Happy Earth Day!
Leave it to capitalism to turn an environmental movement awareness day into one more excuse for consuming.
I rarely talk about movies here and I’m not much of a movie maven since I’d rather be reading a book to be honest. I did recently watch a documentary called No Impact Man. A very appropriate film to bring up today.
In case you have not heard about it, writer Colin Beavan decided that he would see if he could live his values and genuinely try for an entire year to live in New York City without making an environmental impact. His wife, Michelle, and toddler daughter, Isabella, joined him in the project. The film follows their progress. They ate only local food (local = within 250 miles), composted with worms, stopped making trash (which included no toilet paper), got around the city on bicycles, stopped using elevators (they lived in a 9th floor apartment), bought nothing new, and turned off their electricity among other things. They did not do this all at once but in stages, therefore never actually lived for an entire year making no impact but they did go a lot farther than most people ever do no matter the actual length of time.
Some of the really positive things that came out of their year were a complete reversal in Michelle’s health. Prior to the project she had had a blood work up and found out she was pre-diabetic and also on the verge of having thyroid issues. Colin had a bit of a spare tire around his middle and he lost 20 pounds. Without a TV they all spent more time together as a family. Without air conditioning they all spent more time outdoors.
The way other people reacted to their project was also fascinating. The farmers market farmers were supportive and helpful. Friends thought they were a bit odd but went along with it when they visited. Coworkers and strangers however were not so understanding. Michelle, who writes for Business Week, was baffled by people who came up to her and said they couldn’t touch her or talk to her anymore. And environmental blogger of all people ripped them to shreds on her blog and then invited them over to dinner hoping for more fodder. She ended up liking them and apologizing for the things she had written. Michelle took the opportunity to ask her why so many people hated them and the blogger explained that what they were doing made other people feel judged and threatened and guilty.
There were two main things about the project I was disappointed about. One, they have a dog but never mentioned how they fed the dog (bagged dog food which would not have been local or fresh meat from a local source?) or even if it was included in the project. Second, during the course of the film Michelle decided she wanted to have another baby. They argued over having a second child but more from the standpoint of their schedules than anything else. There was no discussion about how a second child would add to their environmental impact or about the consequences of global overpopulation. In addition I was a bit annoyed that Colin accepted a solar panel from a solar company after they turned off the electricity six months into the project. The solar panel was to run his laptop so he could work and update his blog and what not. It’s not that he had a solar panel but that he got to use one for free and therefore the real cost of going solar was not discussed. I would love to put solar panels on my house but there is no way I can afford the $15,000 – $20,000 it would cost to do it.
Overall though I am glad I saw the film. What I appreciated most about it was Michelle. She began the project admitting that she was addicted to shopping, coffee from Starbucks, and the high fructose corn syrup life. Watching her struggle and succeed and not only that, be excited and happy and proud about it by the end was great.
After the project was over they turned the electricity back on. They realized that living a no impact life was pretty unrealistic and what matters is living a life based on sustainability. The point of the project was not a film but a book No Impact Man and I hope to be able to make the time to read it soon. There is a blog and a project website both of which offer useful information on lessening your environmental impact.
In the film I believe it was Colin at one point who said that just changing your light bulbs is not enough, doing a few little things is nice but if you give up buying bottled water and continue to drive a gas guzzling SUV you really aren’t getting the whole concept of lessening your environmental impact. I must say I agree. While I feel like my Bookman and I already do a lot, we are always looking around for ways we can do even better. This year we are installing rain barrels and will soon be hanging clothesline in our basement so I can hang clothes to dry indoors when it is raining and in the winter instead of only outside in the spring and summer. How about you? What steps will you take to lessen you environmental impact?
I saw this on NetFlix and was thinking about watching it. Might now! We do our best with recycling (I am a recycling zealot and fish things out of the garbage, etc.). Although I can’t ride my bike to work, I do drive a compact and I plan my trips to use the least amount of gas. I frequent thrift shops, so am buying pre-used goods, we don’t eat meat and our dairy consumption is becoming less and less, and I just switched over to cloth napkins and rags (instead of paper towels… although I reserve the right to use paper towels to clean up cat barf). We live in CA so we watch our water consumption, and I use mostly all-natural cleaners (vinegar, baking soda, etc.). All that said, we could still do way more. There’s always more!
There IS always “more” – which brings up the issue of exhaustion in the face of all the action possible – the whole “I’m not going to be able to do it perfectly, so why bother?” attitude. I try to walk some kind of line between patting myself/others on the back for silly, tiny things, and allowing myself to feel OK about where I’m at in order to avoid total burn-out.
When I was looking for a new job recently, I really wanted to prioritize finding something within walking or public transport distance, and was so lucky to find a position just a half-hour walk away, so now I walk back & forth to work every day, which is not just green but healthy & a great chance to reflect on things. I think really well while I’m walking.
We’re also really lucky that it’s pretty easy to eat local where we live & still not die of boredom from 9 months of root veggies.
LOL, as I write our solar panels are being installed. We’ve finally bitten the bullet. With Australian government incentives we should pay it back in about 6-8 years. We’ve investigated Rain Tanks (I presume that’s what you mean by barrels?) but so far can’t decide whether it’s really worth it for the amount of rain we get. Mr Gums think we’d need some huge capacity tanks to make it worthwhile BUT I’m not quite convinced. I think it might still be worth it.
