So I was recently reading through some recent posts of my favorite blog - No Impact Man. For those of you who don't know, the basic premise of this guy's blog is that he kept a year-long web journal while he tried to reduce his environmental impact down to nothing, all while living in Manhattan with his wife and daughter.
"What is environmental impact?" you ask. For ease of reference, it is the amount of negative impact we have on the ecosystem just by living. To give you an idea of how important this is, if everyone in the world were to live like the average American (i.e. making the same "environmental impact"), it would take 6 planet earths to sustain all of us. Obviously, we only have one. So we can't keep using all the power, burning all the fuel, using up all the water at the pace we are or we will die. It's pretty simple, really.
So Colin Beavan (a.k.a. "No Impact Man") conducted an experiment in which he tried to get down to a zero impact on the environment. That means no electricity, no cars, no packaged food, no paper products (not even toilet paper - I know...gross). The year of living like that is over, but he learned a lot. Mainly, he learned that he doesn't need to live as he did before. He learned that consuming and using as much as he did before added nothing to his happiness. Now that the experiment is over, he has added some things back to his life, but he is nothing like he was before.
This guy impresses me, but I am writing now to share an idea that came from one of the comments on his blog. I read it today and it was written by a woman named Sharon. You can read it here. Basically, here is her point. There is a finite (limited) amount of resources on the planet so, reasonably everyone can have a fair share, provided the amount used leaves the place working well for the next generation. If we use more than our fair share, we are effectively saying, "I deserve more than other people." If we are too lazy to change, then we are choosing our own laziness over somebody else's suffering.
How can we continue this?
I mean, morally and ethically speaking, why do we feel we have the right to more resources than other people on the planet, and people not yet born?
We can't. We have to find a way to reduce what we are burning, using and throwing away. If you are going to post a comment to this blog, I would like to hear what ideas you have. Unless, of course, you think I am off my rocker, then you can tell me that, too.
Peace,
Huffman
Blasting this conversation into a massive orbit!!!!!
11 years ago
7 comments:
hello. =]
fisrt off, how did "No Impact Man" do it? =) i would go insane. especially with a family. crazy!
okay, so this is what i think. I think that your right. why do americans think they are so much better than everyone else? i mean, its like america is the big bad bully on the playground; the guy everyone hates but doesnt have the guts to stand up to. psh. but seriously, do you think the AVERAGE american even thinks about the enviornment in their daily life? not likely. Its sad really. but i dont know. i mean, i see the info-mercials about keeping the enviornment clean and watching water consumtion. i do my best. but I can only do so much. i think we should have more days devoted to the earth like EARTH DAY [more than one day]. or RECYCLE more. i work at What.A.Burger and we use a LOT of paper! if everyone does little things it would make a BIG difference. seriously. am i right or am i right?
-ms.beasley[teeuh]
Well said, Tee-Uh! The problem is overwhelming and the average American does not think about it.
I will get back to you on my thoughts, but thank you for being the first to respond! :)
-Huffman
What did "Impact Man" learn and what changed in his life. Did he take away things that were useless or just started to focus on doing less to damge the enviroment. And how come I never heard of it untill now?
"why do we[Americans] feel we have the right to more resources than other people on the planet"
totally dude
i believe we're just used to having such a privileged life, it seems impossible to cut down on any of it.
there are some people in third world countries that have never used toilet paper all their lives...an item that is an absolute necessary of an american, right?
look in an average american's home..theres tupperwear, aluminum foil,plastic wrap, and even paper plates, plastic forks, plastic spoons,lunch bags n tons o other things that a average person in another country simply makes a pouch for usually out of the clothes that are not needed anymore or just improvise some other way...they don't NEED these things
-Dosanjh
i think this person has a good point to bring this up...we are using the earths resources way to fast. There needs to be some kind of limit on the amount of resources we can use.
And no huffman you are not COMPLETELY off your rocker... YET!!!
first off! im real upset that someone used my phrase that i say.. second off. i feel that this is what we were born into, as selfish as that sounds why shouldnt we take what is there? is this not why people from the world want to live in the United States? i do understand that sometimes and actually most of the time we take more than we need. and it is sad for the people that dont have enough, but i feel fortunate enough that i have plenty. and i will continue to use them.
Arrite well i would like to know how our world (or country whatever) came to be like this. i mean dain, my family and i moved out here to have a better life and it seems that we ended up da same as in my former country. we do need to get our gear together and make this a better place to live. im kinda rethinking about having kids cuz if it gon be ilke this or worse in a couple of years for them...dain you know?
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