Low Impact

Thanks to Treehugger, I came across this blog by “No Impact Man”. What a title! Clearly I was setting the bar too conservatively with “Low Impact”!

I’ve had a bit of a scan of the site, which centers on his attempt to reduce his (and his family’s!) net environmental impact to 0 and its a good read. He’s taking on quite a lifestyle shift, getting rid of a lot of belongings, growing vegetables in a local community garden project, no brand-new purchases and no TV. It looks to be quite the challenge ahead!

One aspect I particularly like is to see an everyday New York dweller take on such a project. He mentions that some friends told him it wouldn’t be possible - that you need some sort of farm to make that happen. But he points out that most of the world’s population now lives in cities - if we can’t work out how to reduce our impact whilst being a city-dweller, we have a problem!

This is something I can really relate to - living in a townhouse, I don’t know how many times I’ve caught myself thinking “when I get a house, with a bit of a garden, I’m going to be way more environmentally friendly”. Perhaps I should be trying a little harder with the situation I’m in today?

The blog postings to date have been wide and varied, ranging on how he negotiates with his family for these shifts in lifestyle, to where you can grow vegetables in New York, to how to make your own yoghurt! So, there should be something in there for everyone.

It’ll be interesting to watch No Impact Man on his mission, and I wish him all the best. And even those of us who are a little less….disciplined in our quest for a “greener” lifestyle will hopefully get some handy tips and tricks along the way!

Categories: environment, green, reduce