No Impact Man

This story from BBC lead me to this fellow's blog: click here for the story and here for the blog.

The news story is about a man who describes himself as "a guilty liberal finally snaps, swears off plastic, goes organic, becomes a bicycle nut, turns off his power, composts his poop, and while living in New York City, generally turns into a tree-hugging lunatic who tries to save the polar bears and the rest of the planet from environmental catastrophe while dragging his baby daughter and Prada-wearing, four seasons-loving wife along for the ride".

So this guy talks about using his bicycle for all transportation, not using refrigerator (which he says has forced the family to eat fresh fruit and vegetables everyday), washing machine, or lights - because of no electricity, not using toilet paper, walking nine flight of stairs to avoid using the elevator, etc.. He says he is on this experimental project for a year. His higher goal is to get the message of conservation to the community, the city, the country, and eventually all over the world.

Now, this may seem a bit excessive, but I like a lot of his points. He says that there is more to it than what meets the eye: apparently, this seems to have brought his family together - no TV, their days are spent around the dinner table, so more lively and useful conversation, healthy living, etc..

I have always been a conservationist - saving water and electricity at every possible opportunity, recycling religiously, opting for smaller and more efficient cars, etc. - but this guy Colin Beavan gives me more ideas.

Some of the things that I think would go a long way:

1. Cutting down of gasoline consumption - use smaller cars; using bicycles, public transportation, or shared transportation. Also promote green / hybrid cars.
   
2. Recycling. I wish every state and city would take this seriously. New York for example recycles much more than Florida. In Florida, recycling even telephone books was difficult. There are so many things that are difficult to recycle (even in Super New York) - electronic goods, metallic things, hardware, bicycle tyres, etc.. I wish it were easier. Perhaps the government could give tax credits for recycling? And perhaps the government could penalise companies that make products that are packaged in non-recyclable material? I think recycling is key, next to gasoline consumption.
   
3. Use less plastic and paper. I always remind my wife to not be in a haste to print things from the internet so as to not waste paper.
   
4. Smoking. What's stopping us from banning smoking altogether? Another reason I love NY: smoking is prohibited pretty much everywhere - the state has made it difficult for smokers.
5. Cutting down on water and electricity consumption. Or perhaps reducing the wastage of water and electricity.
   

Unfortunately, conservation is so politicised. The right wing thinks that it is for tree-huggers and liberals. Why?