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.
Do you have a video story from your No Impact Experiment? Share your story below:
To all of my fellow environmentalists,
I am learning more and more everday about how I can be more sustainable.
I already do a lot, but I am increasing my efforts each day. After watching No Impact Man yesterday, I decided to come up with a set of goals for myself this week:
1- Don’t use overhead lights (or other lights if possible) in my dorm. Rely on natural lighting as much as possible and take advantage of public places.
2- If I need to buy something, I will do my best to find that item without individual packaging.
3- Buy produce from the farmers market nearby.
4- Use blackle.com (an energy saving google! check it out).
I encourage everyone to try set sustainable goals. They give you something to work for and will be gratifiying once they are reached!
This post was submitted by Jennifer.
Watching “No Impact Man” last year really made me think about my footprint on this planet. I have been doing a lot of small things for years but after watching the DVD; Colin’s family inspired me to do more. I think about my actions everyday and how they affect our planet. I gave up paper napkins, towels. I have said NO to plastic bags(been doing this for years) I bring my resusable mug everyway. I have gone through my home and changed everything possible to lower my impact. I shop at Farmers markets and do not shop at grocery chains anymore. I read all labels on foods. There is so much we can all do to help our Mother Earth. If each one of us does these things we can really make a differece. Thanks to everyone that is making an effort to heal our planet. Living this lifestyle brings peace and happiness to oneself.
Namaste!
This post was submitted by Paula.
My partner and I belong to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Wyoming Valley. After Hilde Binford presented The Climate Reality Project at our church we decided to try and make an impact. For Valentine’s Day this year I replaced every bulb in our 3 story town home with CFL bulbs. We are waiting to see if it makes a difference in the amount of electricity we consume.
This post was submitted by Bill Browne.
I am an 8-months pregnant mother to a 16 month old. When pregnant with the first child I was adamant about cutting down on repeat purchases so that there would be more money for our family. My son is cloth diapered and we use cloth wipes; my forthcoming child will obviously get his diapers handed down. We never purchased a clothing item for our son; everything was either a gift or a hand-me-down (mostly hand-me-downs!) as was the crib, car seat, co-sleeper and some toys. We save glass jars and use them as water bottles and that has had the biggest impact on ME because I did use to buy single serve water or juice regularly so imagine the money saved. We no longer use paper napkins but have cloth ones. We have no cable, though we have a television where we can watch a movie at times. We bring our own bags to the supermarket and neither one of us clothes shops; most of my new clothes are handed down to me by my friends who have gained weight . We keep a very dairy-free home and buy no meat. We do buy eggs and at times salmon. (Outside the home, I will eat meat from time to time, but not often). My son was breastfed for 13 months (NO IMPACT AT ALL) and now I make his own ‘formula’ with a base of either homemade almond milk or homemade coconut milk and then supplemented with some superfoods, healthy oils, liquid vitamins etc. I wear no perfume or make-up and buy my (chemical-free!) soap from a Brooklyn based company (local!) My latest goals to conquer (or at least make a valiant push for) is to completely stop consuming plastic, to compost, and to grow some food in our apartment. This all takes time and energy, but once its habit, you don’t even think about it.
This post was submitted by Samantha.
My partner and I have made a commitment to reduce, reduce, reduce. We have set a 5 year plan which includes solar panels, growing our own food and eliminate commercial laundry soaps. We have successfully eliminated commercial laundry soap… and since it is nearly spring here in wisconsin and all our gardening plans are begining! I am happy to report that we have a large enough area that we can grow enough food to sustain us through the next winter. I am terrified of canning food as I fear botulism… however, my partner assures me canning is safe, SO… wish me luck!
Alas, that is all we have going on currently…
Thank you for everything… your movie changed my life!
This post was submitted by Erica.