No Impact Man

I've been reading No Impact Man's blog for awhile, and I don't think it's the BEST blog out there- every now and then he has boring, simplistic posts like this one or writes "I'm taking a day off of the blog, see you tomorrow!" which to my mind could be communicated by NOT POSTING. And he insists that doing environmental stuff is GOING TO MAKE YOU VERY, VERY HAPPY, even when it presents major inconveniences-- I mean features, not bugs.

For more substantial critiques of his project, check out this awesomely snarky article about him from the New Yorker. He was pretty mad when this came out.

But, criticisms aside, he has given me a serious desire to own a bicycle rickshaw, and to see the documentary about him (trailer), which will hopefully survive long enough to open in Champaign. Surprisingly, he seems non-annoying in the trailer.

I kind of wish I had started reading his blog at the beginning of the actual year-long experiment. That's when it would have been the best- and the first thing he chose to cut out, trash, has always been the environmental thing that is the most obviously egregious to me. Each of us creates so much trash, and sometimes the trash itself is too nice for me to easily throw away- like ziplock bags, truly a marvel of human ingenuity. I couldn't use those once and toss them. Therefore, they can only be used for things that don't get them really dirty, since I don't like washing them either.

On the other hand, if you save everything that might be good for something else one day, then your house will end up looking like my grandma's. I'm pretty cool with recycling (arguments about using energy notwithstanding.) My ideal solution would be the equivalent of reusable soda bottles (the heavy glass ones we used to have) for everything. Then, the corporation takes care of the washing and refilling, and I'm guilt-free!

Incidentally, we don't have anyone pick up our trash. The smallest size we could pay for was a 12-gallon can once a week, and I have never in my life produced that much trash in my home in one week. So, we use supermarket-sized plastic bags, and bike them to a dumpster when they fill up, which is probably about once a week.