The No Impact Man Effect

This guy Colin Beavan's year-long experiment going über green is fascinating to me, both for how extreme he went with it and, too, that he managed pulling it off in New York City. I don't know why exactly that would matter any more than someplace else, it just seems to me that where all things are so readily gettable it might be particularly hard bucking temptation. At the start of it, he said:

"For one year, my wife, my 2-year-old daughter, my dog and I, while living in the middle of New York City, are attempting to live without making any net impact on the environment. In other words, no trash, no carbon emissions, no toxins in the water, no elevators, no subway, no products in packaging, no plastics, no air conditioning, no TV, no toilets…"

Could just be my own lack of self-discipline is why it impresses me; I couldn't go so far as what they did even from out here in the country. I'm quite certain at some point I'd cave to a trip into town for some non-green thing, like toilet paper maybe. But they managed giving up even that, right there in the Big Apple.

I had wanted to see the No Impact Man documentary he made about the experience (trailer down there ↓) but everywhere I checked for it online today it had been removed, copyright claptrap. I hate it when I'm too late to take advantage of others' violations. FYI, once I blogged about wanting to see a different movie and a few days later it showed up in my mailbox from an anonymous reader. I'm just sayin'.

I really want to read the book at some point, too, maybe the library here has it, but I doubt it. I did pick up reading his blog when I first heard of him sometime last year, probably not so different than the book actually. I like the way he started it off toward the beginning of the experiment, though, with his first post,

"I am just a liberal schlub who got sick of not putting my money where my mouth was. In a way, the whole project is a protest against my highly-principled, lowly-actioned former self. I’m fumbling through, trying to do my best and doing the research as I go along."

Maybe not going so radical or for so long a time as they did, but surely there's something to be learned from his and his brood's ordeal, revelation about this or that what we don't even consider effecting our own carbon footprint. Left without the book and the movie (so far anyway), for me his blog has been a worthwhile read.

Every now and then being more attentive, just occasionally rethinking how we might do a singular thing, could make a better difference; one doesn't necessarily have to be totally nutjob about it. For example, I myself am still buying toilet paper. "Liberal schlub" I might also be, but I'm posolutely not that much of a wackadoodle.

First Year Container Gardening

I have decided to take a stab at container gardening this season, and frankly, I think I am probably more excited about it than I should be, practically giddy at the thought. As likely as not I could blame that on me running on empty. I slept not at all last night and had only a nap this morning. At this point I'm on my third or fourth wind, so I feel sort of crazy hyper anyway. No doubt I should be going to bed rather than here babbling on about my reckoned on garden, but whatever.

So yeah, here's the thing. It's not that I am unaccustomed to gardening, I've done it before so it's not as if I am embarking on some new agrarian adventure. My heredity alone probably would account for a sort of genetic propensity to grow stuff, but container gardening, that's new to me. Never thought about it much, I suppose since I never had any reason to consider doing it before now. This year is different without having my own place, I'm just glad I thought of it in time.

I'm sure it will be quite different, and I'll undoubtedly screw up some things. For example, I don't know what is the best size of container to use for growing this veg or that one, I'm sure that matters, and can I grow any sort of root vegetable? The thing is, wherever I miss the boat it won't matter much, since the whole experiment will be mostly free from seeds I've saved, or a few cents for the rest. Which makes the grade for poor and penny-wise me.

I save all sorts of awesome trash, too, like egg cartons and yogurt cups, which, like Mike Lieberman who is my inspiration, I figure seem perfect for starting out some seeds. Also I'm pretty sure those five-gallon buckets people always have stacked somewhere around (maybe I just hang with a weirdo bunch) would be spot on, real gone for growing.

Amazing how long I have rambled on about it, I am aware. I could just have easily summed up this treatise in one-forty, probably even less, with space left over for a hashtag or two. But I am kind of tingly right now thinking about this, overly charged up; I don't know exactly why, other than blaming it on my circadian rhythm out of whack. I should hit the sack now before my stream of consciousness keeps me going on.

Ecovillager Wannabe

I have said for probably about four or five years now that I want to, more than anything (sheesh, that's a bit much, but I do want to quite a lot), go check out the Dancing Rabbit ecovillage, here in Missouri. I want to move there, I want to be a Rabbit, I really do. It's not even very far from where I am in Odessa; Rutledge is only just over 211 miles away, three and a half hours. Much obliged, MapQuest.

Here's their deal:

"[E]cological sustainability is the primary focus of our long-term vision and our daily lives. Residents agree to follow ecological covenants and sustainability guidelines. We build our homes using alternative techniques such as straw bale and cob, powering them with renewable energy from sun and wind. Vehicles at DR are owned cooperatively and powered by biodiesel. Overall, we eat an ever-increasing amount of local, organic, and in-season foods, including many home-grown vegetables.

"We strive to be good stewards of our land, with much of our acreage reserved as wildlife habitat. In the grasslands we are reintroducing native prairie plants to help revitalize our region's biodiversity. We have planted over 10,000 trees to restore our land to its pre-settlement ecology [...] and provide a sustainable source of wood for our community in years to come.

"In addition to being a wonderful home for us, DR is a model for social change. Outreach and education are integral to our mission. Rather than isolating ourselves completely from the mainstream, we promote DR as a viable alternative. We enjoy sharing discoveries and ideas of sustainable living with people who have a wide variety of lifestyles."

Since I first heard of the place, I have regularly kept up with some of the folks already living there, through members' blogs and newsletters, so the yen keeps getting stronger for me to go. It's been bumming me out lately, in particular, since now is the time of every year they start up the tours and work exchange opportunities to go throughout the summer; of course, that's certainly out of the question, me being flat broke and all.

Why I never managed to get around dropping in on Dancing Rabbit back when I had money and the chance, who knows? I swear, though, one of these days I will somehow be headed up there, feasibly falling in for the long-term with a community of like-minded wacks such as myself. From what I know about the village and the goings-on, being a part of it would make me very happy. Not to mention making your own humanure, that would be awesome.

Bunch more videos at Dancing Rabbit's YouTube channel: