In which I run into No Impact Man again, and nothing happens…
… you know, because of that chemistry accident several years ago while he was working late at the lab so that now things just slide right through him instead of creating an imp… Oh, forget it. That was the scenario Michael created tonight after we saw the No Impact Man movie again and heard Colin Beavan, the No Impact Man himself, answer questions at the Shattuck movie theatre in Berkeley with our friends Nancy and David. I’m guessing Michael has seen Watchmen one too many times.
Anyway, while the movie is a great gateway into the No Impact Project (in fact, it’s powerful enough to make some bloggers cry), the No Impact Man book is the hard stuff, the thing your parents warned you about. And I think it’s about time to start discussing! (Disclosure: If you purchase via the link on this page, My Plastic-Free Life earns a small percentage.) Don’t worry. If you don’t have the book yet, you can still play. The book is simply a springboard for the important questions I want to ask. Still, I highly recommend reading this book. You’ll be glad you did.
Brown is actually green
First let’s start with the outside of the book before we get into the local organic waste-free goodness inside. The book looks pretty eco-friendly, with its brown cardboard cover and library binding. But is it? I checked inside the cover page for information on the materials, which is where that kind of information usually appears. Couldn’t find it. Turns out, there is a whole page devoted to explaining the choice of materials in the “Note on Production” immediately after the epilogue.
After considering various options for producing this book, Colin and the publisher finally decided on 100% postconsumer recycled paper and cardboard, processed without chlorine. “Additionally, the paper was manufactured using energy generated from biogas.”
Question 1: Are the materials from which a book is produced a deciding factor for you in whether or not to purchase it? Or is the information inside worth some of the environmental cost? Would you still rather borrow from the library? Or how about downloading to a Kindle or listening to an audiobook, saving paper altogether?
My answer? I’m really enjoying carrying this book around with me and savoring it at my own pace without worrying about getting it back to the library on time or having to pay attention to audio, even if it is Colin reading his own words. I’m happy the book is so eco-friendly and feel like the message is important enough to justify use of some resources. What do you think?
The first of many parables
Colin Beavan likes to tell stories. He’s kind of like Jesus in that way. Oh, don’t get mad. I’m just saying that they both like(d) to use stories to illustrate their points. So before we even get into Colin’s own story, we are presented with the first of many parables:
Our sages taught:
A man should not move stones from his ground to public ground.
A certain man was moving stones from his ground onto public ground when a pious man found him doing so and said to him,
“Fool, why do you move stones from ground which is not yours to ground which is yours?”
The man laughed at him.
Some days later, the man had to sell his field, and when he was walking on that public ground he stumbled over those stones.
He then said, “How well did that pious man say to me, ‘Why do you move stones from ground which is not yours to ground which is yours?'”
–Talmud Bavli, Masekhet Bava Kama 50b
Very deep. But what does it mean?
Question 2: Living on this planet, how do we determine what land, or materials of this earth, are ours and which belong to everyone? Does anything ultimately belong to us as individuals? And what is the limit of our responsibility? Do we have a stewardship to the world outside the walls and fences of our own homes? Our own minds?
Obviously, I think the simple answer is yes or I wouldn’t be doing this blog. On the other hand, can’t we get too involved trying to change other people and the external world and forget about starting right where we live? How do we find the balance between making personal changes in our own lives and reaching out to have a positive impact in the rest of the world? Or is the example we set with our own personal changes enough?
Confronting one’s own smugness (Chapter 1)
As background, Colin starts out by telling a story about how he basically guilt-tripped his wife Michelle into not wearing fur. That’s the short summary. His description is actually very funny (which is why you should read the book) and makes you both laugh and want to hit him. Because he basically realizes that he is all about getting other people to change their ways without looking at his own behavior. He’s walked a mile in his own leather shoes without realizing that his choices too contribute to animal suffering.
