Collectively, small lifestyle changes can make a huge impact on the environment–and your life. Looking for happiness and health? What’s good for the environment is also, it turns out, great for you. Here’s a collection of tips from the No Impact community.
I decided not to have my own biological children. Instead, I have been a foster mom, a stepmom, and an adoptive mom. There are plenty of kids who need an adult who cares about them.
This post was submitted by Carolina.
I had already decided not to buy any Christmas presents at all, because I felt that everybody in my family already have enough stuff. But today I got a nice idea: Calendar 2010.
The semester at my university finished two days ago so I had piles of half used sheets. I chose the ones that are blank on the other side. Then I got out my old pencil case full of coloured pencils and started drawing.
Finally I managed to make four really nice, unique 2010 Calendars for my brother, sister, parents and my boyfriend. I’m still planning to add some old photos to them, and voila! Useful, 100% recycled and recyclable Christmas presents for practically free (since I’m a student I’m a bit short of money this time of the year).
This post was submitted by Kaisa.
I am car-free (involuntarily in the beginning) since my car was stolen in September. While waiting to decide what I wanted to do in the way of a replacement, I started walking and biking and taking mass transit everywhere, which is unusual in Los Angeles because it’s such a car-oriented city.
It hasn’t been difficult, since I live a short walk from three major bus lines, and my office is within biking/walking distance should I be in the mood to do that. I have only needed a friend to drive me on errands once, to pick up a few months’ supply of cat litter at a big box store and get a few other heavy/bulky items for home and the office.
I ride my bike to the Sunday farmer’s market, walk to one of 3 groceries that are near home or work, and manage to get my shopping done without a major fuss. And the BIG up-side is, I have lost 15 lb in the process. I also sleep much better at night.
I feel completely in charge of my situation – if I absolutely had to have a car, I suppose I could rent one. But pretending like I live in Paris is working out pretty well for now.
This post was submitted by G. Robison.
According to many experts the number one thing we can do to reduce greenhouse gases is to cut down on (or cut out) our dependence on animal products. It is extremely inefficient to put our food thru animals simply because it’s become a habit we don’t want to change. The truth is that animal products are very UNhealthy (as opposed to the general belief caused by decades of advertising by large and powerful industries), very cruel to the animals and destructive to our environment. One pound of beef, for example, requires up to 20 pounds of plant protein and thousands of gallons of water to produce.
This post was submitted by Susan Estrella.
Don’t bother using soap when doing dishes unless they’re greasy. It’s the hot water that kills the germs, all soap does is bind to the fats so they can be rinsed off. A quick dip and rub in hot water will get non-greasy dishes just as clean. Guaranteed to speed up dishwashing, and saves money on dish soap if you use a dishwasher.
This post was submitted by Rebecca.