A herd of student no-impacters

You're all invited to a public talk I'll be giving at New York University on Monday night, November 12. You'll find the details at the bottom of this page. Please come. And if you plan to throw tomatoes, please make sure they're local!

One of the hard things about the No Impact experiment is the constant feeling of swimming against the communal tide. In trying to live environmentally, I have had precious little community that shares my goals, triumphs and sorrows (thank God, though, for the community on this blog and for the community activists I've become friends with at, among others, Transportation Alternatives, Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, Sustainable South Bronx and Solar One). I mentioned, as an example of swimming against the tide, one little contretemps I had with a member of New York's finest yesterday.

Finding a supportive community, I think, is one of the most important first steps to successfully leading an environmentally-friendly lifestyle, and one way to do this is to volunteer at environmental organization (like I did, for example, when we turned New York parking spaces into parks or when I swam in the Hudson with the Manhattan Island Foundation). But another way is to do what a bunch of students at New York University have done: set up your own community and give it the chance to share ideas and support as you challenge it to live as environmentally as possible.

In a challenge they're calling Footprint Forward, the students are trying to live the No Impact project for a whole week, and they're keeping a blog. They had me speak at the beginning of the week, and I'm giving a longer talk at the end (which you can come to, see below). Here are a few of the interesting comments of my new fellow student no impacters:

"So this week so far, for me, has been baby steps (like, infant). I brought my own coffee cup with me this morning. I took the stairs. I turned off our air conditioner (in winter, I know–because the building keeps the temperature so high that it’s stifling in our room) and opened a window. It’s nothing monumental (see: Adam’s trash logging, for example). I still feel guilty. I’m still making an impact. I don’t even really know how hard I’m trying–whether my guilt-induced impact reduction has been intentional or simply incidental. But I can tell you now that I want to be better at this, and it’s obviously not happening on its own."
--Olga

"One more little problem I’ve noticed regarding personal mugs: At Starbucks, if you give them your mug with the lid, they put the lid in an unused cup so it doesn’t sit on the counter, and then they just chuck the cup! So make sure you hand them the mug without the lid on or else specify NOT to do that."
--Unidentified contributor

"At last night’s discussion on eco-footprinting, we fiddled with the numbers on this fabulous website, and I learned that taking shorter showers would reduce my ecological footprint respectably, if not hugely. In that light, I decided that one of my eco-footprint goals would be to take one ten-minute shower every two days, or to spend an average of five minutes a day in the shower: hygienic, and environmentally friendly!

...I looked at my watch — six ten. I got in the shower; a flurry of shampoo and conditioner, efficient cleanliness, oh how lovely the hot water is; I got out. I looked again at my watch — it was six thirty! How? I really did try to go as fast as I could. It seems I am incapable of taking quick showers, so my new plan is one fifteen minute shower every three days. Hygienic? Less so, but definitely permissible. Environmentally friendly? That’s the idea, I guess."
--Shane

Hope to see you at my talk on Monday night!

Monday, 11/12:

No Impact Lecture: Wrap up your Footprint Forward week with an inspiring talk by Colin Beavan, part of the Bronfman Center’s Selma Ruben Distinguished Lecture Series.

7-9PM, Cooper Union Great Hall, 7 East 7th Street at 3rd Ave

Comments

[Andy]

I saddens me to read that students, our future leaders, think saving a cup or taking the stairs is a wonderful accomplishment. People need to get out of the baby steps and just take a leap into a more sustainable way of life. I can imagine that if NIM choose to take one action each week to reduce his footprint, this project would be decades long. I think it worked only because he just started doing things at a much lower level fast. If it's only a week long experiment, I would expect to see much larger changes than the above statements sugested.

[EvaV]

Saving a cup is a wonderful place to start. And if it means saving 365 cups a year, that's a real difference. It takes time to adjust to a new mentality, you have to start somewhere! Thanks, Colin, for motivating this group of students (not to mention the many people who read your blog daily!) to start thinking about their footprints.

[Andy]

Saving 365 cups a year is a joke. It's not saving it you were wasting to begin with. I may have bought 20 cups of coffee in my lifetime, and I wouldn't call that saving thousands of cups. I only drive my car a few times a month, and I wouldn't call that saving thousands of miles either. People need to realize that "saving" usually still means using our resources.

