Thinking about our impact

My husband and I just watched the documentary No Impact Man, about a New York family trying to live for one year with no net impact on the planet. There is also a blog and a book. It's an idea that has long inspired me, to live lightly on the planet, and this film is both interesting and inspiring. The verdict from my husband: this guy is interesting and not too whiny.

The film also got us talking some more about our lifestyle, and what we can do to make it less harmful to our enironment. We both agree that to be truly no/very low impact would require one of us to be dedicated to survival as an almost full-time job. But there is still a lot we can do, and what is stopping us is just habit, or laziness, or fear of looking "weird" to other people.

The One Small Change challenge is still a good way to go for changing our lifestyle for the better. Focusing on one change a month gives us time to digest it, talk about it, and learn from it. This month I've learned a lot about my shopping habits, as I could not shop. Sometimes I just want something new, for no good reason. Being forced to put that desire into recycling, crafting, and recreating has been very satisfying. We won't continue on with No Buying after this month is over, but I do want to make some kind of a waiting period or something, so I'm not allowed to buy anything until it's been on a list and deemed to be necessary. My husband and I will talk about the purchases before either of us makes them, which will definitely cut back on how much we buy (and spend).

Our shopping list so far:

red quilt binding
seeds for the garden
an entertainment cabinet, to finally hide all the cords for the TV and DVD player
possibly a new DVD player - we think ours is dying


Transportation is a big one for us, and in many ways it's the hardest to solve. I really wish I could be a bicycle commuter, but Carbon has outgrown the trailer for my bike and is still not ready to ride his own bike through traffic. I also don't commute so much as run errands for the family and for work. Hauling lots of large cumbersome stuff along with two children, without using my car, is a major challenge. I would love to buy a Joe Bike, but my husband points out (validly), that we have several large expenditures planned this year, with trips and a bathroom repair, and an expensive bike is not fiscally responsible. Especially when I already own an expensive bike. I need to use that bike whenever I can, keep working on getting Carbon road safe on his bike, and explore how much I could get around with the kids on the bus. I think this will be our One Small Change for March.

February's One Small Change is going to be No New Plastic (but Carbon negotiated a Lego Exemption). We will try to eliminate the flow of disposable plastics through our home, including containers that go into the recycling. I fully expect that I won't be able to completely eliminate the plastic, but I'm going to try. It's going to effect grocery shopping a lot, but we've been brainstorming ways to get around the plastic, such as going to the butcher counter instead of buying meat vacuum packed on styrofoam, buying from the bulk bins, and getting creamer in wax paper cartons intead of in plastic bottles. No more of my beloved International Delight. :( We're up for the challenge!