It Aint Easy Being Green

My boyfriend and I watched an interesting documentary last night titled "No Impact Man." It's about a NYC family who decided to go "no impact" for a year, meaning they produced no or little trash (including no toilet paper or paper towels), used no cars or planes, ate only local foods, bought nothing except food, and even went without electricity. It was really inspiring and so it's renewed my interest in being more green and also being aware of the chemicals in the products we use. I actually found the wife in the film particularly inspiring because she was very used to drinking Starbucks and shopping and eating out and she reluctantly gave up all of those things for the project and turned out very happy in the end.

I'll keep this quick, but I just want to share a few resources with you. To learn more about the No Impact project and ways that you can lower your impact, check out the links below. Particularly interesting is the experiment to go no impact for a week. No Impact Man provides full instructions on doing this at his site.

Also, check out a few new resources I found for re-usable, BPA-freee, Phthalate-free products. This is a follow-up from my previous post about using plastics.

What have I been doing you might ask? Well, my transformation is slow but steady:

• I stopped using my non-stick pan (Telflon gets into your food).
• I stopped microwaving in plastic except for the occasional Lean Cuisine when I am feeling desperate. I actually stopped microwaving in general except when I am in a pinch.
• I replaced my plastic cutting boards and cooking utensils with wooden and metal ones.
• I found a Phthalate-free, Paraben-free, No-animal testing shampoo that I actually like and so I am going to try their conditioner next (Nature's Gate Organics)
• I stopped using plastic water bottles and have been using metal instead
• I bought a bunch of fabric shopping bags and I always bring them to the grocery store with me. I also bring plastic bags I have used before for putting meats and loose veggies in.
• I stopped buying and eating canned foods (the can lining contains BPA) with the exception of Eden Organic Beans because they don't use BPA in their cans.
• I recycle everything (but what I really need to do is reduce.)

For my next steps,

• I am going to get rid of all the plastic in my kitchen and replace it with glass, metal, wood, etc.
• I am going to get glass, metal, and cloth lunch containers and use them to pack my lunches and my boyfriend's lunches.
• I am going to replace our skin and hair products with Phthalate-free products.
• I am going to decide upon a Community Supported Agriculture program in my area and sign up!
• I am going to make an effort to reduce trash. I really need to read up on how to do that though.
• I am going to start using natural cleaning products like the ones mentioned in the film such as vinegar and Borax

Resources

No Impact Links:

• No Impact Project: Learn the techniques they used and how to do it yourself.
• No Impact Man Blog
• No Impact Man Book
• No Impact Man Film: Watch it and get inspired!

Other Resources:

• BPA, PVC, and Phthalate-free food storage containers
• Lunch Skins: Super cute re-usable sandwich and snack bags
• Graze: More super-cute re-usable bags, all organic
• Nicole Harter's Healthy Pregnancy Blog: Nicole was a fellow-student at Bentley with me and has since become a holistic health counselor and started a great blog about healthy pregnancies including information about chemicals to avoid. Check it out!