Try living No Impact for a week!
Check out the links in this post! The No Impact Project is signing up participants for another No Impact Experiment, a "one-week carbon cleanse." It will begin on 10 January, 2010.
I read about the first one in October, and was intrigued. I signed up for the second one in November, and found the process to be enlightening. Even though I already participated in many Green activities, I found that simply focusing on the program for a week and trying new suggestions described in the How-To Manual heightened my awareness of additional waste that could easily be eliminated from my life.
Most participants won't be able to use every suggestion. I wasn't able to. But the value of the exercise is that it enables us to discover that there are additional things that each one of us can do to reduce our impact on the Earth. Was I able to live zero-impact for a week? No. However, the process did help me learn how to further lower my impact in certain areas.
"No impact" is probably not doable for the vast majority of people, but "low impact" probably is. And the collective effect of many people lowering their impact would be powerful.
Why not give it a try?
A Visit to Mount Felix
15 years ago
10 comments:
What a great idea, but, man o man, what a hard thing to do too. Makes you really realize just how dependent we are. I, too, am trying to be more environmentally sensitive and use less of everything. Very tough to do here when you live in a city the size of Connecticut.
Agreed. I couldn't go to the lengths that Colin and his family did for a year. To me, the power of the idea is that most of us could adopt bits and pieces of the program, and take it as far as we want to. The cumulative effect of many people, each doing a little extra, is huge. For an example of what CAN be done in a city the size of Connecticut, see the "Path to Freedom - Little Homestead in the City" blog at:
http://urbanhomestead.org/journal/
Again, an example that is more than most people could do, but a valid example nonetheless.
Food for thought. And none of the concepts are "all or nothing" propositions...
Thanks for visiting, Anne! Good comments spur stimulating exchanges of thoughts!
Definitely a cool idea. I think it's impossible to live no impact unless you live in a city...and city's are where a lot of our pollution comes from. However, if you do live in the city, why not walk, bike, or at least use public transportation? Cars should only be used when as a necessity and should be considered a luxury...America is fat to begin with, so getting our legs moving wouldn't really do any harm.
Good comments, Grace!
It would be difficult to live totally "no impact" anywhere, city or rural. So, for most of us "low impact" is the next-best thing. If everyone just did the things that are easy, it would make such a difference.
BTW, Colin's experience, and "Path to Freedom - Little Homestead in the City" (see my blogroll) are both urban no-impact experiments. For a rural example, see "Little Blog in the Big Woods" (see blogroll again). Again, more than most people can do, but an interesting example of what can be done.
Thanks for reading! I love visitors and comments!
Thanks for stopping by my blog :-)
And, thanks for the link. This is very interesting. No impact is definitely a stretch but I agree that we all could do a little more to make less of an impact.
Have a nice weekend!
Hi, Felice,
Thank you for your comment and for visiting Running Green! I also am glad that mybblog is occasionally read by someone other than my cat and me!
the how to manual didn't open for me, maybe I can print it...(kidding!!!)
I am not the greenest but I would love some pointers to improve
No! Please!! Don't print it!!! ;-)
Sorry you had trouble accessing rhe manual. I will download and email you a copy.
(As I saw on the footer of an email, "No trees were killed sending this message. However, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.") ;-D
It's a shame, but a lot of green measures are difficult for a lot of people, not because they are not willing, but because the infrastructure doesn't exist everywhere.
So, if interested people just do what they can reasonably do, it all adds up.
Thanks for your interest, Myriam!
What a great project - I am going to look into it!
Great! Thanks for visiting!
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