Dearest readers,
Colin Beavan, aka No Impact Man.You’ve perhaps No-ticed the No Impact swirl of late: there’s been lots of buzz about No Impact Man, the New Yorker who committed his young family to a year of zero-waste living, and his eponymous film. In late October, five thousand people participated in the first-ever No Impact Week. If you missed it then, here’s your second chance: the Natural Resources Defense Council is sponsoring another No Impact Week beginning this Sunday — you can sign up here, then learn how to plan and carry out your own consumption revolution. (If the timing is no good for you, conduct your own No Impact Week with this handy how-to guide.)
No matter what you think of the No Impact phe-No-menon, the idea of a week of “pre-holiday mindfulness,” as NRDC terms it, sounds pretty darn refreshing to me. The event is part of NRDC’s new Simple Steps campaign. Wander over to the site, and you’ll find the beginnings of a solid set of resources, including household calculators, tips for greening your community and your family, and pointers for understanding product labels. Near and dear to my heart is a section called This or That — much like my own set of FAQs, it aims to answer those pesky “paper or plastic” questions that make so many of us a little twitchy.
Kudos to NRDC for its site, which is full of bright candy colors and making me dream of lollipops. While I go in search of sweets, take a look at Simple Steps yourself and let me know what you think. Useful? Inspiring? Vapid? Making you crave corn syrup?
And let me know if you give No Impact Week a shot, or if you’re experimenting with consumption in some other way. The more stories, the better!
Sweetly,
Umbra
