The first No Impact Week is over! I had a great time exploring new areas of reducing my impact, and made new connections with other bloggers engaging in the experiment. Two bloggers, Karo and Mandy, were gracious enough to participate in my own post-experiment interview. Stay tuned for their stories, coming tomorrow!
Thursday – Energy
Today I used energy sparingly, turning off lights and power strips when they weren’t in use. I didn’t cook as much and instead made a sandwich and salad.
Trash for today: none
Friday – Water
Friday is about using less water. I took a quick shower by wetting my hair, turn off the water, shampoo, rinse. Turn off the water again to soap and then on to rinse.
I didn’t do my dishes in a bucket of water, but turned on the water to rinse a plate, off to soap and scrub. On again to rinse. That was my starting point for water conservation.
I didn’t do my laundry by stomping on it in the bathtub, like Colin did. I am quite interested in doing my laundry by hand in a bucket though. That would save me some money too. =)
If I had a rain catchment system that was overflowing with water, like Sandra does, I wouldn’t really need to save on water.
Trash for today: chocolate wrapper, napkin
Saturday – Give Back
Saturday is about volunteering. Unfortunately, as it is labor day weekend, I had a number of family/friend related events to attend and wasn’t able to volunteer as per usual.
Instead of volunteering this Saturday, I volunteered last weekend at the Eat Real Festival in Oakland, keeping people hydrated with organic teas, kombucha, beer, and wine. I also phone banked for a campaign twice this week, which was a really great outreach experience. All in all, I volunteered about 8 hours this week.
Trash for today: none
Sunday – Eco-Sabbath
Today is a day for yourself. Reflect on your new changes.
The No Impact Experiment was a great exercise in shining light on all of our daily activities. I’m much more aware of my energy and water use, which wasn’t something I focused on before.
To be absolutely honest, sometimes I questioned whether I really needed to save on energy and water. I think this was a big impediment to my dedication to energy and water conservation.
But now that I look back on it, energy is something we absolutely have to conserve on, or else switch to clean technologies. Even then, there will be issues surrounding production and disposal of new technologies and materials. The thing is, energy seems like nothingness, a zap of ease. Zap and my light is on. So easy. How could it be so polluting?
As for water, because I’m a renter and don’t have to pay for water use, I get into a convenience mindset and think that I don’t need to conserve on water. I see no visible signs of shortage…
I would blame this mentality to the throwaway culture we live in, where convenience trumps awareness. Water and energy are two things I will continue to think about and try to conserve.
Things I am definitely going to keep up like second nature (relevant to No Impact Week):
- composting
- eating local organic vegetarian food
- volunteering
- traveling car-free
- reducing my waste
- not buying new stuff
Things I know I may have trouble with, but will try with my intention and action to improve upon:
- conserving energy
- reducing water use
Trash for today: paper cup, paper plate, napkin, plastic fork [I was at a labor day bbq, unfortunately not a zero-waste event]
Does all this make me happier? Yes! I love applying my knowledge to real life. I love growing personally and living consciously, as it makes me feel more empowered and set on the right path.
If you found this post helpful, please Retweet and share it with your friends. And do follow me on Twitter. Thanks for reading!
Looking for more No Impact Week updates? Check them out here.
*Photo by Steven Wall. Title borrowed from NYTimes article feat. Tammy Strobel.
Nice work, Lynn. While you clearly had some tangible results, I wonder if the bigger take-away for you — and anyone else going through the challenge — was the heightened personal awareness of all the resources you typically use and stuff you typically throw away during the course of your normal day-to-day. Therein lies the foundation of lasting change.
Way to go. Can’t wait to hear how things continue. Be well (and thanks for the link).
Thanks, Bill! I agree, the greater takeaway is greater awareness of the resources we consume as individuals.
Awesome Lynn
I’ve recently begun to think more about my environmental impact. Previously I was pretty happy with myself, knowing that eating vegan was doing much more than my part. But now I’m simply ENJOYING looking at the rest of my life and seeing how I can do things smarter, and more efficiently… because efficiency doesn’t stop at the front door or the bank account – we’re all in this together and we all share the same limited resources, no matter what we tell ourselves.
Thanks, Ali! That’s great to hear you are thinking more about your impact. Sometimes I feel I do enough as well, but it never hurts to experiment more =P
Oh and regarding water, you could always unplug the draininage under your sinks. Having to physically carry the water you use to the garden or drain will give really help you cut down.
I have this, originally by necessity, not choice. But I’ve come to appreciate water more since and love the fact that it doesn’t simply just vanish into the sink, as if i had never used any.
That’s an interesting idea, I’ll have to try it sometime. I would just be a bit afraid of any grimey stuff coming out.
Yes, it is grimy, the trick is you never touch the actual bucket, just the handle. I’ll make a video about it and let you know…
Sweet! Can’t wait to view it!