Green Daily

It Turns Out the Personal Is the Political
One of the first things we discussed was the role of personal change versus political change.

Colin had an interesting perspective, offering the idea that the two are inextricably linked. "Personal change and individual action gives people skin in the game," he explained. "Habit change creates value change. Then you insist that your politician enable you to live the way you want to live."

To illustrate this point, Colin shared the story he'd heard recently of a stalwart republican who is voting in favor of gay marriage. The reason for this seemingly uncharacteristic political move is that a member of his family is a lesbian, and he apparently has several connections with people who are gay. His personal experience changed his politics.

"Personal change is a way of crossing the political aisle," Colin said. "It's a low barrier, less challenging entry point into politics-with-a-small-p, non-partisan politics."

We Need to Change our Culture
Colin also pointed out (actually this totally shocked me!) that Americans emit five times the carbon of the average Chinese person. So even if we find a way to switch to renewable sources of energy, we still use too much!

"It requires a cultural change," Colin said. "We don't all get to have three jet skis in our garage, it's not going to work."

He explained, "You can't change the culture through a regulation; you change it by the way you live, one person at a time. But that's not to say it's individual action instead of collective action -- in fact if you can do both, then you have a model of completely engaged citizenship."

As appealing as this sounds – how great would it be to live in a world of engaged citizens? – it also seems like a daunting challenge. How can we possibly change the entrenched habits of so many people?

The natural next question to ask Colin was, "Do you ever get overwhelmed by the immensity of the shift that needs to happen?"

"It's important to feel that sense of being overwhelmed," he replied, "because then we can see more clearly that the tiny steps we're taking aren't enough.

"Of course I feel overwhelmed, but you have to let the feelings in, feel them, and then keep putting one foot in front of each other."

The First Step of Many
Colin has advice for people who want take a first step, and emulate him by reducing their environmental impact.

"There's a meme that goes like this: if we all just do one little bit, it will be okay. And that's not true. We all have to do more."

Colin continued, "We actually have to look at substantial change. It's not to say that everyone needs to become No Impact Man over night, but the changes should be meaningful."

Because he's been asked this question before, Colin posted a list of Top Ten Eco-Lifestyle Changes for individuals on the No Impact Man blog.

Number one on that list? Stop eating beef, because beef production is the second largest cause of climate change -- it even beats transportation!

BTW, 350.org Totally Rocks
Colin also offered a recommendation for collective action: "On October 24th, join 350.org on the International Day of Action, and demonstrate to our leader that we care. The special interests have money on their side, but if we can show the politicians that they have the people behind them, they'll fight the special interests."

Definitely check out 350.org, a global organization dedicated to raising awareness of the "safe" target number of 350 parts per million of CO2 in our atmosphere. They have an fantastic animated short on the "Mission" page of their site that gets the message across wonderfully in every language because it uses images instead of words.

Inspiration From the UPS Guy
I was stuck on feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of the task. So I asked, "How do you find something to get you from being overwhelmed to being able to take those first steps, and then turn them into many steps?"

Colin's answer was really encouraging.

"The problems have to do with our institutions. If you look around you, you'll see that most people are doing the right things. They hold doors for each other, help each other.

"I always say, watch the UPS man, watch what goes on out on the street, where people are laughing and joking with each other. People are lovely. Unfortunately for us, that loveliness isn't reflected in our institutions. That's where we get overwhelmed. But never forget that people are lovely."

One of the things that you get from Colin is his sense of positivity. He told us that some of his heroes are people like Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Betty Friedan, as well as Tolstoy. He admires them because of the combination of leading popular, grassroots movements, and working with the principle of non-violence.

"The idea is not to get angry. You love people into change, don't beat people into change," Colin explained.

You Are the Heroes
Colin continued on the theme of heroes, "But I also say, maybe the heroes are the people who read my blog. They have changed their lives, and we never hear their names.

"Sometimes we talk about the straw that breaks the camel's back. But no one talks about the ten thousand other straws that also had to be there. Yes, the final one gets the attention, but remember the other ones on there weighed just as much, contributed just as much."

It was great to hear his respect for the people who follow his journey and participate outside of the spotlight. It also reminded me that we all share the responsibility for making changes in our lives, even if no one is watching.

The No Impact Year Becomes No Impact Lifestyle
Colin's original plan was to go for a year, progressively moving toward the goal of having zero environmental impact. As the experiment progressed, they gave up electricity, which included shutting off their refrigerator, and doing laundry by hand (and foot – see the movie, you'll understand) in the bathtub.

Of course, now that the year is over everyone wants to know what he kept avoiding, and what he happily went back to.

"You know, we kept the things that made us happy and healthy," Colin said. "We eat food that is fresh and local. We enjoy getting our daily exercise without going to gym, so we continue to bike and walk."

He did concede that there are some things, like washing machines, that he's glad to have back in his life.

"There was a low point in the experiment. One night Isabella got sick all over her sheets. As we changed them, I was thinking, oh my God, how am I going to deal with these sheets? And then she threw up all over the second set of sheets, and I was like, that's it. I put them in the washing machine.

"I admit it, we need laundry machines. And you know, that's not trivial. Laundry machines give us the freedom to live a better life in the pursuit of higher human goals."

Bring No Impact Man Home With You
One point that Colin made over and over is that people don't have to go to the extremes that he did, but major cultural changes are important and necessary. He also reiterated that living low-impact actually enriched their lives in many ways, which runs counter to popular notion of conservation equals deprivation.

Now that he's "finished" his experiment, Colin is turning his attention to The No Impact Project, a non-profit organization he started, dedicated to helping people make choices that "lower their environmental impact through lifestyle change, community action, and participation in environmental politics."

Ready to give it a try? Visit the Change Yourself page of the No Impact Project and to check out ideas, share tips and get inspired!

And admit it -- you're totally wondering how much money they saved by following this way of life. Get all your questions answered in WalletPop's video interview with Colin below.