[DM]

I joined the footpring forward initiative email list but haven't been able to attend any events. (Sorry Colin, Irish Arts Center Fiddle Class gets in the way.) I graduated a couple of years ago and I really think its great to get college kids active in this b/c I recall from college that pretty much everything marketed and/or given to us was totally disposable. We generated so much waste that come Monday the garbage room would be bulging at the seams.

In this day and age many young Americans go to college and it can really turn out to be the place where many of us are instilled with the values that we carry for the rest of our lives. So naturally it makes sense to get them involved. I'd like to see more events like this sponsered at schools.

[EvaV]

Andy, If they were going to consume 365 cups a year, and now they're not, that's a difference! How discouraging that people are just starting to make an effort, and your response is scorn. How is that productive? People have to start somewhere.

[sharon]

No doubt someone else has already pointed this out, but Cooper Union and New York University (my alma mater), two great NYC institutions, are two different schools.

[Olga]

Andy, in response to your comment about my "baby steps": the point of my post, if you read down a little further (or see it in context at footprintforward.wordpress.com) is that it hasn't been a successful no-impact week for me. I was talking about the difficulties of it, and the fact that the "baby steps" I'm taking aren't really making any perceptible difference. It was an admission of (for now) defeat, not at all a self-congratulatory story of how well I'm doing.

I agree with you that such tiny incremental differences aren't enough, but the other thing I mentioned on the blog (not posted here) is that looking at the big picture of all the world's ecological crises, all happening right now on such a huge scale, is somewhat overwhelming. It's not enough to be satisfied with baby steps, but if that's what it takes to start going in the right direction, it's not something to dismiss either.

[Colin Beavan aka No Impact Man]

@Footprint Forward students reading the blog--
Never mind about, Andy. I'm sure actually, if he thought about it, he'd much rather encourage you than discourage you. If you are making any effort at all--even if it is just coffee cups--you are taking more steps that most people. I really thank you for that and hope that it will inspire to see how important each of our actions are to each other and the planet. Great job and keep looking for ways to help! Thanks again for doing all that you can in this day. Hope to see you all on Monday night.
All the best,
Colin aka No Impact Man

[La Rêveuse]

Try taking showers à la française... Wet, turn off the water. Soap up. Turn on the water, rinse. Turn off the water. Do your other things (shave, etc.) Turn on the water, rinse. Done.

They do this because of persistent drought and water being pricey. But it does help save the planet as well!

(And they do it with no curtains, either, which makes a real mess if you're a klutz like me...)

[Marcy (D)]

Congratulations and kudos to these students! Those first baby steps can be the hardest. I still struggle with the shower thing -- hot water is soooo wonderful. What's great about Colin's experiment is that is encourages all of us to stretch whatever our limits are.

[Rejin]

I used to live in an apartment with the bathroom vent on a 5 minute timer. I finished my shower before the timer went off as a game, a little challenge. So maybe a timer would help.
This is a process. Don't be discouraged if it seems like you can't re-educate yourself in a week. I'm interested in seeing what the NYU students are doing to reduce their individual footprints, and what projects they might take on as a group.

[jessica]

This is so cool! I can't wait to watch it spread like wildfire to other universities across the country.

[Jennifer]

Great job, students!
Everyone starts somewhere. We must all work together and encourage each other, or we will fail as separate, bickering and disagreeing individuals.

[Seattle Denizen]

Colin, your comments about community are interesting. As I see it, you are in the forefront with a noble and inspiring vision. You're doing a fantastic job of showing others the way, and you're living your vision, not just talking about it, which makes all the difference.

Your post got me to thinking about how much more efficient the No Impact lifestyle could be within a community... and how much more rewarding.

[Meghan]

Thanks to the students for sharing their progress here! We absolutely need community to make this work. There will be nay-sayers (like the first poster unfortunately) but that only reinforces the need for community and support. Changing the world is hard but can be done. Let's learn from each other rather than waste time criticizing.

Hope to hear more from you!

[Nick Harter]

It all starts with baby steps. Not everyone is ready to make the big leaps...yet, but with enough baby steps, they will add up, and eventually some of those people will make the big leaps. All the best in reaching out to these students, they are our future!

