Day three of No Impact Project. Cut down on buying “stuff.” Then I watched my waste. That was fun – carrying a reusable napkin, bottle and silverware with me, just in case. It was pretty easy for the most part and ended up with only a few items, nearly all recycleable, in my personal trash bag for the day. A far cry from the pounds and pounds we typically leave behind every month; tons in a year.
Today’s focus was about burning calories, not carbon. Fortunatley I only had a few trips and when I first thought about it, there was no way to get around any of them by using public transit. But then I went for a short run and headed to my son’s school. There I picked him up and said – “Guess what, we “get” to walk home together.” And guess what? He was thrilled. Great quality time and a little bit less carbon up there in the air. (I have to say this seemed a bit silly of me not to consider in the first place. My son has already been challenged with Arizona’s bad air. In fact, I recently had him start waiting in the school office for pick up instead of out at what they call “parent pick up” where cars and big trucks idle away spewing smoke into the air as the kids sit and sit waiting for their parents to get to the front of the line. I was “done” having him breath that stuff in every day.)
Tomorrow – lowering carbon footprint through the food that we eat. Since I’m having a gathering of some great women, and I’m going to be by the local farmer’s market, a few local growers are about to get some business. The No Impact folks factoid says the average food travels 1,500 miles to get to us. Yes, we know from the likes of the local movement that not only will eating local cut down on the carbon your food generates, but it will keep more dollars in your local community when local small businesses reinvest those funds at a much higher percent back into the local ‘hood.
So this “project” has been eye opening in just a few short days. But besides the “green stuff”, I’ve noticed two other things: 1) I’m watching every move I make a bit more diligently, with purpose; and, 2) I’m aware of what others are doing around me. And I don’t just mean eco-choices; I mean choices that impact or define us or others.
I celebrated the woman behind me at a restauraunt reading very animatedly from a book to her blind friend who chuckled now and then. The guide dog sat patiently on the cool floor nearby. And I noticed the woman who seemed too entitled to walk four more steps to stay on the sidewalk and instead cuts across the grass to get to her car. That seems so petty, and it may be. But it’s the choices we make every day that define us. Things we choose to do and things we choose not to. We seem to cut corners all the time on the way to instant gratification. It’s got us into a pretty challening mess on a lot of levels. (But that’s a topic for another day.)
Do we choose to waste? Want more? Or do we choose to consider our impact, value what we have, share it, and celebrate the things that really make us rich? I’m thinking that walk home holding my son’s hand was a pretty good choice and one I will make a whole lot more.