He then goes on to explain how he loved to blame George Bush for our problems, all the while blasting two air conditioners at the same time so he wouldn’t have to wait for his apartment to cool down. Colin felt helpless to fix the problems in the world and was sick of waiting around for someone else to do it. Finally, his big realization:
Am I really helpless? Is it true that a guy like me can’t make a difference? Or am I just too lazy or frightened to try?
Question 3: How often do we blame or try to change other people before looking inside ourselves first and confronting our own demons? How often do we grumble about situations we wish were different, waiting for someone else to come along and fix it for us, instead of taking action ourselves?
One of my friends from Green Sangha forwarded a message from The Daily Om the other day that addresses this very question. Although not specifically about environmental issues, it’s relevant to any situation in which we are frustrated in other peoples’ seemingly unenlightened behavior. I’ll share part of it with you:
You may be someone who understands the true nature of reality, perceiving deeply that we all emanate from the same source, that we are all essentially one, and that we are here on earth to love one another. To understand this is to be awakened to the true nature of the self, and it is a blessing. Nevertheless, people who just don’t get it are seemingly everywhere and, often, in positions of power. It can be frustrating and painful to watch them behave unconsciously.
[…]
When dealing with people who seem very unconscious, it helps to remember that every one must find their own way to awakening and that the experiences they are having are an essential part of their process. Holding them in the light of our own energy may be the best way to awaken theirs. At the same time, we are inspired by their example to look within and shed light on our own unconscious places, sacrificing the urge to judge and surrendering instead to humble self-inquiry.
Man, it is so easy to look at the world and give up in despair. As you know, I’ve had my own moments of feeling helpless under the weight of our consumer-oriented culture. What helps is to look inside myself first and root out the places where I am just as acquisitive as the biggest shop-a-holic. No, I don’t care about buying new things. But I get caught in other places… wanting more approval, wanting more blog readers and more comments on the blog, measuring my worth not by how much money I have in the bank but by how many other bloggers link to me or forward my tweets.
Aren’t there ways in which all of us are helpless over addictions and obsessions and desires for more, more more! How can we possibly change the world without first changing ourselves?
The No Impact Project
For the rest of the chapter, Colin explains how he came up with the No Impact Project and the stages that he and his family would move through in getting to zero negative impact on the planet. Stage one: making no trash; stage two: zero emission travel; stage three: food choices; and further stages involving consumer purchases, heat and electricity (they turned it off), water use and pollution, and then giving back to the community in a positive way to balance out the negative impact they couldn’t avoid.
Colin told me that he started with trash because it is the most visible, and at the time, he thought it would be the easiest step to begin with.
Question 4: What was your first step in lowering your ecological footprint? What was the gateway for you? Changing lightbulbs? Eating locally or organically? Generating less waste? Driving less? Simply making sure you recycled properly? What was the moment you realized you could personally make a difference and how far have you progressed from there?
I’ve written here before that my “Aha!” moment came after reading Colin’s blog and following links to the article, Plastic Ocean, and realizing that all the tiny plastic pieces inside the carcass of a dead albatross chick could have come from my own lifestyle. That was the moment I woke up to a fraction of my own impact on the planet. Plastic was my gateway. And plastic has lead me to take so many other steps: from wanting to generate no plastic waste to wanting to generate no waste at all; from realizing chemicals from plastic could leach into my food to buying local and organic to avoid all the other chemicals in my food; from the desire to protect wildlife from plastic pollution to an understanding of the many other ways our lifestyle causes harm to living things.
Plastic has been a door and a lens through which I view my own impact on the planet. What’s been yours?
So, okay, I think that’s enough for now. It gets us through Chapter 1. Like I said, I’m enjoying reading this book slowly and savoring it. How often would you like to discuss future chapters and how many chapters would you like to cover at a time?
You might also enjoy...
