Since we have no mains electricity as part of the No Impact experiment, we also have no TV. Last week, someone asked me how we entertain Isabella without one. In the comments to that post, someone said that they like to take their kids hunting for fireflies. Coincidentally, that day, my friend Mayer, whose community garden plot I help […]
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How we avoid making trash
In case you’re new to the No Impact Man project, you should know that we’ve broken down our lives into six areas and tried to figure out how to live with as low an impact as possible in each area. The six areas are: trash (as in we try to make none), carbon-producing transportation (as in we don’t use […]
Do carbon emissions make countries happy?
Never in my life, when I’ve heard politicians say things like “we have to make sacrifices for the economy,” could I understand what they were talking about. As far as I can tell, the economy is here to serve the people. More specifically, the economy is supposed to support the well-being and happiness of the people. So I’ve just […]
No Impact update
In answer to some questions from No Impact Man reader Phil Brady: How are the earthworm castings faring, and to what uses are they being put? For those of you who don’t know, I prevent my food scraps from ending up in the landfill by composting them. But because I live in an apartment, I use a technique […]
Friday is movie day
Thought you might enjoy this clip from Manufactured Landscapes:
How do we protect the planet?
From Peter Barnes’ Capitalism 3.0: “…history has convinced me that representative government can’t adequately protect the interests of ordinary citizens. Even less can it protect the interests of future generations, ecosystems, and nonhuman species. The reason is that most—though not all—of the time, government puts the interests of private corporations first. This is a systemic […]
I wish we had cows in New York
I know, too, that there is an argument for veganism—no eggs or cheese or animal products of any kind—as an environmental choice. And I respect it. But I like too much the idea of having a symbiotic relationship with animals. Even just having Frankie the little dog helps connect me and my family to the planet. I’ve perceived […]
Entertaining Isabella without TV
A reader named Chrissy wrote to me and asked how we entertain Isabella without TV or video games: We build towers from a set of wooden blocks and laugh our heads off when the towers fall down. Towards bedtime, we sit on the couch and listen to classical music on the crank-up radio and try to hum along. […]