Earth Hour 2013

"The World is using the equivalent of one and a half planets to support life on Earth."

Earth Hour 2013 is coming up tomorrow, Saturday March 23 at 8:30pm (Eastern time) and I couldn't be more excited! It snuck up on me this week and I nearly forgot all about it until yesterday evening, even after I recently wrote an article for Delight Gluten-Free Magazine about celebrating it with a gluten-free twist in the March/April issue....safe to say it's been a busy week! We're planning to switch off all our lights and appliances, have a candlelight yoga session, and indulge in vegan blueberry pie--the recipe will be posted on Sunday!

This morning as I was writing this post, I was quietly listening to the news in the background. They were discussing a nominated CNN Hero, Doc Hendley, for his work in bringing clean water to those living in impoverished areas where safe water is scarce. It's sadly not news to me that many people in other countries must walk for 4 or 5 hours just to reach their water for the day, and it's dirty water at that. Today is World Water Day and I feel incredibly lucky to live in a place where clean water is available to me whenever I turn on the sink. Clean water should not be a privilege. It's so vital that we take care to preserve the resources on this planet through our everyday actions and by celebrating our planet every day. Check out the awesome video by EarthHour.org for 2013:

In the spirit of celebrating and sustaining our mother Earth, I'd like to share five easy but effective things that I try to do on a regular basis to help sustain our planet:

1. Turn off the water faucet while brushing teeth to save water.


2. Use sustainable candles and candlelight instead of lamps a few nights per week.


3. Bring reusable grocery bags on shopping trips. If I forget, I am sure to recycle the bags by using them for small trash bags in the house or in other ways.


4. Use (or upgrade to) energy saving electronics and appliances whenever possible. My latest energy efficient purchase was an energy star ultrabook laptop.


5. Buy local produce often. I love supporting the local farmers and economy in this way. A bonus is planting a garden annually ourselves.

For more ideas to celebrate Earth Hour and Earth Day often, check out my article in the March issue of Delight Gluten-Free Magazine for tips and fun vegan/raw food recipes. I also have a plethora of easy and earth friendly recipes I've posted throughout the life of this blog that can be browsed in the Recipe page or by typing in keywords such as "vegan" or "earth day" in the search box in the upper left corner of my site.

Happy Earth Hour and World Water Day!

How will you celebrate the planet today?

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Earth Day: Herbed Organic Carrot Soup

Since Earth Hour came around on the 31st of March, we've been inspired to try for an Earth Hour at least once every week. This is in combination with cutting down on water consumption, fuel consumption, and eating organically whenever possible.

Tomorrow, April 22, is Earth Day. In celebration, I'll be switching off appliances and lights and heading outside for a large part of the day. I think it's a perfect time to reconnect with our natural roots and bask in the new fresh spring that's arrived. Keeping it simple and earthy, I made an Herbed Organic Carrot Soup that was smooth and energizing. (This is an allergen free recipe--free of the top 8 allergens and gluten).

Herbed Organic Carrot Soup (allergen free).

• 7-8 Organic carrots


• 1 medium white or yellow onion


• 2 cloves garlic


• Olive Oil


• 3 or 3 1/2  cups water or vegetable stock (depending on if you like the soup to have a thicker or thinner consistency).


• Salt, Pepper


• Mixed Italian Herbs, dried or fresh. I used dried Parsley, Basil, Oregano, Thyme, and Rosemary.

Chop and saute the onion and garlic with olive oil over medium heat in a sauce or soup pot. Add the chopped carrots, water/vegetable stock, spices, and herbs. (You could make a curried version by adding some curry paste or curry powder). Bring the water to a medium high temperature, but not quite boiling. Then lower the heat to a simmer and cover. Let the soup simmer for 20-30 minutes. After the carrots are cooked through, pour the soup in a blender or use an immersion blender to blend the soup to the desired consistency. I like mine mostly smooth, but with a fair bit of fine texture left.

Wishing everyone a Happy Earth Day!

How do you plan to celebrate our planet not only on Earth Day, but everyday?

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