-
Discussing plastic-free sunscreen, dog poop solutions, plastic newspaper bags, buying berries, and more. All accompanied…
-
I've gone commercial! Well, no I didn't. But I did make a commercial. Okay, not…
-
While I love my boyfriend Isaiah Mustafa's hot and funny Old Spice commercial, I do…
-
Finally! The videos from the TEDx conference in L.A. last month have been posted. Here…
After decades of book collecting, I am trying to reverse the trend and now only buy books I expect to reread multiple times. Which means I almost always borrow from a library first to gauge the reread potential, as I did with No Impact Man. However, I implemented this strategy while living in a city where the public library had a very generous renewal policy. My new PL only allows one (ONE!) renewal and that will take some getting used to. But to answer your question, no — although I’m pleased when books are made from recycled and/or acid-free paper, it’s not yet common enough to make that a significant selection factor for me.
I very much appreciated the discussion of smugness and looking elsewhere for blame in the book. I am certainly guilty of both responses, chock full of judgement of others’ perceived-by-me failings. I still have a lot to learn about “encourag[ing] a little less self-indulgence and a little more kindness” in myself (13).
My conversion process probably started with learning about the voluntary simplicity movement, but I can’t quite recall which piece of the puzzle came first. The biggest thing I’ve done has been to go car-free for a few years at a time, mostly because it was the only way I could get myself to stop driving for convenience (see above re: self-indulgence). Again, I was living in a city that made not having one quite feasible: moderate weather, bike-friendly, good public transit, walkable neighborhoods. The problem was my own laziness and lack of will-power. If the car was there, I was going to use it, even though my commute was only 2.5 miles and I had no physical restrictions on getting there under my own power.
#1 – i generally can't afford to buy books, though on rare occasions i'll buy used online. nor will i ever be able to afford a kindle. i think it's great that the book's made how it is – the more books like that, the better – we surely have enough paper being recycled to supply for books like these. also, i use the library.
#2 – that's a big question. i just finished reading 'the fifth sacred thing' in which air, water, fire, earth are all sacred and not able to be owned. of course, that's opposite of american society right now. i think for most it's at least a good start and a solid core to make your own home, space, land, mind as beautiful and sustainable as possible. from there, to me it seems like a matter of personality/calling in whether you'd reach out to people in whatever way.
#3 – sure, i grumble. my own stubbornness to live without the more annoying parts of the system (working for corporations, paying rent, etc) force me to confront my demons, though, so that i live with less money and more sustainably. so i no longer buy shampoo, or toilet paper, or office paper, disposable dishes, paper towels, electronic gadgets or extra kitchen machines, etc etc.
#4 – i don't remember my Exact first aha moment, but a big one early on was turning on the bathroom light. i was living in a house with a small window in the bathroom, and so there was often natural light available. one day several years ago – the mental light bulb popped on – and i realized how deeply ingrained was my habit to switch on the light regardless of how much sun was already there. since then, i've lived cooperately, recycled and successfully helped others start recycling, worked toward a self-sufficient homestead and growing my own food, saving seeds, and reducing the number of products i 'need' to buy, like shampoo and toothpaste, notebooks and envelopes, and much more. one day when i am able i will build a home out of the earth using only natural and salvaged materials instead of purchased ones. to me it feels like a creative challenge to avoid buying things, and a savage part of me Wants a life that feels more ancient. then, of course, there are still old habits (really New habits i guess, historically), like buying food in plastic containers and driving a gas-powered vehicle. but i'm working on those at a pretty steady pace.
Beth, this is a wonderful post and it really hit home for me. So much so that I've bookmarked it. We all evolve, and we do so at our own paces. If you judge others for the place they are in, you give up your own influence … and rightly so.
Thanks for the link, too. :)
beth- i really like the idea of one chapter at a time and a discussion following.
#1- i usually prefer to borrow books from the library. sometimes they are unavailable or a really long wait in which case i often purchase a used copy, then donate that to the recirculation room in the library. i admire the low impact nature of books like colin's but i would have bought it anyway because i consider the message worth the impact in some cases. some books are fine on audio or kindle, but for books i know i'll return to reread selections, i prefer the real thing.
