3 sustainable recipes for World Environment Day

It has been around since 1972: World Environment Day. No question, it is an important day and some of the environmental issues we face today can be viewed from different perspectives.

What can individuals do to mitigate the impact we are having on our home planet? Many feel powerless, yet it's really quite simple, and you and I can just do all that is in our power.

Before we get to the recipes, a few general statements. What if ...

... the CO2 value at the time of the dinosaurs was was higher than today and thus plant growth was gigantic?

... it follows that plant growth and carbon dioxide content of the air are connected: without carbon dioxide no plants, without plants no oxygen, without oxygen no life as we know it?

...we would all eat less fish?

...we would all not eat grasshoppers or Cultured Meat but favor veganism without meat substitutes?

...Bill Gates actually gets away with his idea of weakening solar radiation by a carpet of reflecting particles in the atmosphere?

Fear-mongering paralyzes people. It keeps us from taking action - and we can do a lot!

How many sweaters do you need? How many pairs of shoes? Thinking three times when consuming hurts the conventional idea of economy = growth - but saves the environment colossally.

Vinted.com, backmarket.com and many more provide us with 'preloved' things, if it has to be a purchase. Clothes swap parties and local repair centers bring people together and promote social awareness - people, they are not islands.

Don't buy products that end up in landfills. Store for toothpaste out of a tube at the discount store? Nope! There are now also at Lidl numerous alternatives from the own brand 'Vemondo' or from other brands, such as toothpaste tablets, which can be transferred into the cycle of creation - use - decay.

It only requires a small change in your habits - and means: clean oceans, healthy air and good food for everyone and a more active brain for yourself.

 - Buy only organic ingredients that are grown in your region and once in a while, not every day, treat yourself to an exotic (mango from Benin, pineapple from South Africa...).

- Toothpaste you can make yourself or buy now as tablets, you get used to it and then don't want it any other way.

- Eat less meat and less dairy products and do not replace them with alternative products.

- Take a bag with you on every walk (can always be the same one) and pick up the garbage that other contemporaries have deposited in the forest.

- Stop using balloons (wherever they go, they end up in the ocean).

Almond sauce:

More almond butter makes the sauce firmer, more water/coconut milk makes it more liquid. Find out which mix ratio tastes best to you. Of course, you can also make this recipe with peanut butter - peanuts are now grown in Southern Europe.

Potatoes, spinach and fried eggs - a classic that provides all the nutrients in a balanced form.

You certainly don't need a recipe here.

 Lentils Dal and Rice

Lentils are also now available again from German cultivation, after being exclusively imported for a long time. The Spielberger Mühle (Demeter) has them in their assortment and there are also excellent organic lentils from the Swabian Alb.

There are countless recipes for Dal, cardamom, turmeric and coriander give the local lentils the exotic taste.

You can replace the rice, which probably comes from India, Thailand or Vietnam, with millet, buckwheat or spelt.

You can also:

- Shop unpackaged and give preference to regional products,

- cook with a friend - you'll use less energy and have more fun,

- store your pre-cooked meals in used jars (jam jars, red cabbage jars, pickle jars...) and

- cook only as much as will be eaten,

to contribute to the protection of the environment.

Maybe your life seems monotonous sometimes? This article can inspire you to make your life more interesting again by trying new things.