The more we eat, the hungrier we feel as our stomachs expand to meet the quantity we eat on a regular basis. For most of us this means extra weight and fat storage. There is also research suggesting that overfeeding ourselves causes organ stress and leads to disease. So, eating less on a regular basis is much easier on our bodies, saves money, and helps keep us a more comfortable weight. 

When you think of all of the animals slaughtered to satisfy our greed and unnecessary overeating, it makes me feel better to eat less and to think that this sends a message to meat producers to raise fewer animals for slaughter. 

I think there are several aspects that are motivating to me. One is the methane produced in landfills by rotting food products. Also that those foods attract wildlife, which are negatively impacted by eating our processed and polluted foods. It also disrupts their natural behaviors. We are currently losing top soil in our country at an alarming rate and applying compost is a great way to improve soil's ability to retain water and nutrients as well as keeping it in place and out of the air and water. Cutting back on food waste also saves money. 

Agriculture and poor soil maintenance can cause negative impacts in all water systems, but I have noticed that it is especially detrimental in low lying and steep slope areas. Everything that goes in the streams and rivers ends up in the oceans eventually so what we do upstream is critical to the health of the marine environment.
I am a professional landscaper and with water quality in mind, I install gardens that are mindful of where water will flow or pool and install retaining features to slow the movement of water down slopes. I also install very low flow irrigation systems and mulch heavily. Native plants that will establish and provide retaining support on headlands and stream banks are very important and will also help to clean water as it moves over the surface of the earth. 
I also take a bag with me when I walk and pick up trash as plastic is one of the most devastating inputs into marine environments. Saying no to plastic bags and packaging, straws, cups, etc is essential and each one of us can have a huge impact by making these small changes. 

Similar to eating local, I found it a little challenging to eat the quality fresh vegetables that living in Northern California for so many years had me accustomed to. However, it is good to realize that not everyone or every place has access to quality fresh fruits and vegetables, especially in the winter. My body doesn't love beans but I did end up with some fun lentil dishes. 

This was pretty hard mid-winter in Western CO but our City Market does carry local products. Not many of them are organic so I had a bit of a dilemma, but finally decided that it is good to support both as local food resilience is important and corporate organic is not really ideal. These are layers of the issues that require some thought and balance.