We offer you the example of the documentary No Impact Man, in which Colin Beavan, together with his wife Michelle and daughter Isabella, tells us how he reduced his personal impact on the environment for a year.
TikTok's Viral Trick For Storing Avocado Is Dangerous Have you ever thought about staying for a while without driving your car and get around town on foot or in bike? Or to study or work by candlelight and eat alone healthy local products? Or avoid taking home plastic bags after shopping? Sure try to be as green as possible but I think very few are able to do all these things together ...For this we propose the example of the documentary No Impact Man, in which Colin Beavan, together with his wife Michelle and daughter Isabella, tells us how he reduced his personal impact on the environment for a year.
No meat, refrigerator, lift, television, cars, airplane, detergent and toxic cleaning products, electricity non-recyclable material, toilet paper, garbage, disposable diapers... The list is long but even in front of it, Colin, did not stop and wanted to show that living without so many "polluting habits" is not impossible, even living in a city like New York.
Beavan had realized that recycling was no longer enough but it was necessary reduce the use of disposable items: razor blades, saucers e plastic bottles, cans, etc ...
The documentary No Impact Man was born as a project as a research for the idea of a book that Colin wanted to write and which was then published under the title of No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet, and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process.
In November 2006, Beaven decides to start her project which then lasted 12 months, thus modifying one's lifestyle. His experiment attracted a lot of media attention who were interested above all in seeing how a family could react in the face of such a radical change. Even with an initial discomfort, the benefits Colin and his family have experienced have been extremely healthy and the most important thing is that once the experimentation was over, there was no going back.
Some examples?
Nothing more Starbucks coffee, nothing fast food and yes instead to local vegetables and grown directly by Colin himself. All this has contributed to improving the health of his wife Michelle who before her, with her poor eating habits, had run the risk of becoming diabetic.
Colin has rediscovered, without the television, the company of friends with the legendary games evenings and above all the unity of the family and his relationship with Michelle.
Here are some numbers. Based on the example of an American family living in Manhattan, the Beavans have managed to eliminate from landfills:
- 1248 plastic containers,
- 2190 plastic and paper saucers,
- 572 plastic bags,
- 16580 liters of garbage
- 2184 baby diapers.
Here then some tips, also taken from the documentary, for a lower personal impact on the environment:
-
- We improve nutrition. We avoid eating meat for at least a week or a month… Did you know that every vegetarian contributes to reducing the 2 ″> every year CO2 emissions of 1800 Kg? Other than that, of course, we look for the local producers that they can offer us organic fruit and vegetables. Another possibility is cultivate a small vegetable garden with our favorite delicacies!
- No to bottles and plastic bags. Rather we use glass bottles and contribute more carefully to deferred collection. And… let's never forget we have it in our backpack a recyclable shopping bag. Let's remember that you pay for plastic bags!
- Compost- a great way to reduce the mass of garbage in landfills.
- We contribute with fair trade. We will find excellent gift ideas that will be appreciated because they are unique and solidarity from a social point of view.
- We rediscover the fashions of the past with Vintage and flea markets . Let's avoid buying new clothing for each season and if we have some clothes in the closet that we no longer wear, let's take them to the centers where they can be donated.
- Let's rediscover outdoor physical activities: instead of sitting all the time watching television, we go out for a nice regenerating walk. Three hours less a day in front of the small screen allow to reduce carbon emissions by almost 250 kg. What do you say, do we try to stay at least one afternoon or one evening a week without TV?
- We use the bicycle in the city. In addition to the physical benefits, this offers us the possibility to appreciate more the place where we live. Just to give an idea if we avoid the use of the car for two days, we reduce the gas emission in a year by an average of about 721 kg. What about avoiding driving on weekends or on some specific days of the week ?
- We are careful about the use of electricity. We avoid turning on the light during the day and unplug all the sockets from the switches if we are not using the appliances. Another important thing: if we have to do the washing machine or operate the dishwasher, we expect to do it after 20. This too will contribute to having some cheaper bills!
Let's face it: it is certainly not easy to put everything into practice but this documentary wants to suggest that, with a lifestyle that is more attentive and dedicated to protecting the environment, eco-sustainable changes they can take root precisely from small gestures daily and make our way of life better and healthier.
So… dear readers, please contribute with little experiments and don't forget to share your experiences with geenMe.com!
