7 Simple Eco Friendly Challenges to Try Starting in April
This article was created by Earth Day for program Food Fight by IGA
Article Description
April 22 is Earth Day! The perfect moment to rethink our small daily habits… starting with the place where we can make the biggest difference: the kitchen. No need to completely overhaul your lifestyle to reduce your environmental impact.
This April, let’s set ourselves a challenge: try a few simple, realistic, and truly satisfying habits.
To guide you, the challenges below are listed from the most impactful (those that reduce environmental footprint the most) to the least impactful.
1. Reduce Food Waste
1. Reduce Food Waste
The number one action—by far. Set up a “leftover night” once a week, ideally toward the end of the week. Choose a base (pizza, pasta, bowl, tacos…) and cook with what you already have: transform leftovers, rescue ugly veggies, use up tired herbs.
Every food saved avoids emissions linked to production, transport, and landfill.
2. Add One Vegetarian Meal per Week
2. Add One Vegetarian Meal per Week
Plant-based proteins have a much lower carbon footprint than animal proteins. If you already have one veggie meal in your routine, add another. General Tao tofu, a legume chili, or a vegetable curry all reduce impact without sacrificing enjoyment.
Small change = big effect.
3. Choose Lower Impact Proteins
3. Choose Lower Impact Proteins
Without going fully vegetarian, you can reduce your footprint by varying your sources.
A rule of thumb to guide you:
- Higher impact: beef, lamb
- Intermediate impact: pork, cheese
- Lower impact: chicken, eggs, tofu, legumes
Easy swaps: replace ground beef with ground chicken, crumbled tofu, or a lentil meat mix.
4. Cook With Fewer Processed Foods
4. Cook With Fewer Processed Foods
Fewer ultra processed foods = less packaging, less transport, less energy. Home cooking is good for the planet, your health, and your wallet. Even one additional homemade meal per week makes a difference.
5. Prioritize Local and Seasonal Foods
5. Prioritize Local and Seasonal Foods
Local products travel fewer kilometers and support Quebec producers. In April, it’s the perfect time for root vegetables, cabbages, onions, leeks, lettuces, greenhouse cucumbers and tomatoes, fresh herbs, and winter apples.
6. Freeze More, Waste Less
6. Freeze More, Waste Less
Freezing is a powerful anti waste tool. Bread, herbs, dairy products (yes, even shredded cheese and milk!), leftover sauces, overripe fruit… everything can be saved. You extend the life of foods and avoid waste.
7. Choose “Ugly” Fruits and Vegetables
7. Choose “Ugly” Fruits and Vegetables
They’re often overlooked but just as good. Choosing them helps fight an invisible (but massive!) form of waste. A blemished lemon or a crooked carrot hasn’t lost any nutritional value.
This April, Let’s Get Moving
This month is ideal to slowly get out of inaction. No need to change everything at once: simply pick one challenge per week—the one that feels realistic, achievable, and meaningful to you. One action at a time, we transform our habits… and our impact. Earth Day becomes more than a date on the calendar: it becomes a starting point for cooking differently, consuming more consciously, and giving value back to every ingredient that enters our kitchen.
