Update on No Impact Man: The Year Without Toilet Paper
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 03.22.07
When Jeff last reported on No Impact Man he had a blog, a book deal, a movie. Now he has the front page of the Home section of the New York Times. He is not only a model for us all about lifestyle, but also for marketing and self promotion. (and I mean that very positively!)
The article starts off with dinner: "There was shredded cabbage with fruit-scrap vinegar; mashed parsnips and yellow carrots with local butter and fresh thyme; a terrific frittata; then homemade yogurt with honey and thyme tea, eaten under the greenish flickering light cast by two beeswax candles and a fluorescent bulb."
It then follows through with the rest of their lifestyle changes to achieve no impact:
"Its rules are evolving, as Mr. Beavan will tell you, but to date include eating only food (organically) grown within a 250-mile radius of Manhattan; (mostly) no shopping for anything except said food; producing no trash (except compost); using no paper; and, most intriguingly, using no carbon-fueled transportation."
While living this way and trying to have no impact is hard, we would point out that there are probably few better places to do it than in cities like Manhattan. Employment is often in walking or scooter distance; there is huge variety in shopping for food, usually often in walking distance; there are libraries, second hand shops and endless diversions close at hand. Without being as extreme as Colin, Michelle and little Isabella, all of us could do some of these things. I do, however, draw the line at toilet paper.
Colin is not alone, either;
Mr. Beavan looks to groups like the Compacters (sfcompact.blogspot.com), a collection of nonshoppers that began in San Francisco, and the 100 Mile Diet folks (100milediet.org and thetyee.ca), a Vancouver couple who spent a year eating from within 100 miles of their apartment, for tips and inspiration. But there are hundreds of other light-footed, young abstainers with a diarist urge: it is not news that this shopping-averse, carbon-footprint-reducing, city-dwelling generation likes to blog (the paperless, public diary form). They have seen “An Inconvenient Truth”; they would like to tell you how it makes them feel. If Al Gore is their Rachel Carson, blogalogs like Treehugger, grist.org and worldchanging.com are their Whole Earth catalogs.
Read the article at the ::New York Times
Pictures by Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times
When I was a kid my Dad was really inspired by Helen and Scott Nearing, and was always threatening to drag us out into the middle of nowhere and do that entire thing. It's really not practical, and my brothers and I lived in total fear of it. My brothers and I when we grew up went through a reactionary stage which was really just our finally being able to express our abhorrence at Nearing and his misanthropy.
You really have to be careful, especially if you have kids, to not go overboard with this kind of stuff. Unless this guy is a squatter or on rent control, that's a million dollar apartment he's living in....
..."using no paper; and, most intriguingly, using no carbon-fueled transportation."
I don't get it. How is no carbon-fueled transportation the most intriguing? Especially compared to using no paper!
It might be enough if we all emulated this man, "The Un Millionaire"
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20070326_Unsung_fortune__A_rich_mans_secret.html
"Hal Taussig wears baggy jeans and fraying work shirts that Goodwill might reject. His shoes have been resoled three times. He bought his one suit from a thrift shop for $14.
At age 81, he doesn't own a car. He performs errands and commutes to the office by bicycle.
He lives on the outskirts of Media in a narrow wood-frame house that was built for mill and factory workers.
And he has given away millions."
As someone who worked for NYC social services, I have to say this man is cruel to his kids. You have to think about the lives you are caring for when you want to play media star.. this lifestyle is not only unsanitary but downright cruel to his children.
If he wants to play caveman alone thats one thing, but when you involve children thats when other depts take over.
"Ugh" - if you'd ever read the man's blog you would know that your accusation is somewhat unfounded. This man is doing more for his child than you could ever imagine. Why not read a bit before criticising?