#2-about ownership/stewardship- i believe that since we can't take anything with us when we leave this earth that it's not about "ownership" while we are here- it's all about stewardship-taking care of and sharing these spaces, this beauty, these precious resources. i read Cross Creek by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings when i was 19 or so. her book ends with these words- "It seems to me that the earth may be borrowed but not bought. It gives itself in response to love and tending, offers its seasonal flowering and fruiting, but we are tenants and not possessors, lovers and not masters. Cross Creek belongs to the wind and the rain, to the sun and the seasons, to the cosmic secrecy of seed, and beyond all, to time."
about that story with the moving of stones- i think it speaks to what you've written about in your blog- that there is no such thing as "away". what we use and discard, what we don't want any more, doesn't really go "away". we trip over it again and again. it can go far deeper than that tho. it could be about the shoveling off of our own personal responsibilities onto others but in the end we're all in this common ground together, responsible for the state it's in.
what do you think?
#3- there are still areas where i continue to chip away in my own life. i try to remember that each time i walk by a hummer in a parking lot, or see my neighbors driving to destinations within 3 city blocks. i often wish i could do more to influence others so here i relate to what erin-conscious shopper said in her reply. i write/call my reps in washington regularly but it feels like that's not enough and that i could/should be doing more.
#4 when was the first "earth day"? 1970? i was in high school at that time- so i've always been a little aware- recycling, trying to create less waste, on the lower end of the consumption treadmill. but the movie Inconvenient Truth followed by a trip to europe that summer of 2006 really hit home- to the seriousness of the situation and how far off track we've become here in America (in the areas of infrastructure/convenience/waste/consumption). after a month's worth of The Joy of Not Driving, The Freedom of A Backpack of Belongings, i came home from that trip committed to Change. then i found books to read and many blogs such as yours and NoImpactMan's which showed me how- and my life has not been the same since!
(sorry this is so long)
becky
My response to your comment turned into a ridiculously long comment. So I will email you the comment :)
Thanks for welcoming me to the conversation.
You asked if I'd seen the movie. No, it hasn't been here yet (I live in an out-of-the-way place) and, besides I read many more pages than I see scenes.
So, I'm going off some interviews and reviews (plus remembering that other guy who took his family to live with Simple People on a farm)
I'm really glad to read that Colin is suggesting group action.
@Erin — I think Colin is very fortunate to have been able to have a say in what materials were used to produce his book. It's my understanding that most authors don't have that kind of power and so green authors often end up with their books printed in less eco-friendly ways than they'd have liked. I think once you're in the New York Times and regularly appear on TV, you probably have a certain amount of leverage in that department. They KNOW your book is going to sell.
I love your comment about water rights. That is why I keep saying that the issue of bottled water is about way, way more than simply the plastic bottle.
@Viv — one thing that Colin said during a public appearance when asked what one thing people should do was "volunteer for an environmental organization because it's empowering to be part of a community." Like you, I think we also find that sense of community and support online with each other. I totally hear you.
@OrcaSister — have you seen the movie yet? Even Colin at one point expresses a certain amount of ambivalence about turning off all the electricity. And it was only for 6 months. He's living with lights again. That was just for the experiment. So anyway, I hear you. We need moderation in some things, right? But I for one could certainly cut down on late night activities that require artificial light.
@KaleForSale — I could just weep that you kept yourself from clapping. We only have this one party and we should clap if we want to! And sing. And dance. And anything else that strikes our fancy.
ALL — I don't usually answer every comment like this, but I would really like to keep the conversation going.
Beth
@Clif — I love the idea of the Bed Buddy, and I would love it even more if it ever got hot enough here to need one. We were supposed to have some super hot days this week, and they changed their mind and visited someone else instead.
@underbelly — When we have family and friends who don't share our values, should we just lead by example and then focus our activism on people who are ready to come on board? I wrestle with this question myself, thinking if I just say the right thing, they will listen. But maybe it's more important to encourage people to change who are already on the verge. I don't know.
