We moved from our 4 bedroom home to a 550 sq. foot condo walking distance from work.
We sold our 1996 4 cylinder car and bought a Honda Civic hybrid.
We became vegan after watching the movie “Meat the Truth”. We have both lost weight and feel great.
We disabled our 10 mpg motorhome and permanently parked it and use it as a cottage 15 miles from town. This is saving us lots of money in insurance and gasoline.
We are avoiding plastic where possible in packaging and purchases. This is difficult.
We eat local organic when available.
We shop at the farmers market.
We shop for clothes at second hand shops first and buy new only if we can’t find what we want second hand. This does not include underwear.
We plan to only buy fabrics that will compost. Organic cotton still uses lots of water so hemp is the first choice.
We carefully buy shampoo, laundry detergent and cleaning products that do not contain phosphates or petrochemical products.
We travel more by train and less by plane. Trains are much nicer than airports and planes but don’t go everywhere we need to go.
This has improved our marriage and our quality of life. It is fun to be a team and work towards a goal of leaving a good space for the children of the planet to grow and thrive. It has also been good for our finances and we have made very good like minded friends.
This post was submitted by Erin and Bill.
I LOVE the idea with the motorhome!
Comment by Stephanie — March 22, 2010 @ 1:50 pm
So many great changes, and I can relate to the plastic packaging issue … because after doing my No Impact Week last month, I realized the plastic wrapping attached to so many of my purchases was a major problem. So while I understand about trying to reduce the plastic, I have yet to find a solution … other than to go without a lot of the things I don’t have substitutes for yet.
Living in 540 square feet, done; no car, done; not buying a lot of anything, done; local food, organic food, done as best I can in winter … but that darn plastic … suggestions appreciated. Refilling my glass peanut butter jar at the Co-op is realistic. Not buying certain vitamins and necessary prescriptions not realistic.
Maybe I should look at the positives and not dwell on the negatives, but your list was so impressive … a lot more positives than negatives, that’s for sure.
Comment by Terry — May 10, 2010 @ 10:13 pm
Yay, I am inspired to read comments like this. Living this life and only leaving footprints upon this fragile earth might be impossible, but lessening the impact of these footprints becomes not only possible but certain when you change attitudes and behaviours. Meeting likeminded people is just so cool and reading about your successes awesome. That darn plastic, I use reusable cloth bags, don’t buy products in plastic, shop second hand, walk as much as I can to get places, have joined fresh local organic produce co-ops where we bulk order and share the packing by roster into large reusable bins for each family. Little by little eh….
Comment by Sonia — July 27, 2010 @ 6:34 am
We also downsized our living arrangement in the last year, and our fifth wheel camper is a guest room or sewing/reading nook for us, more living space, using what we have. We only heat the home to 63 in the winter to use less propane (can’t afford solar, sadly!). It is economical to walk or bike for shopping. It may be called green but really it is just common sense and going back to the ways it was earlier before all the modern conveniences started being invented!
Comment by Karen C. — May 14, 2011 @ 9:32 am