No Impact Challenge!

Every Sunday evening, the ecohouse residents have a house meeting to discuss projects we are working on for the quarter and possible ways to engage the community in the activities we are doing. Jim had watched a documentary called No Impact Man recently about Colin Beavon, a New York journalist that ventured on a year long experiment to see how much he could reduce his ecological footprint. Jim proposed that we try to replicate Beavon's No Impact Challenge at the Ecohouse to experience what it takes to reverse our carbon footprint. After several discussions, the three of us decided that it would be an even greater learning experience if we engaged the Ohio University community in this challenge, so we advertised through social networking tools, and now the challenge is underway!

Find out more information about how to join us in the No Impact Challenge by following this link: http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/noimpactweek.pdf

The above link describes a one week challenge, but we decided that two weeks would be a better time frame to fully experience the proposed lifestyle changes. On the first day, the guidelines direct you to not buy anything new. So, instead of just following that rule for one day, it is extended to two days for our challenge. From that, you build upon what you were doing the previous day to reduce your impact. Our challenge began on October 17, so we have a little over a week to go!

Here are the guidelines we have been following for the challenge so far:
Sunday and Monday- Don't buy anything new
Tuesday and Wednesday- Don't produce any trash, and if you have to, keep it in a bag to see how much you consumed at the end of the challenge
Thursday and Friday- Only use sustainable transportation (walking, biking, etc.)

Being Saturday, we are now considering our food intake. The Beavon family took all processed and packaged food off of their grocery list. They ate seasonally and locally. Not only will this allow you to eat foods that are healthier, it will also reduce your carbon footprint by buying locally grown foods that do not need to be transported as far, as it will support the local economy. Shopping at a local farmer's market is the best way to get healthy food and reduce your impact.

Want to find out more about the challenge and what others are doing? Visit the No Impact Challenge facebook event for more details. Below is the description given of the challenge on facebook. Stay tuned for more updates!

Facebook
On each day of the No Impact Challenge, participants are asked to make one change in their lives so that by the end of the two-week period, participants are not only reducing their negative impact on the planet - they are actually creating positive impact. Originally, the challenge was designed to last one week, but we're extending it to two. Participate as little or as much as you would like - everything makes a difference.

At the end of the challenge, participants are asked to reflect on the changes they made - what worked, what didn't, and most importantly, what they want to keep doing. The goal is to help people find feasible ways to change their lives for the better. The best part? These changes don't just benefit the planet; they benefit you, too.