Presents

FERNGULLY : THE LAST RAIN 🌧 FOREST 🌳 #FernGully #EarthMonth2023