On April 22, more than a billion people celebrate Earth Day to protect the planet from things like pollution and deforestation. But like Mother's Day and Father's Day, Earth Day must be celebrated daily. Above are some tips on becoming a conscious citizen and below are tips on becoming a conscious baker.
How to Bake Consciously & Sustainably
- Bake with Unbleached All-Purpose Flour - not only does bleaching remove nutrients from flour, but the bleach also runs into streams which hurt our aquatic friends.
- Even better, bake with Upcycled ingredients - Upcycling is taking food that would normally go to waste and finding a creative use for it. Take "ugly" bananas. 6 Billion bananas are thrown away each year. We work with Outcast Foods who upcycles these bananas and we include this in our Banana Bread & Muffin Mix.
- Go Plant-Based - did you know that eating a plant-based diet means 2.5X less carbon emissions than a meat-diet. Try incorporating more plants in your diet because they are not only providing you with better nutrients, but they are also helping save the Earth.
- Use Unbleached Parchment Paper or Silicone Mats - for the same reasons, above use eco-friendly unbleached parchment paper and muffin liners from brands like If You Care or reusable silicone mats when you bake cookies or line cake/ loaf pans. This means less bleaching and less waste.
- Pre-heat Oven Mindfully - know how long your oven takes to pre-heat and pre-heat just in time to place your baked good in. This not only saves on the electricity being used, but also on your electric bills.
How to Easily Grow Your Own Garden, starting with Microgreens
Microgreens are young vegetable greens that are approximately 1–3 inches (2.5–7.5 cm) tall. Some of the most popular ones are broccoli, radish and kale. They are packed with concentrated nutrients. Some studies show that although vitamin and antioxidant levels varied, levels measured in microgreens were up to 40 times higher than those recorded for more mature leaves.
Here's how you can easily grow microgreens in your home. It only takes 1 week. Then you can add it to any baked good to boost nutrition.