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:
Hanging clothes on the line outdoors to dry.
This post was submitted by Susan Phillips.
There are two areas that I haven’t heard many people talk about-probably because people don’t like to talk about “women’s stuff”. Sure, we can use cloth diapers on our babies, but what about the feminine hygiene products we throw away or flush down the toilet? I have recently started using a menstrual cup instead of pads or tampons, and it is great. It is re-usable and produces no waste. It is boiled once per month so it is hygienic as well. And cheaper too (in the long run).
The second “women related” area I’ve changed is birth control. My husband and I use the billings ovulation method, which involves charting your cycle to track cervical mucous and basal temperature. There are no extra hormones going into my body (why would I stop eating meat with hormones but keep putting them in me anyway?). Also, those hormones are not going into the water supply when flushed down the toilet. There are many scientific studies that prove the effectiveness of this method (as effective as IUDs when used properly). Plus, there is no trash (no condoms to throw away, no birth control pill cases, etc). Also, there is nothing to purchase, other than a thermometer (one time).
This post was submitted by Mary.
Became a one car family - my husband now commutes year round by bike.
Any journey under 4 miles, my daughter and I bike.
We traded our 2 cars in for a low-sulphur emissions diesel.
We use cloth diapers, cloth wipes and cloth sanitary products.
We compost and recycle all that we can.
Reduced our large, rotten lawn by adding some raised beds for veggies in our suburban garden and have made some beds for our friends and neighbors who do not have a garden.
Members of a local CSA and shop at the farmer’s market whenever we can.
Second hand first and then if not possible, buy new.
Line dry all clothes - we don’t own a dryer.
After seeing Colin’s film yesterday, our aim for April is to reduce our trash by looking at the packaged products we buy and purchase/make an alternative. Our aim…how low can you go?
This post was submitted by suzanne Cadge.
Ok the best bet is probably a thermos, BUT…You know how you get that early morning city dweller coffee craving when you’ve been pulling an all nighter and have to be chipper at work anyway? Or you’re stuck in a hospital emergency room waiting for a looong time? And they don’t have a coffee maker, all they have are those machines? Although cutting down on and even cutting out coffee is probably one of the better choices to make to lower your impact, I found a cheater’s way to not use the plastic cup that is thrust upon you if you do really really want that little pick me up: most offices have porcelain or glass cups lying around, even cafeterias have glasses that can do the trick- I bring my own.
I open the little door and snatch the plastic cup out and replace it with my own- then, I and several other collegues stack up the unused cups on top of the machine with the stacks of refills. They will probably get used eventually, unfortunately, but when 25 or 30 people are not using those cups, it’s that many less in landfill, and savings for the companies who have to buy them for their machines. Just a thought.
This post was submitted by Barbara Weber.
We moved out the the woods in Mexico to try to develop a human culture which won’t destroy itself and the planet.
http://bosquevillage.com
Here are a few tips for living happily with less:
Water: We get our water from the rain and store it in large cisterns. Using simple composting toilets allows us to save the huge amount of water wasted in a “normal” household. We also take saunas prior to showering so even a very short shower makes us much cleaner.
Energy: We only use power from a small solar panel system. It is what they would normally sell for a vacation cottage. We use about 3% of the electricity a US family of four would use; even when we have 20 people here sometimes. We use a solar hot water heater, and a solar oven for baking.
Food: We grow more of our food each year. Our best plants require no fertilizer and and irrigation. The rest of the food is produced within the state. We are designing a root cellar now. We don’t buy foods with chemicals or sugar. We don’t eat any meat here.
We plant thousands of trees of all kinds to diversify the ecosystem and use the permaculture concept of the “Food Forest”.
Transportation: We normally drive into town just once a week to get supplies.
Results: We get to live closer to nature in a healthier way and know that every day we get a little closer to living in a way which will not destroy the planet.
This post was submitted by Brian Fey.