environmentalism — Blog — The Greenest Blue

Veganized in San Diego - Sunshine and Plant-based Foods in a SoCal Paradise

This city of sunshine and surf, provider of very Maui-esque vibes and endless good feels, also dishes up some pretty satisfying plant-based dishes. Not that I should be surprised - San Diego residents seem like the pretty active, health-minded peeps! There’s a healthy peppering of vegan and veggie restaurants throughout the city’s neighborhoods, reflecting the demand for more wholesome dining.

Thanks to an interesting twist of fate, I’ve been spending quite a bit of time down in this beachy city. Eager as ever to try out the vegan options while exploring a new city, I set out on a mission with one of my most favorite vegan companions and we’ve been having an absolute treat of a time sampling the huge variety of vegan foods San Diego has to offer!

WHAT? ALL WINES AREN'T VEGAN? The Truth Behind Animal Products in Wine Production

I remember dabbling around in the Kaikoura New World market in New Zealand, looking for a nice birthday wine for my friend. My attention was immediately drawn to a label that said Vegan Wine. I was dumbfounded. In all of my years as a polite, mindful, wine-sipping twenty-something, I had assumed, no-brainer, that wine was vegan.

It’s GRAPES, people! How much more plant-based can you get?

But seeing this label called to my attention a completely different reality. It is true that, in fact, all wines are not created equal. Yes, they all contain fermented grapes and the bottles that appear on the supermarket shelves are not stuffed full of mysterious animal-byproducts.

Mindful Eating, Plant-Based EatingLauren FritzJanuary 26, 2020environmentalism, wine, vegan, veganism, plant-based, sustainable living

Preppin' My Sea Legs for a Voyage to New Zealand from Tonga

The Tongans have it figured out when it comes to pace of life. This whole island time mentality is pure magic. I first experienced it in Hawaii, but since coming to the South Pacific, I’m watching life unfold on a whole new level of CHILL.

Pace. Pace is everything. Specifically, a slow pace. This is coming from a notorious over-thinker and activity-addict, so my acceptance of this is saying a lot. I’ve long been addicted to productivity and the ability to have tangible accomplishments to show that can vouch for my work ethic, but this mindset of constant doing really gets kicked to the curb once one decides to go full-immersion into the dreamy, technicolor, supercharged, yet peaceful world of island life.

The Importance of Imagery in Conservation Activism

Media serves a lot of different purposes in today’s society, and can invoke a huge range of emotions. For those of us with a passion for imagery, audio, and other types of creative outlets, there is an immense responsibility to ensure we’re spreading the right messages to our audience. In the marine conservation world, my cohorts and I have taken on the rather large task of illuminating the problems and threats faced by our ocean and its inhabitants.

A Reading List for Planet, Plant, and Inner Peace Lovers - Six Powerful Books that Changed My Life

Lately I’ve been on a kick discussing motivation, self-exploration, and mindfulness. Most of this probably stems from the changes I’m going through right now, moving to a new island and testing the waters of a new job; I find change sparks quite a bit of internal reflection. I think it’s appropriate to mention some of the books that have changed my way of thinking and played an influential role in helping me develop new perspectives and trains of thought. I’ve always been a total book nerd. Every single time I go visit home, I go to the library and 1) spend a couple hours just devouring book covers and sleeves and then 2) checking out more books than I could possibly hope to read in a year, with the ambition of finishing all of them in the few weeks I am spending at home. I just love that the entire world is at your fingertips in a library! You can learn literally anything. You pick your lesson. Does it get better than that? Life is one big classroom; you might as well show up having devoured as many books as you can.