Other than that, I’m afraid I’m nowhere near as good as I could be – particularly re using the car (though we don’t have big cars – one is medium and one is small). We of course recycle, and use recycled products (computer paper, toilet paper), but …
‘And environmental blogger of all people ripped them to shreds on her blog and then invited them over to dinner hoping for more fodder. She ended up liking them and apologizing for the things she had written. Michelle took the opportunity to ask her why so many people hated them and the blogger explained that what they were doing made other people feel judged and threatened and guilty.’
This sort of thing drives me hopping mad. My husband will say, oh it’s just human nature, but I get very worked up about people responding badly when someone else sets a good example. Take responsibility for your emotions! I say. But I will have a real rant if I get going, so I will step away from the issue, and just be glad you highlighted it much better than I could!
We keep trying to minimise impact. We travel about very little these days, eat and work locally, turn off all appliances not in use and I’m stilll hoping to grow more of my own vegetables, if I could only get the builder’s rubble out of my soil!
Thanks for writing about this! I want to read the book now, and watch the film with my husband. I keep trying to persuade him to put solar panels on our house, but so far the cost is really too steep. I try to do what I can to conserve: turn off lights, use energy-efficient bulbs, turn down the heat, open windows instead of use AC, compost most of my trash, throw dishwater on the garden instead of run more tapwater, grow my own veggies, etc. (It’s rubbing off on my daughter, she’ll go through the house yelling: who left this light on? Turn off that fan! You’re wasting energy! -haha-) But I always feel like it’s never never enough to make an impact, since it’s all little things.
And I’m really curious about the dog, too. I wonder if that’s addressed in the book?
Happy Earth Day, dear Mother Earth. You have put up with a lot – neglect, abuse and disrespect. And yet you continue to nourish us, comfort us, sustain us. May we pay you back with tenderness and care – and then pass you on to the next of your children – still lovely, still healthy, always magnificent.
Wow–this sounds pretty amazing, even with the quibbles you had with a few things. I sometimes think I could get by without a lot of things, but I wonder how realistic I am really being–it would be really hard to go without electricity, for example. But I do think people can do a lot by trying to conserve and recycle. I don’t own a car and don’t want one. I do have a dryer, but I try and hang almost all my clothes on wooden clothes horses (not sure what they are called). I try and recycle as much as I possibly can (though I know I could do more) and would love to start composting (never can quite get going on that). I need to be better about buying food locally–especially with a farmer’s market opening soon for the summer. I will have to keep an eye out for that documentary.
Daphne, do wathc it I think you will like it. Cloth napkins and rags make a huge difference. Since James and I both grew up in CA we have had good training in water conservation and scowl fiercely at our neighbors who turn on yard sprinklers during the afternoon and leave them on until their yard is spongy and the water pours off into the gutter.
Emily, you are right, the issue of exhaustion is an important one. And if you are doing lots of big things it gets hard to not resent people who are pleased aas punch that they always recycle their plastic water bottles or whatever. How lucky you can walk to work! I used to be able to bike to work everyday rain, shine or snow and I loved it. You are lucky to live somewhere where eating local is easy even in winter. Even the local root veggies are exhausted here by January and really, there are only so many things you can do with sweet potatoes before you begin to go crazy
whisperinggums, oh, I so envy you your solar panels! Our rain barrels are actually that, barrels. Our gutter downspouts will be positioned so the rain that runs off the roof will go into the barrel for use later. Is that what your rain tanks are? I think any effort at water conservation is worthwhile.
Litlove, it’s crazy isn’t? And even worse to have the attack come from someone who should know better. You might want to consider raised beds for a garden if you have a lot of rubble in your soil. building a raised bed and filling it with good soil might be easier than cleaning up what you’ve got. Plus raised beds warm up faster in spring so you can plant earlier
Jeane, good work on your conservation efforts rubbing off on your daughter! I hope the dog is addressed in the book. I would be really disappointed if it weren’t.
Grad, beautiful!
Danielle, I started compost several years ago when my city began offering compost bins for $20 every spring. It was a beautiful sight to show up at the pick up location and have to wait in a very long line. Maybe your city has something similar? I think that you don’t own a car is huge.
I haven’t heard of barrels but it sounds as though they are smaller than our tanks which need to be piped in to gather the water. Here is a link that gives you an idea of the range but you will need to click through to see actual examples: http://www.enviro-friendly.com/water-tanks-canberra.shtml
whisperinggums, those tanks are huge! One of them would take up half my backyard. Ours are much smaller, typically 50-60 gallons like this: http://www.bluerivermn.com/. No piping needed, just a spigot on the side of the barrel to attach a yard hose or to turn on to fill a bucket or watering can.
Wow, they’re so little! How fascinating. I haven’t ever seen anything that small advertised here – but clearly you get value out of them. Do you get enough pressure from them to run a yard hose?
wow, what an interesting sounding movie. I can’t imagine such a project. And yeah, the solar panels sound nice.
Rebecca, it was interesting especially since it showed that while many things take some effort, it isn’t all that hard.