Want to try No-Impact?

The Huffington Post is partnering with No Impact Project a "no-impact week" starting October 18th, in recognition, support, and curiosity about No Impact Man. No Impact Man, aka Colin and Michelle Beavan, lived their lives in NYC with no electricity, no waste, eating only local foods, etc for a year (and still live with minimal impact!). I have been really interested in doing something like this myself, but the idea seems rather overwhelming. I tend to make changes in my life one at a time, fully integrating something as a habit before embarking on the next 'improvement'. I am anxious and excited about participating in this weeklong exercise, a crash-course in being really mindful about how much impact my life has in the world. Embarassingly, I don't think I'd be doing this without some advice/support through it all! Find out more here.

Excerpt:
HuffPost Green and HuffPost's Eyes & Ears Citizen Journalism Initiative are thrilled to announce that we are partnering with the No Impact Project, a non-profit started by Colin Beavan, to bring our readers the first No Impact Week. This week will give people the opportunity to examine and reduce their ecological footprint by taking part in a short and intense period of conscious consumption supported by local and online communities.

Anyone else going to try it???

Why it's easier to be 'green' in Europe

I enjoyed reading this article. It reminds me of a good travel article, highlighting similarities and differences of Europe and home, but it does so with an environmental eye. It's written for the blog at one of the graduate programs I'm applying to for next year.
I like how the author concludes: "people are pretty adaptable and... some of the necessary shifts in lifestyle are about changing habits, not giving up comfort or convenience."

Solar Panels in Parking Lots

I often wonder why this idea hasn't caught on more. Yes, there is initial expense. But there's also all the energy you'd be gleaning in an otherwise not-very-productive expanse of asphalt. I love thinking about this scenario in summer: the idea of diverting the sun's energy to our energy needs instead of heating our cars to a can't-touch-without-burning-my-fingers heat. You can see a slideshow from TreeHugger of places this has been implemented, and other similar ideas, here.

The Meerkats

Ben and I watched The Meerkats, a movie narrated by Paul Newman, last night. You can see the trailer here. There are some incredible shots in the movie, especially shots of their underground burrows.

We loved it. My conservation instincts were roused and so were Ben's, "What can we do save the earth?" he asked in earnest several times. He decided that we should go back to composting again. (We quit a couple weeks ago because of the inconvenience of having to drop it off at my Mom's place once a week, and because Ben didn't like having a compost container taking up a large portion of our miniscule counterspace in the kitchen). Yay!!

The cats enjoyed watching it too--the meerkat sounds were irresistible to them.

GlassLock

Ben bought us a couple GlassLock tupperwares (like 'kleenex' or 'xerox'...brand name=generic term). We have only used them for a couple days, but they are the shiznit. They don't leak, so I can put them in my purse to go to work instead of having to carry another bag/lunchbox with me. They're microwavable and don't leach BPA into my food. I think we're going to get some more.

Instead of Disposable Cotton Pads

I bought this small stack of 10 bamboo facial pads. I use these to remove make-up (major deal after performances!), but also, to gently wipe my face with astringent on non-makeup days.
PROS:
Bamboo fiber is finer than cotton, so my face thanks me.
These fabric pads are reusable--throw them in the washer when I'm done instead of the trash
Bamboo is more environmentally friendly to grow than cotton
The woman who makes these sends it in a plastic & metal-free package!
Only have to buy them once, and they're pretty cheap.

CONS:
I'll let you know if I come up with some. So far, nothing!


Bought from: Picnic Basket Crafts.