A Simpler Way to Talk Green: Making it easy to understand and discuss climate change

I’m pretty sick of all the heavy negative weight around the words “climate change.” Yes, it’s scary. It’s horrifying that we are letting things get this bad. But at the same time, it’s a problem that we are facing, and there are many people taking positive action. Humanity has faced problems before. We’ve tackled issues and seen both successes and failures, and plenty of bumps along the way. In the end, doesn’t it come down to collaboration and problem-solving? I listened to a really succinct Green Dreamer podcast the other day that focused on summarizing climate change science into three basic facts. Dr. Jeffrey Bennet was the astronomer, teacher, and author that was interviewed, and I enjoyed his casual and easy-to-understand style as he pointed out some helpful bits of advice and offered practical ideas for solutions to this crisis. And the episode was only 30 minutes! I recommend listening to the whole thing here, but I’ve also summarized some of the key ideals that really stuck out to me.

#noexcuses - An Eco-Resolution Guide to Actually Reducing Your Waste in 2019

Two weeks into 2019 and it’s going to keep chugging. Does it feel any different than 2018? Not really. But I do have this sensation, this impatience, this sense of urgency that seemed to ring itself in along with the fireworks and champagne on New Year’s Eve two weeks ago. We all have our challenges that we want to tackle in 2019, our resolutions that we’re hoping to stick to, changes we want to implement in our own lifestyles. For those of you whose resolutions involve tackling the issue of plastic pollution and the impracticality of the “throw-away” culture, please read on. This is a guide on realistic changes you can make this year, and how you can actually keep these habits throughout the coming months instead of getting reabsorbed into the old ways. If you feel like I feel on these topics, you’ll realize that our society is fast running out of excuses to not address these issues on a very personal level.

So, 2019, man! #noexcuses.

A Vegan Party-Goer's Survival Guide for the Holiday Shindig Season

So, how the heck do we survive the holiday season while being good to ourselves? This is especially challenging if you also consider yourself a vegan, vegetarian, or another classification of plant-based eater. Now, willpower is not everyone’s strong suit. It definitely wasn’t mine for a very long time. I love food. I really love food, in fact. And the idea that someone decided the holidays should be all about eating used to make for a very big internal struggle. It became a lot easier when I decided to start eating vegan for a purpose bigger than myself, a.k.a reducing my carbon footprint. I did it because I wanted to be able to walk the conservation walk if I was going to talk the conservation talk. Going vegan or vegetarian is one of the most straightforward and impactful choices you can make to significantly reduce your carbon footprint and spread some sanity and love to this crazy world. This post isn’t about preaching the vegan word, though (this one is!). This is a survival guide for a vegan party-goer (or anyone trying to eat healthy) as we dive headfirst into holiday party festive season. HERE WE GO.

Perk Up, Ocean Lover: You're Making it Better Than It Would've Been Otherwise

A Post To Perk You UP About Fighting for Conservation

I’m sure many of you, like me, have been experiencing the ebb and flow of enthusiasm/motivation and helplessness/anxiety over the conservation of our natural environment. The articles/news/research findings are bombarding us - always - and they should, because we need to be aware of the issues and the science. The emotions we attach to the media, however, are brought about by our own projections. I associate so much doom and gloom with everything I hear about climate change and ecosystem destruction, I can’t help it. But what if I stepped away from that and chose to see things differently? What if this perceived negativity could be transformed into a positive source of motivation?

The Final Week: 8 Weeks to a Greener Life & a Bluer Sea

Do something today that scares you.

I'm sure you've heard a similar quote before. Eleanor Roosevelt said it: "Do one thing every day that scares you."

So what's the connection between this challenge and environmental activism? Look, going green can be scary. It means changing habits that you've grown up with. It means politely talking to your parents and grandparents about a new way of life you've adopted that doesn't necessarily mesh with their viewpoints. It means going against the grain more often than not. It means being adaptive, open-minded, and vulnerable to change. That's scary. And it's hard. I recognize and respect that, because I muddle through these changes every single day. I stumble a lot. I fall. I get up.

