Environmental Practice Proposal

[Tara Krieble]

The practice I would like to adopt is to give up packaged baby food for 30 days. This would be a huge adjustment that would affect my life several times every day. My daughter currently subsists on mostly jarred organic baby food, packaged snacks such as baby puffs and crackers, and whole milk. She eats a varied and nutritionally sound diet but the amount of packaging (especially small glass jars and plastic food tubs) we go through is saddening. Although we recycle most of what we use, the process of producing those materials, processing and packaging the foods, and then recycling the packages produces carbon and other harmful emissions, and trash that goes to landfills. By giving up these products I will reduce those emissions and the accompanying waste.

*NOTE* My main concern is my daughter’s well being. Above all else I will ensure that my daughter continues to receive complete nutrition through her diet. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, proteins, fats, calcium, vitamins, etc., etc. Don’t worry, I’m not going to resort to a diet of apple juice and soy milk or anything.

I will track my practice by keeping a journal or written record on most days (it is my intention that all days will be recorded). I will keep a notebook on hand to record brief notes as I go along. I will record what I fed my daughter, how it was prepared, and what packaging would have been used if I had fed her packaged food. I will also record any times I do use packaged food, what I use, and why this occurred. I will make notes on how my daily life is affected by having to prepare all of my daughter’s food myself. Just for fun, I’ll also include notes on how my daughter reacts to the change.

My success or failure in the project will be measured by whether I am able to keep a substantial amount of packaging from being used. I will determine what amount (in pounds of material, square feet of landfill space, or some other measurement) of packaging was reduced during the month and then extrapolate over a period of 12 months to determine if this change as practiced would benefit the environment. I will also be able to estimate the amount of money we save on baby food. For a qualitative measurement, I will discuss whether I believe my daughter’s diet improves, how our quality of life is affected, and whether I will continue the practice and why.

I will illustrate my project with photographs, charts/ graphs where applicable, and possibly through other methods.