
A friend of mine suggested I add a series to the blog letting people know what i’m currently reading. sure? why not? i read. so here goes.
i recently read No Impact Man
by Colin Beavan. i picked it up on a whim at the library, remembering that i had seen something about their family years ago. Colin and his family set out on a year’s experiment to reduce their carbon footprint as much as possible while living in new york city. the family goes through radical changes such as traveling only by foot or bike, consuming foods only grown within a 250 mile radius and eventually shutting off their power completely.
i had originally picked the book up thinking maybe there would be some examples of steps my family could take since i have strong zero-waste ambitions. well, i found a small bit of that but most of it seemed more applicable to city life, or honestly, things we already had in place in our home. what i found most useful about this book was the research and information put forth about such areas as american waste trends, food consumption and recycling efficiency. i have to say that i spent at least two nights staring at my ceiling thinking we are all completely effed after learning more about waste rates and resource consumption.
however, it lit a fire under me to make a few more small changes. 80% of our consumer goods in America are for one time use. ONE TIME. that’s just ridiculous and doesn’t match up with my personal beliefs. I’m continuing to further my search in areas i can refuse, reuse, reduce and recycle. this book definitely helped even if it did induce an anxiety attack or two.
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