@Amber, @SusanB, & @Kale for Sale — For some reason, eating locally feels like a much bigger challenge to me than giving up plastic. Maybe that's because there are so many plastic-free options here in the Bay Area. And yes, there is good local eating too. But not chocolate. Or coffee. Or bananas. Or vanilla. All those things I crave. But I'm working on it. I hope to take a trip to Straus dairy farm at some point. Katrina, have you been there? If not, would you like to go?
@Beany — Blue penises? Full frontal assaults? Come on now, this is a family blog. :-) You are right about the blue penis, by the way. That character, Dr. Manhattan, is actually blue all over, but I can understand how that one body part would be particularly noticeable. He's like that due to a lab accident, similar to No Impact Man's and many other super heroes I could think of. Wow. This is totally off topic, so I will stop now.
I'm not sure I agree with you about shame. I was actually thinking about that this morning on my way to BART. Your comment, "How could one buy t-shirts from xyz knowing they were made by a child who is crippled (or whatever horror story)" kind of doesn't make sense to me because I truly believe that most people would not do that if they actually did have all the information. Many people are in the dark about the true cost of things. True, some of them have intentionally put on blinders so as not to have to deal, but I still maintain that if they really, truly knew, they would change. I kind of have to believe this to keep going. What do you think? And I think shame is a product of the illusion of a self separate from the rest of the world. But now I'm getting all Buddhisty on you.
@Axelle — when are you going to put up a profile on your NEW BLOG?
@SusanB — what? You read the contents but not the content? Am confused. But anyway,
@TheLeakyPen — It sounds like you have made a lot of progress. Sorry the plastic challenge tally turned out to be overwhelming. Would you be willing to try it again without feeling compelled to be so detailed about where everything came from? You can just say what it is. A plastic jar lid. 5 plastic bottle caps. No worrying about what product was inside. That's my OCD, not yours.
@Sadraki — The name of the book is commonly questioned by readers and reporters. Colin's short answer is that "No Impact Family" doesn't sound like a good title. I don't know if it was his idea or his publisher's. But I do hear you. His wife worked her butt off to comply with the rules of the project and even added a few of her own.
Aside from the "Man" portion of the title, does the phrase "No Impact" bother you at all? Obviously, he had some impact during his year, but "Significantly Reduced Impact" would also be a crappy title, wouldn't it?
Wow, fabulous interview! We should all think about those questions, they are wonderful.
Eliza
1 year. 2 people. 365 changes.
http://www.bethechange365.com
There is so much here. It's fabulous.
#1 It's a love thing or an impulse thing if I buy a book. Generally if I see the author I'll buy their book but more and more I use the library. And if I own a book it eventually gets passed around, given away or donated. Or its one of the few I love forever on the shelf. I've never paid attention to how the book was made as they've all seemed to be made the same way.
#2 I'm always questioning the balance between the blog, making jam, friends, family, work. I try to make them all inclusive so taking care of the land outside my fence includes taking care of the land inside my fence. Does that make sense? And I suck at balance. It's' one extreme or the other.
#3 Far too often I look for the change out there, for someone else to start. I wanted to clap so bad at the end of the No Impact Man movie the other night and be damned if I didn't chicken out and then no one clapped. I saw someone I knew after and he said he would have clapped if I'd started. I said well, I would have clapped if you had started. And there we were.
#4 Food was and continues to be my entry point. All I was going to do was to eat local to reduce my footprint. Ha! Next thing I knew I had a blog, was reducing the trash, reducing plastic. I was worried about farm workers rights, looking at how we could use less at the office. I bought a bike, stopped using shampoo, made my own deodorant (unfortunately that experiment didn't work) and I don't know what else.
I can tell I'm going to have to get this book. Thanks, Beth. Your questions are good food.
Opening the Door:
I grew up camping and then backpacking. When my Dad straightened out his diet,saying "in the mountains I eat a hunk of cheese and few crackers, so why do I take two corned beef sandwiches to the office?", I began thinking about home and town life as not as nice as backpacking.
