Becoming the "Less Impact Fam(ily)"

I am a fan of self-improvement.  I love to learn and experiment and explore.  I read a lot, I try new things, I refuse to stagnate.  One of my relaxation treats is to watch documentaries.  Lately they have been on food (Food, Inc., Future of Food, King Corn, Earthlings), social and cultural issues and environmentalism.  These have always been some of my favorite topics so it was great to watch No Impact Man which combines all of these topics.

What is so neat about watching this movie is that I had read the No Impact Man blog during the time he was embarking on this "experiment".  If you aren't familiar with the blog or the movie, Colin embarked on a year-long trial with his wife and child to see how little they could impact the earth.  This means they tried to only eat locally, cut out trash, stopped using chemical cleaners, phased out electricty and got around using their own two feet, bicycles or scooter.

The documentary had an inspirational influence on me.  We do our best here to lighten our load on the environment. We're vegan for starters, which does create a huge reduction but we also try to be good about the recycling, reusable bags, making stuff from scratch a lot and only one of us commutes to work.  We have a high efficiency washer & dryer and only do about 6 loads a month.  We haven't used a dishwasher in 10 years. So all that isn't bad to start.  But after watching the documentary, we're inspired to try and push ourselves to do a bit more.

So, what are we going to put into place?  Well...

 - Eliminate eating out, especially take out, unless we're going out for a social occassion with friends or family

 - Reduce/Eliminate food packaging by buying in bulk, making stuff on our own (granola for cereal, bread, tomato sauce, almond milk, veggie/bean burgers, etc.) and freezing or storing it in reusable containers. Bring our own reusable bags for shopping and bulk and produce buying.

 - Remove our names from all catalogs and ask our banks and bills to go paperless.

 - Stop buying commercial cleansers and make ours from natural options including borax, castile soap, baking soda and vinegar

 - Use up all of our current stock of food items and personal care items before buying more

 - Stop using paper towels (except for pet messes) and swiffer cloths. Instead use sponges and cloth towels, cloth napkins and broom, dust pan and steam mop

 - Cut down our overall consuption (HUGE issue!)

 - Borrow or barter before buying

 - Attempt to reuse/refill packaging before recycling

 - Sell or donate items that are just taking up physical and mental space.  If they are not getting actively used they need to go.

 - Low energy evenings.  This means turing out the lights and turning off the TV/games at dusk.  We will relax, read, etc.  We don't need or want so much sensory input all the time.

 - Hold out on turning on the AC or heaters.  It's cool in the house now with the windows open, the fans on and the attic fan on.  It was above 80 degrees today and we still felt okay in the house.  Our goal is to see how long we can go into May before it gets too warm inside.

 - Create and maintain our garden.  Keep composting but do more such as using our bean soaking water to water the plants.

 - Buy most of our produce from the farmer's market.  We pretty much do this any ways but we want to be better about eating seasonally.

 - Install a clothes line to dry some of our laundry

 - Work on house projects we have the stuff for but have been putting off.

The Pacific Trash Vortex

It seems like a lot but I don't think it will be that difficult.  These are all things we like and want to do but we just have not sat down and decided to to do them.  We have a few things we need to put into place, like the clothing line and some window fans, but these are all doable. 

We'll keep you informed with what's working and what isn't.  What are something you would like to do or suggest to us?

What CAN'T You Do for 30 Days?

2009 is already becoming a year of hope, of optimism, of change.

The end of 2008 has left us poised to see huge changes in the world. Not just because of our new President-to-be and not just because there seemed to be a lot of suckiness but there is just a growing sense of energy that I am seeing and feeling. Everywhere I turn there seems to be someone new ready to usher in the year with positivity.

And what better time is there to try something that will help reduce cruelty, help the environment and save lives... including your own.

Now is the time to make some changes in how you eat.

You don't have to go straight to raw foods only or become 100% vegan overnight. But look at what you like to eat. Look at the flavors of the foods you like. You'd probably be surprised that most of what you like are not animal-based.

I used to love burgers... but what I liked was the bun/lettuce/onion/ketchup/texture. With a black bean or veggie burger I get the same flavor and texture. I can't even tell the difference, except I don't get an upset stomach.

I like going to Chipolte or Moe's too but now I get an Art Vandalay; I still get that spicy warm flavor. I'm equally full. And I didn't want for anything.

And nowadays it's easier than ever to cut back on the meat/dairy/eggs in your diet. There are tons of new convenience foods, produce is available almost year-round and restaurants and other businesses are creating amazing selections so you don't need to worry about if you can eat out with friends or travel in comfort. Most of the time you'll get something even better and jealousy-inducing than everyone else!

So, now you have the tools and the resources, what's stopping you? Is it that you don't like the flavors? Or you don't know how to cook new things? Or you just have questions about how do you start this? And, frankly, we're human and it's hard to break/start a routine.

That's where the 30 days comes in.

Not everyone agrees with PETA's tactics (me included, sometimes) but they have a great Vegetarian Starter Kit as well as great resources and recipes. And as an added incentive, they will helping to plant trees in impoverished areas if you take the 30 Day Pledge!

If you want to learn more about becoming vegetarian/vegan one of the best resources I have found was Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's Compassionate Cooks podcast via iTunes (also available on her site). She provides a ton of information and has a great outlook on being a "joyful vegan" and the "vegan in the room". She's inspired me a lot.

And if you're all about the food like we are, you can't help but be inspired by the recipes and images on VeganYumYum. I mean, holy crap! Her food is AMAZING! She even has an iPhone app with all the recipes including pictures so you can take your phone into the kitchen and cook.

Some of our new favorite food choices include Silk (regular and chocolate, my new snack!), Field Roast's Roasted Apple-Sage sausages and Celebration Roasts, Tofutti's sour cream and Purely Decadent's ice cream - which I think I like better than any ice cream I've ever had (except maybe the stuff I make myself.)

I have a HUGE list of sites the I refer to all the time so please feel free to drop me an email if you are running into a challenge. One site that I like too is Happy Cow. They are a growing online guide for restaurants and natural health food stores. They are soon to have an iPhone app too. Not that I've had to use it too much. I love to go out to eat and have yet to run into a problem finding a place I can't find a good meal... even at Paula Deen's restaurant!

So here's my gift and hope to you for 2009: Bring some of the enthusiasm and positivity for this year to one of the most important areas of your life - your health and what you eat. No other change you make will have such a huge and immediate impact on such a personal level and on the whole world. Even if you just make a small change like only drinking Silk or you give a totally vegan diet a go for the 30 days, you'll be amazed at how easy it is. And at the end of 30 days you may want to do more.

You don't have to do everything... Just do something!

And if you want to talk or want help finding an answer, I'm happy to be a part of that! I hope you'll let me know what you do and how it goes!

Luv
Poochie