hmpf

When I say that I'm doing what Beavan is doing I don't mean the full No Impact thing with no toilet paper and composting in the kitchen etc. He's not doing *all* of that anymore, either. What I'm doing is, I go as far towards sustainability as I can without making it a full-time job. ;-)

I.e., no car,
no flying,
no electric clothes dryer,
no tv,
no meat (with a very few exceptions - mostly when visiting my parents; but even they try to accomodate my no meat habit most of the time now),
no fish (exception: a Swedish potato dish that I make a couple of times per year, which requires a few anchovies),
using recycled paper,
buying 'green' energy,
generally being conscious of food miles reduction and trash (esp. plastic trash) reduction when grocery shopping,
and most importantly, extreme reduction of all kinds of unnecessary consumption (of goods, resources, energy).

So, no new clothes until old clothes begin to show holes, and when I do need new clothes (I need to get the basics of a 'professional' wardrobe soon), buy them used or at least buy them at Hess Natur. No new mobile phone just because they're cheap, when the old one's still working. And so on. Most of this I've been doing for ages, btw, it's not a fad or a phase. The no flying resolution is fairly new, though - a few years ago I still tried to tell myself that it was okay if I flew to Britain or Spain to see friends because it's the cheapest way and I was a poor student. (Yes, I know, it's a stupid excuse.)

Areas where I still need to improve:

- hygiene products (I don't see myself giving up toilet paper - but of course that's made from recycled paper, anyway, so it's not quite so bad - but I *should* try to find cloth handkerchiefs, I think. And possibly give menstrual cups a try. Sorry if this is TMI. *g*)
- books and cds. I can't live without new music and books, and my tastes are so strange that getting them from a public library is not an option; libraries don't have my kind of stuff. (Plus I have to admit to really liking to *own* books, in particular.) I do try to buy them used, if possible, though.
- computer use. Seriously, it would probably be better for me *and* the environment if I could restrict my computer use to a few hours per day... *g*