No Impact Man: seems to me the author sees life in black and white, since he might have given up the elevator without giving up electricity entirely. But then, I live in a dark place and don't actually want to sleep 10 hours tonight (and longer in a couple of months).
Books I buy – ones my library doesn't have. Not this one, I just bought Peddling Revolution by Mapes about the current resurgence of bicycling.
I didn't have an aha moment either because I've always lived like that and so did my parents and that was half a century ago!
On the other hand, its been nice to find a group of peeps that I can communicate with and get new ideas from. Otherwise I would probably still feel like some sort of freak :)
viv in nz
Question #1 – I try not to buy books at all because we have a tiny house, so even if a book is made out of "eco" materials, it wouldn't convince me to buy it. But I am more likely to read a book made out of eco or alternate materials. When I found out that "Cradle to Cradle" was made out of plastic, I was intrigued and immediately wanted to read it. Also, since this is a book about saving the planet, I'm glad that Colin was able to get it printed on something besides virgin paper. That bothered me about "Garbageland" – it felt like, "Be more aware of the trash you're producing, but ignore the trees that were cut down to make my book."
Question #2 – I've been bothered lately by the concept of water rights around the world – that someone could own the water and deny water use to someone else. That is just so wrong! Water is an essential resource and as such no one should be able to own it. And we should all feel a need to protect it and keep it clean.
Question #3 – I think the problem for me is more that I've done a lot to change my own life, but I have no idea how to create change beyond myself. Most problems seem so big and overwhelming, and I want to help in solving them, but I don't know how.
Question #4 – The gateway for me was becoming a vegetarian, but I did that twelve years ago and it has been a very slow process since then.
Looking forward to discussing more of this with you!
I rarely buy books anymore I have a good library system. But sometimes I buy one that is on hold for forever (I get inpatient) or one not available at the library–they usually get passed on to friends, family when finished. I care more about where I buy my book (used, local, independent when possible) than materials.
I still don't get the name of Colin's project. No Impact Man just bugs me when it is so clearly a family project and from what I've read of his blog something his wife was equally involved in even if her struggles to change were different then his. It just rubs me as sexist.
As for my change I think I was raised to be pretty conscientious. There never was an "ahaha" moment and I was pretty surprised when I found all the eco blogs one day while web browsing. That said there are still lots of changes I can make particularly in trying to eat better and learn to cook more from scratch and consider the packaging food comes in more.
I've been vaguely aware of environmentalism and trying to be more sustainable for quite a while but for a long time my only response was to sign petitions that came in my e-mail. Since discovering your blog, I tried to do the Week of Plastic, and I did collect every piece of plastic I used, but then the follow-up with looking up where it's all from became so overwhelming that I just gave up and recycled what I could and threw out the rest. Since then, I've simply tried to be as sustainable as I can and to make conscious choices about the things I purchase. The majority of my purchases are food at the dining hall and I decrease my impact by never buying salads, sandwiches or drinks that come in plastic containers, using my refillable mug everywhere (the college offers a great incentive for this by selling all the drinks in the mug for only $0.89 instead of the $2.00 a drink would normally cost), and trying to use the china dishes that are available in some of the dining halls instead of paper plates. Not all dining halls offer the china however so the college is still a ways off. I do carry my own utensils around so I never use the disposable utensils offered in the dining halls (although those are made of compostable materials rather than plastic, they still take energy to make).
I could probably do a lot better, but that's all I can do for now. I'll keep trying to locate problem areas. I'm currently trying to figure out a way to get my residence hall events committee to be less dependent on Walmart for their purchases, so here's hoping about that…
Re book — I do buy books, more for contents than content, but I do appreciate the publisher/author's efforts to minimize impacts. I read a lot of Colin's blog; I would probably read his book from the library but it's not a big priority.
Re lowering impact — probably the first step for me was many many years ago when I decided not to get a car and bike everywhere, not a common choice in the rural midwest where I then lived. These days, we've spent the last several years on localizing/fair trading our food and reducing energy useage in our house.
Re your other two questions — good ones . . . too deep for contemplation at work.
