Three of the 12 flavor finalists. Vote early,
vote often.

Dunkin’ Donuts has announced the 12 finalists in the second annual “Create Dunkin’s Next Donut” contest from among 90,000 entries. The winner will receive a $12,000 grand prize and have his or her donut creation sold in participating Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants nationwide.

You can vote for your favorite flavor online through May 3rd at DunkinDonuts.com.

O.K.—our entry did not make the finals, but when we see how creative these entrants are, there are no sour grapes. So pick your favorite and vote:

• “Cop Cake,” a cake donut with chocolate icing, topped with white sprinkles and chopped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (Chris Schinnerer, Clackamas, OR)
• “Full Moon,” a cheesecake kreme-filled donut with white icing, topped with shredded coconut and Hershey’s Vanilla shavings (Pat Cooper, Ponte Verde Beach, FL)
• “I Like You a Latte,” a chocolate cake donut with maple icing, topped with white and chocolate sprinkles (Rosemary Burian, Joliet, IL)
• “Let Freedom ‘Ring’,” a blueberry cake donut with white icing, topped with red and blue sprinkles (Jack Turchetta, Cranston, RI)
• “Mango Fandango,” a berry mango-filled glazed donut, topped with pink and orange sprinkles (Rachel Llanes, Miami, FL)
• “Monkey-See Monkey-Donut,” a bananas foster-filled donut with chocolate icing, topped with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup shavings (Rachel Davis, Sharon, MA)
• “Mornin’ Paper,” a chocolate butter kreme-filled donut with white icing, topped with chocolate sprinkles (Catherine Kunkle, Pittsburgh, PA)

Learn the history of the donut in our Pastry Glossary.

• “Much A Do About Nut Things,” a chocolate cake donut with peanut butter icing, topped with shredded coconut and chopped roasted almonds (Stefanie Schwalb, New York, NY)
• “Nut N’ Fancy,” a peanut butter-filled donut with chocolate icing, topped with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup shavings and whole Reese’s Pieces candies (Lisa Burns, Medford, NJ)
• “Pumpkin to Pie-n For,” a pumpkin cake donut with maple icing, topped with Hershey’s Cinnamon Chips shavings and graham cracker crunch (Kelly Rice, Orlando, FL)
• “S’morgasbord,” a marshmallow-filled donut with chocolate icing, topped with graham cracker crunch (Chris Wiley, Medford, MA)
• “Snack-o-Lantern,” a pumpkin cake donut with maple icing, topped with Hershey’s Cinnamon Chips shavings (Jennifer Hayes, Hardwick, MA)

You can see the current leaders when you vote. So get that vote in!

Check out the history of the donut in our Pastry Glossary.

1. Do you buy a new bottle of water every time you’re thirsty? Uh oh—lots of landfill. For some consciousness-raising, read this article from Fast Company.

2. Do you refill the bottle a few times before you buy a new bottle of water? Better, but still landfill.

3. Do you have a reusable, BPA-free water bottle that you use instead of purchasing water? And better yet, does your water bottle have an internal filter that turns tap water into top water?

If not, let us introduce you to the Body Glove.

Get one for yourself and one for a friend.
Photo courtesy Body Glove.

The “glove” part of the body glove is comfortable, stretch fabric that makes holding the bottle feel good, too.

Tested by the EPA, the Body Glove portable filter bottle by Water, Inc. meets or exceeds protocols. The patented Ionic-Adsorption Micro-Filtration System reduces up to 99.99% of the following zones of contamination: aesthetics (unpleasant taste, odor, etc.), harmful pathogens, chemicals and dissolved solids (heavy metals including lead and mercury).

Get your Body Glove(s) at BodyGlove.WaterInc.com.

• Learn more about the different types of water in our Water Glossary.

We’re just as happy with sorbet. Photo
courtesy Wine Cellar Sorbets, a NIBBLE Top
Pick Of The Week.

If your family loves ice cream and consumes a reasonable amount of it, switch to sorbet.

Sorbet has no milk or cream, which means it’s dairy-free. Why is that important for Earth Day (and every day)? Cows and other livestock create more greenhouse gas than all motor vehicles and trains combined.*

Dairy-free means sorbet is also cholesterol-free. It’s also fat-free, and has fewer calories than ice cream.

And, the pretty colors look like jewels served in a martini glass or wine goblet (with an optional sprinkling of berries). If a local shop sells handmade ice cream, you may find special sorbet flavors bursting with vitamin-rich, seasonal fresh fruit.

• Find our favorite sorbets plus recipes in our Ice Cream & Sorbet section.

JAWS—Just Add Water System—cleans off tough stains and leaves surfaces streak-free. Regardless of the type of home surface you need to clean, JAWS has a solution for you.

I already have perfectly fine cleaning products, you say.

The difference is that JAWS is Earth-friendly. Instead of adding to landfill by throwing away the plastic bottle (and perhaps the spray unit, if you don’t buy the refill size), with JAWS you need only one bottle per year—or longer.

That’s because each starter kit comes with a ready-to-use 32-fluid-ounce bottle of cleaner plus two refills of concentrate. When you’ve used up the bottle contents, just refill it with water and a refill and you’re good to go. You can buy the refills separately.

In sum:

Turn Earth Day into Earth Year: Go green
with your cleaning products. Photo by
Hannah Kaminsky | THE NIBBLE.

2. Save fuel on “shipping water.” Cleaning products are mostly water. Water is not only heavy to transport, but there’s no reason for retailers to have it shipped from one end of the country to the other, when the water in your tap creates the same product. JAWS enables just one semi truck to take to the road instead of 30 semi trucks! Think of how much fuel, emissions and road wear that’s saved.

Find a retailer at JawsInternational.com.

Save yourself and save the planet:
Be sure meat comprises no more than 1/3
of your dish, with 2/3 vegetables. Photo
courtesy National Pork Board.

You can choose healthier foods and simultaneously make a difference in preserving some of the earth’s natural resources.

• By eating more veggies and downsizing meat portions, you’re helping to conserve topsoil and save millions of gallons of water. According to the American Dietetic Association, a 3-ounce beef burger may require about 26 times more water than if you choose a similarly sized veggie burger.
• Beef requires a lot of energy—for feed, manure management, transportation, slaughter and processing—before it gets to your market. The Natural Resources Defense Council estimates if all Americans ate one less serving of beef weekly, we’d lower greenhouse gas emissions by the same amount as if we took about 5 million cars off our roads.

• And don’t think chicken is the solution: The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization found that all livestock generate more greenhouse gas emissions than all the planes, trains and automobiles on the planet!

You don’t need to eliminate meat from your diet; but the experts point to convincing evidence that diets high in meat increase risk for colon cancer. Vegetables, fruits, whole grains and beans should be the focus of most meals, with meat taking up a supporting role—a 2/3 to 1/3 ratio.

Tips For Health & Earth Day

1. Adopt The New Ratio. It’s easy to follow the “2/3 plants to 1/3 meat” plan. For example, mix a small scoop of brown rice with plenty of colorful vegetables to fill most of your plate, accompanied by 3 ounces of roasted chicken.

2. Size Does Matter. In your 2/3:1/3 plan, keep your portions modest. Recommended sizes: a rounded handful for a serving of pasta or dried beans; a baseball-sized serving for fresh fruit; a meat serving about the size of a deck of cards. Still hungry? Eat a large salad with oil and vinegar.

3. Vegetarian Day. Have a “vegetarian day” once or twice a week. Go dairy-free if you can: A dairy cow contributes as much manure/greenhouse gas as a beef steer.

Download New American Plate brochures and recipes from the AICR to help you save the earth as you improve your health.