Less Impact Person

Last night I watched the "No Impact Man" documentary. No Impact Man is Collin Beavin, a writer living in New York City, who decided to try to have zero net impact on the environment for one whole year. He kept a blog, which eventually turned into a book and a movie. It was his intention to write the book from the beginning - environmentalist critics opined that publicity for a book might trump his quest for clean living.

Whatever your outlook - the experiment was fascinating. Mostly, because it also involved his wife and toddler daughter. I could never go that far, but it's making me think. And that's exactly what Collin was hoping to get out of this (at least from the environmental altruistic side of things!). So I'm thinking about my baby steps to "less impact person".

Already we've switched out the light bulbs, use the programmable thermostat and have water aerators on the shower and the faucets. I use re-usable grocery bags (mostly...but I can get better at keeping some in the car for those unexpected stops).

As I was pondering my next steps, I realized just how often I get coffee in disposable cups. I'm so sad to admit, but I rarely carry my mug with me. If I get coffee AFTER I get to my office, I always use my own cup. But Brewed Awakenings is between where I park and my office. The cup is usually in my office.

So, my vows toward less impact:

• no more coffee in disposable cups - my own mug or no coffee
• less reliance on paper towels and more integration of cloth napkins
• begin searching for a tandem bike for Willa and I to commute to school/campus this spring
• as soon as the ground thaws, put up the collapsible clothes line that's been taking up space in the garage since last July

Baby steps. Baby steps.