This is a WOW post for me.
Aside from that, I always enjoy hearing what Michael has to say as well as seeing Soots & Arya involved with your work.
Oh my first step was plastic actually. In about 2005 or 2006. I don't think there were any blogs addressing that topic at the time. It was very, very hard for me. I believe the trigger was the albatross picture, but I can't be certain. I gave up after a few months because I couldn't figure out alternatives. I found Envirowoman's blog later and began eliminating plastic methodically and slowly. I then found your blog and your dedication was very inspiring. Plus I love the graphs and numbers :)
I started my blog to track riot4austerity.org numbers. I knew Miranda from a simple living forum and started my blog to track my habits and various numbers.
Basically I promote a full frontal assault to my style of environmentalism: promote bicycling for transport, eating locally, reducing plastic, living mindfully, being frugal, being mindful of money, practicing meditation and a few other things.
How far have I come? I think I'm quite knowledgeable about trade practices (what is made where and under what circumstances), I try my best to track all purchases to ensure everything I buy is not as a result of someone being exploited, I try really hard not to overwhelm newbie friends and am no longer embarrassed or secretive over my life choices like choosing to be child free because of overpopulation concerns. At the same time I really look down on people who wilfully chose to ignore things in pursuit of short term convenience. It is supposed to be a very bad trait, but come on! I think we need to bring shame back. How could one buy t-shirts from xyz knowing they were made by a child who is crippled (or whatever horror story)
I probably won't buy the book. I generally don't buy books because it just adds to the general clutter and since we move so often, books often wind up being the biggest pain. I will read it though from the library and do plan on watching the documentary next month when it comes to San Diego.
Although Colin would be my personal entry point character in the documentary, I'm glad his wife Michelle is the way she is and will serve as an entry point for others who are like she used to be.
—
I do through periods of despair on a regular basis (once every 3 months or so). But then I think of myself as an 80 year old…will I have want to have lived a life without having done my little activism or not? I take a small break of a few days and then get back into it. My cynicism is really overpowering sometimes though.
BTW, whatever the watchman reference was, it went right by me (a downside to having an audience avoids TV and other news sources). I have visions of a guy with a blue penis but I'm not sure if I'm getting mixed up.
Sorry this comment is all over the place.
I don't think I've considered the materials that a book is produced from. At least, not yet. I do love to read and I do often buy books, because I am a slow reader at the best of times and with 2 little ones underfoot it can take me months to finish. It makes the library impractical. I do buy second-hand when I can, and I love the idea of a Kindle but sadly they're not available in Canada. :(
As for my first step, it would be eating locally. It just feels so much better to me. Getting rid of the processed junk is really good on many levels, and has led me on to consider so many other new issues – packaging, plastic, agricultural practices, and so forth. It really is all connected, just as we are all connected.
My foot in the door came rather strangely–a facebook friend I went on a study abroad trip with (but I don't really talk to him anymore) randomly posted a link to Plastic Ocean on his profile. I read it and was horrified. I started googling for the North Pacific Gyre and found Captain Moore's Ted Talk. I googled some more and found your blog.
I haven't been able to look at plastic the same way since.
As I try to reduce my plastic, it's frustrating that my (republican) family stays completely oblivious, drinking from their water bottles that came in plastic grocery bags…but I still have a long way to go in my plastic reduction and hope that by mere example they will be inspired to change, too.
Great idea to do this with the book. It will stimulate people to think about their own efforts.
I've got one to contribute that I thought of when turning on air conditioners to cool off quickly was mentioned.
I have a great little item called the Bed Buddy that I keep in the freezer. It's simply a tube of silica gel – the same stuff that comes in little packets to keep things dry. You take it out of the freezer when you come in hot and sweaty and put it around the back of your neck.
Instant relief – and when you cool down you forget about the AC.
I've handed my "buddy" to others who arrive in a lather and everyone loves it. And it's only ten bucks or so. I cut the toe out of an old sock and slipped it on to keep the buddy clean, since it can't be laundered.