"No Impact Man"

Colin Beavan of NYC started a project in August or September 2006, to try and create no net impact on the environment. He had apparently decided to "walk the talk." So, I've been reading his blog for easily an hour now. At first I was put off. He's making a book and a movie about this journey, both require a lot of energy and resources to create. So, I looked into the book and movie more. Okay, he says the publishers will be using sustainable materials. Good. The movie is a documentary, cameras follow him and his wife around. Seems better than a post journey movie deal. BUT . . . what kind of sustainable materials? Are we talking recycled paper? Good, what percent post-consumer? 20% . . . 50% . . . 80% . . . 100%? In order to appear as unhypocritical as possible it'll have to be 80-100%. I mean if Seventh Generation can make almost entirely post-consumer toilet paper, you can make a book the same way. Will the paper be bleached? Again unbleached paper will create a less negative impact, it'd look cooler too. Ultimately, creating more "stuff" for consumers seems the opposite of what you'd want to do to encourage "no net impact."

After reading his blog for a while though I realized something. First, even though this guy is a megalomaniac he cops to it. Excellent. Second, he seems to be genuinely inspiring people, both to hate him and to try and follow his lead. Anyone who inspires right-wingers to hate them is probably alright with me. Third, whatever . . . at least he's making an effort. We can't all be as saintly as we'd like to be all the time.

This leads me to divulge some of my own flubs. My family lives three hours away. For a while there we were visiting them once a month. Even though I get 25 mpg most of the time it is still a LOT of gas. I rescued a horse. Plus one karma point (maybe more since I am nigh onto broke and she's EXPENSIVE) for me, minus one crunchy point because of the resources she requires (hay, grain, etc). I have two dogs. They were rescues too, so again plus karma points, but they burn up resources, minus crunchy points. What are we attempting in order to decrease our impact? Less trips home. I love little Audrey and enjoy my time with my family but it's a long drive and I feel guilty every time I make it. Huka lives in a pasture and her manure becomes fertilizer and we buy local hay and grain. For the dogs we buy "bio bags," biodegradable poop bags. We also recently bought a second hand (smells like bulk salsa once lived in it) 5 gallon bucket from the co-op. Bulk dog food now inhabits the bucket. It costs less and we don't have a giant bag to throw away at the end of the month anymore. I wish the meat center at OSU had non-basted bones so we could buy "chewies" without packaging.

Furthermore that new computer I want, so that we don't have to juggle computers at home, probably shouldn't happen. Ouch. Three people in college, two with on-line classes, one with two college classes to teach. Hmmm . . . for someone living increasingly sustainably sustainability can still be hard!

I've switched to cloth pads for my feminine woes. I know that this is something we're encouraged not to talk about publicly but I can't help it. Us ladies create a lot of waste with our disposable products, even the environmentally friendly ones still end up in sewers or landfills. So, here it is . . . This was the first month and there are a few kinks that need to be worked out. Namely ensuring that I don't use/waste more water by using them. Speaking of garbage . . . we've started using garbage bags only in the bathroom (as long as there are disposable lady products there will be a liner). The garbage bags we do use are also "bio bags." For all other garbage we have a five gallon bucket that we just dump garbage into. We're down to only about a gallon of garbage per week for three people and two dogs. Not bad. Once a month I rinse the bucket with a vinegar solution so it stays "clean."

Now if we can just figure out how to get the three of us places without driving at all. The bus system here is great, but from our apartment only goes one place we need it to, OSU. *Sigh* this is a process!