[Mother Earth]

I applaud the babysteps, the honesty of these kids and the fact that it's top of mind - I am little horrified that anyone could judge anything someone does - even if it's reducing one paper cup a day, I feel each contribution helps. I also believe that the demise of this planet, and however and whoever is at fault is also creating a new united gathering of people, it's growing slowly yet methodically each and every day

I don't know if it's a female thing, but I simply can't shampoo my hair, condition my hair, wash and treat my face and shave everything ( sorry perhaps too much info ) and then wash everything in anything less than 15

Mother Earth aka Karen Hanrahan
www.bestwellnessconsultant.com

[EnvSci Teacher]

I am an environmental science teacher who heard Colin on NPR, got really excited about the project and had my students figure out a way to lessen their impact on the Earth and do it for 2 weeks. They had to keep a journal about the good, bad and ugly of their impact lessening and then write an essay about it. It was great to see what they came up with. I had them surf noimpactman.com to get ideas. Although no one gave up toilet paper I had students carry around a cloth to use as a napkin/paper towel, use environmentally friendly products for cleaning themselves and their houses, eating vegetarian, carpool etc. I had them tell me their favorite part of the class at the end of the year and many of them said it was the no impact project. It made them think and take action. Thanks Colin for inspiring us!

[jeff]

The metaphor of baby steps is very instructive. Keep in mind that babies actually taking steps are not on a linear path of improvement. "Learning Curve" is a catch phrase rather than "Learning Line" for a reason.

If I looked at my daughter's progress at getting around during the first 6 months of her life and assumed that was the rate of progress, I would have projected walking around age 10. Fortunately in the following 3 months she was crawling and in the tree months after that she was toddling around. Now at age 2 1/2 she can run and jump to my delight (and occasional alarm).

The point of this is that human learning is not at all linear. Remembering to save a cup one day does NOT lead to the conclusion that 365 saved cups is the anticipated outcome for the next year.

It is well established that learning (new behaviors or anything else) is characterized by periods in which very little or no progress APPEARS to take place though something really is happening. Apparent backsliding is even likely.

These periods are followed by short bursts of rapid change as experience and understanding reach some critical level of integration. New knowledge and behaviors emerge.

It is also pretty well established that chastising someone for not learning enough or fast enough is more likely to reinforce negative behaviors rather than positive, developmental ones.

[Michael S]

The Plentitude, Creativity, Innovation and Making Stuff
by Rich Gold
Copyright © 2007 Marina de Bellegente LaPalma

Forward by John Maeda

... Achieving simplicity in design is a complex journey that requires many skills spanning from the wildly creative to the purely practical. Good design is something that is best asked as a series of questions — as Rich asks aloud in this book....

-----

Simplicity doesn't usually happen all at once. I know from my own ultralight experience that the above the process is required. Colin and everyone that follows him should expect and look forward to this constant tinkering and questioning to achieve simplicity. Hold the questioning to achieve simplicity.

[Michael S]

The main progress in "ultralight backpacking" usually comes down to the big three. Shelter, Sleeping Bag and Backpack. Reducing these three makes the most difference. So I think Andy is saying something like this. Although his extreme way of expressing himself is likely a lower form of reasoning emanating from his earlier reptilian brain.

[caroline]

Hey, if you ever come to LA please consider coming to Loyola Marymount University (it's 10 minutes away from LAX airport). We're getting more environmentally aware. Last year, a student started a Farmer's market on campus, and it's been a huge success! And this year, the cafeteria has started to replace its disposable plates and utensils with silverware and washable dishes.
I think it would be awesome if you could come and give a speech! But I'm not really sure how these speaker organizations get arranged.. .
Well, take care!

[emily]

Colin, a question:
Can you regulate your own heat? I know it's often not possible in NYC; some New Yorkers complain about having to leave windows open all winter, the temperature inside can get so high. Is there any movement to put building codes in place that would require a better heat-regulation system?

The last time I was in NY (visiting a friend late one December), I noticed as we walked around that all the buildings had *very dark* smoke coming out of their chimneys. Not only is the heat working too hard anyways, but it seems that it pollutes a huge amount while doing so; it looked to me like a universal upgrade and filters were in order!

Input from New Yorkers?

[Daisy]

The old phrase "think globally, act locally" is still true. Baby steps are important. It's like the pay it forward philosophy: if your baby steps continue, and two or three others join in, it will make a difference.

[therapydoc]

If I didn't live in Chicago I'd totally go!