We’ve talked before about how plastic bags are the devil. On the other hand, a brand new reusable canvas bag has its own environmental impact. So…no plastic bags, but you don’t want to buy something new, what do you do? The other day, my friend Gary dropped off a couple of reusable cloth bags he’d […]
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When what you have beats what you want
Lest I get too heady with all my talk of radical political acts and trusting wisdom before science, I thought you might like to know where No Impact Man goes body surfing while the rest of NYC wrestles their cars out the Long Island Expressway to the Hamptons. Fort Tilden, a former military base that […]
The most radical political act there is
The other day I posted about turning New York into “one big vacation” by reducing the traffic that make our streets dangerous and our air filthy, making the rivers swimmable, building more parks and planting more trees. A couple of commenters responded by saying that I should be realistic. I am not realistic. I never want […]
Wisdom trumps science
The other day, the environmental blogosphere was atwitter (Treehugger’s reader forum and Ask the EcoGeek, for example) when a report in the Times suggested that, because of the environmental impact of growing the food that fuels our bodies, walking is worse for the planet than driving. When science can say a thing like that, and we take it seriously […]
To give or not to give
Once you start questioning the fabric or your life—as we have had to for the No Impact Man project—the inquiry never ends. You find yourself examining all your living assumptions, in this case, whether or not to give money to homeless people—street charity. For many years, my answer to this question was no. But I’ve changed. Why? As it […]
Opportunities in the crisis
We don’t use carbon-producing transportation during the No Impact project, so we have to find ways to make a little bit of summer vacation right here in New York City. Today, we went with Isabella, my two-year-old daughter, and played in the Washington Square fountain. “That was so funny, daddy,” by which she meant that was so much fun. […]
World’s easiest-ever green living tip
How, in a city like New York, can you not make trash but still have exactly what you want exactly when you want it? You know, like coffee, bagels, fresh juice… It all comes in throw-away containers. My solution, in the beginning of the No Impact Man project, was to run out and buy a reusable cup. That […]
Interview with Senator John Edwards
As you know, No Impact Man as a project asks the question, “What can I, as an individual, do to help the planet?” And I believe strongly that individual action is important, but I don’t believe it replaces political action. I believe the two are complimentary and strongest when they come together. For that reason, […]