Today's Tip for a greener New Year

While the holidays are my favorite time of year (with Christmas Eve being my favorite day), inevitably, the following days & weeks leave me feeling almost as crazed as the preceding ones. Now, everything I've put on hold comes crashing back to the forefront, along with an irrepressible urge to de-clutter, re-organize, simplify & improve. I tend to rebel against New Year's resolutions, (which I forget as quickly as I make them) & try instead to slowly incorporate simple practices into my daily life over time. As we all try to regain a level of sanity & a rhythm to our daily lives, I'd like to pass along some little tidbits that I have found & intend to work on using myself.

http://healthychild.org/

Today's is simply a list taken from a book I received for Christmas called "Healthy Child Healthy World" by Christopher Gavigan.
While the idea of eating completely healthy & organic food is very appealing (& I believe increasingly necessary), it is challenging to do all at once. This list gives a quick snapshot of the fruits & veggies it would be most beneficial to buy organic versions of as well as those that are lowest in pesticides.

"Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce" pg. 69
The Dirty Dozen - buy these organic:
-peaches
-apples
-sweet bell peppers
-celery
-nectarines
-strawberries
-cherries
-lettuce
-grapes (imported)
-pears
-spinach
-potatoes

Lowest in Pesticides:
-onions
-avocadoes
-sweet corn (frozen)
-pineapples
-mangoes
-sweet peas (frozen
-asparagus
-kiwis
-bananas
-cabbage
-broccoli
-eggplant

*Source: Environmental Working Group, foodnews.org

Next time I head to the store, I may swap out my organic bananas & use the money I save for the organic apples & lettuce...