Sustainable C Recap and Tips: No Impact Week (Day 5 of 7)

No Impact Week (www.noimpactproject.org) has been a week of awareness, an awareness that in some ways can be rightly called “painful awareness.” An overview of the week and each day’s challenge is a useful starting point for sharing lessons learned.

Sunday – stop consuming new goods
Monday – stop making trash
Tuesday – travel by sustainable transportation
Wednesday – eat locally
Thursday – use less energy

On the course so far, I have hit three major hurdles: (1) it seems everything I eat is packaged in a plastic baggie (or two, or three) such that filling my stomach coincides with heaping more trash on landfills; (2) eating locally, I have been buying vegetables with names that sound like different skin conditions (ruling out olericulture* as a future career move) and that are as foreign to me in the kitchen as they were in the store; and (3) I only reluctantly let go of luxuries when it comes to electricity. But I have forged on! Here are some tips that have helped me tackle each personal challenge.

[*I know, I know. Olericulture…I had to look this word up. It means vegetable cultivation. It makes me feel better to use a big word to avoid the topic of my ignorance when it comes to the names of plants and, er, vegetables.]

Sustainable C’s Tips for Using Less Energy

- Hang dry your clothes on any combination of hangers, foldable racks and clothesline. At room temperature, it takes 24 hours or less for most clothes to dry, and it will help prolong the life of the fabric.
- In your house, turn down the heat a bit each week, and add a layer of clothes to adjust. Reptilian sun-lover that I am, I used to love to keep a room at 72 degrees Fahrenheit (22 Celsius) or higher. But now I keep it at 60 (15 Celsius) and wear a few extra layers.
- When you leave the house, turn the temperature a little lower.
- When you tire of staying at home alone with all your layers, go to a café and enjoy the warmth of a crowd. Enjoying public spaces is a great way to reduce your home energy use and meet other people.
- Keep major guzzlers (computers, plasma tvs, etc) on a power strip and turn off the power strip when the guzzlers are not in use. For example, I keep my computer, speakers and lights on a power strip that I turn off when I leave the room.


Gratuitous photograph of Jo the Hen, local egg supplier

Sustainable C’s Tips for Eating Locally (and Reducing Trash)

- The West Coast of the United States is a veritable bread basket. As far as I can tell, it is possible to maintain a varied diet with more than 50% of locally grown food from April to November each year. (I can’t comment on the other months yet, because I haven’t been this conscientious about buying locally before).
- Shopping locally is easy. There are so many options, including Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms, farmers markets, farm stands, buying clubs and food cooperatives. For more information, see the Food Routes Network at http://www.foodroutes.org/doclib/faqs/faq13.htm.
- It’s a lot of fun to acquaint yourself with new veggies (even if they have names that sound like skin conditions), and the Internet will be as helpful as any expert olericulturist! In the Pacific Northwest, googling recipes for locally grown kale, beets, and lentils will help you find delicious recipes like “sautéed kale in a red wine vinegar,” “beet salad with goat cheese,” and “spicy lentil soup.”
- Buying your veggies with cloth produce bags and buying your grains and spices with bulk bins will help you cut down on trash. Note to gift givers—cloth produce bags and reusable bins are a great way to say “I care!”

If you are reading this and have a few conservancy tricks of your own, or if you are an olericulturist and want to help me shop, please let me know.