before I knew the positive environmen- tal effects of a vegetarian diet. People need to be conscious of what they are eating. Most edible supermarket items aren’t real food. I like knowing where my meal comes from and who handles it. It makes both my mind and body feel better.


How did the animated film Frozen enable you to reach a larger young audience than ever before? My goal with the character Anna was to play an imperfect princess, giving voice to the heroine I had been search- ing for when I was young: Someone who was awkward, clumsy, optimistic, too talkative, caring and didn’t have perfect posture. I wanted girls that feel like they don’t always fit in to have a fearless heroine to identify with. I want to be a real-life Anna, someone who doesn’t apologize for her flaws and stands up for herself and others be- cause she’s strong. Thanks to Frozen, I have been


invited to do more projects that reach young people. I hope to extend my voice as a trustworthy source support- ing projects that can benefit them.


You are passionate about the universal need for water conservation. What steps has your own family taken to be water-conscious? Living in California and dealing with drought firsthand teaches about water conservation by necessity. We carefully consider how the food we eat directly impacts water use; we all understand that producing meat and dairy is water intensive. Replacing our lawn with AstroTurf cut our household water bill dramatically. We never run water from the tap when we are brushing our teeth, and always ‘let it mellow if it’s yellow’, that is, flush selectively. We even reuse the water used to sterilize baby bottles to water houseplants.


Gerry Strauss is a freelance writer in Hamilton, NJ. Connect at GerryS- trauss@aol.com.


natural awakenings November 2015 29


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