Here's this week's tips for slowing changing your habits.

 

 

Never microwave food in plastic containers — even if they claim to be microwave-safe. Instead, use microwave-safe glass or ceramic dishes. You'll not only save up to $15 or more per year on plastic container replacements, but you'll conserve the resources — mainly petroleum — used to make the plastic as well as the waste produced when it's disposed of. Research continues to show that plastics are prone to leaching potentially harmful chemicals into food. The main culprit, BPA, has been found to leach from all types of plastics, and is associated with reproductive and developmental disorders.

Buy frozen vegetables instead of canned. Pound for pound, canned and frozen vegetables may be comparable in price, but the canning process consumes up to eight times more energy than it takes to freeze, package and store frozen vegetables. And although most frozen vegetables come in non-recyclable plastic packages, these are less bulky and heavy than steel cans, which take more energy to produce and transport. Frozen vegetables tend to have a more natural flavor than canned vegetables, which are often preserved in a salt solution. Because canned vegetables are usually pre-cooked, they may also have lower levels of nutrients than frozen vegetables, which are usually only blanched before being packaged.