“…”Will you join me in lowering our impact?”
That was the subject line on a recent e-mail I sent out to family, friends, column readers and radio listeners …
… asking them to join me for a week in trying to reduce our individual environmental footprint.
Inspired by Colin Beavan’s prophetic book “No Impact Man,” I proposed four pollution- and waste-reducing steps many people could try for a few days:…
… Stop consuming meat, devote one meal a day to eating only locally grown products, avoid producing non-recyclable garbage …
… and refrain from riding in a fossil-fuel-burning vehicle with fewer than three people.
Having now completed this low-impact week, I can report that it was not easy and that I did not achieve perfection — not even close.
However, I can also say I learned a few things beyond how to manage bicycle-seat discomfort.
For one, I discovered that you can find affordable food that isn’t flown in at great energy expense — but it takes initiative.
You have to check food labels at the grocery … or hunt down a farmers’ market.
I was also reminded that we waste an obscene amount of paper and plastic.
Coffee cups, disposable utensils, food wrappers — this offal is everywhere and most of it is used for less than 15 minutes and then discarded.
Avoiding this trash for a week makes you think about the monstrous amount of energy used in producing, distributing and tossing it.
When it came to transportation, I discovered that the inconvenience of eco-friendly choices can come with unforeseen benefits.
Sure, it took effort to get my bike working.
Sure, my “not a morning person” gene didn’t love sweating my way to the office at dawn.
But my “I hate traffic” and “I like saving money” genes enjoyed avoiding congestion and gasoline bills.
These embarrassingly self-evident realizations led to my two biggest “low-impact week” epiphanies of all…”
go to source/story>>>Lessons from a low-impact week – Environment – Salon.com