Week 7: 8 Weeks to a Greener Life & a Bluer Sea - Using Social Media for Positive Change

A Positive Opportunity for Education & Activism with Instagram

How many "pretty" pictures of food or drinks or cute cafes pop up on your social media feeds throughout the day? It might just be my love of experimental cooking, foodie-based travel, colorful ingredients, and beautifully-designed dining spaces, but my feed is brimming with snaps of smoothie bowls and tofu dishes and perfectly crafted coffees with hearts and bears in the latte art. I love seeking inspiration from photos of food, and I imagine there's a part of my brain that relishes looking at them as well. Like some sort of dopamine hit.

Although most of the food-based accounts I follow depict eco-friendly practices, I'm finding that there's still a lot of accounts that are including plastic straws and other single-use plastics in their glamorous marketing shots. Now, I'm not trying to call anyone out and shame them. Nor am I encouraging you to bash anyone or any operation on social media. That's bad form. I'm only saying that I found a perfect opportunity to open up a discussion on single-use plastics when I came across a photo from a hip little pop-up business in Portland specializing in gourmet dessert milkshakes...

Week 6: 8 Weeks to a Greener Life & a Bluer Sea: #justpickitup

I'm back with Week 6's Eco-Challenge! This is a real simple one, going back to the basics. It's about picking up litter (hence the #justpickitup theme). We see trash all the time in places it doesn't belong, and the concern here is how often we refuse to acknowledge it. On the beach, on your morning run, on the side of the road, at the park, in the supermarket car park. Why do we see it and ignore it so much of the time when we know that it's negatively impacting the environment? It all comes down to convenience, doesn't it?

Week 4: 8 Weeks to a Greener Life & a Bluer Sea - The Importance of Delayed Gratification

When we want or need something, it's as easy as opening our browser to Amazon.com or driving to Target and feeling that rush of immediate gratification. No thought required. Just a credit card and a desire.

This scares me. You know the feeling of emptiness that comes after an impulse buy? It's like a cloud of confusion. It's not satisfying us the way we thought it would. The thing we bought didn't solve our problems. It didn't make us happier (because only you can make you happier). We often choose what is easy instead of what is better in the long run. Maybe our brains are wired that way. Survival, man! But, it's no good.

Week 3: 8 Weeks to a Greener Life & a Bluer Sea - Eat Like You Give a F*** (One Vegan Meal)

If someone were to ask me one critical thing they could do right now to help the environment, apart from dropping single-use plastics, I would suggest to them to be more aware of the food on their plates. You know, to eat like you give a f***. Like, where the heck did your food come from? Who grew it? How did they grow it? And...how does its production impact the environment?

Week 2: 8 Weeks to a Greener Life and a Bluer Sea - Speak Up About Single-Use Plastics

Week number 2 brings a bit of a different challenge, and one that became more and more relevant for me after I became hyper-aware of plastic waste and poor environmental practices in restaurants and other businesses. The challenge: speak up about a possible improvement that you think one of your favorite restaurants can make in terms of its plastic use. You know those places you go to eat, the ones you adore with delicious food that you can’t get anywhere else and that give you the warm fuzzies because it’s familiar and it’s the bestest…but that also produce horrendous amounts of waste? I experienced that in Coeur d’Alene this past week at the Fish Market. My family loves this place. AMAZING fish tacos. But EVERYTHING served with single-use plastic sauce tubs, plastic cutlery, and beers on tap are even served in plastic pint cups. WHAT. WHY. GET A DISHWASHER. Give someone a job in the community and stop producing so much waste!

Week 1: 8 Weeks to a Greener Life and a Bluer Sea - 5 Reasons to shop at your local Farmer's Market

So a little while ago I made a promise to start posting some simple, easy steps you can take to living a more eco-friendly lifestyle. I'm calling this blog series 8 Weeks to a Greener Life and a Bluer Sea, and I'm excited to kick it off with one of my favorite summertime activities: farmer's market shopping! I'm going to keep these posts brief, so you can read them over your morning coffee, absorb what you want from them, and hopefully feel inspired to get out and implement these strategies in your own life.

Marine mammals inspired me to seek a greener lifestyle. What inspires you?

A Post To Perk You UP About Fighting for Conservation

A Positive Opportunity for Education & Activism with Instagram