No Impact Man

If you're looking for an entertaining documentary that makes an environmental statement, "No Impact Man" is the movie for you. The trailer above shows the main story line of this documentary. Colin Beavan, an author living in New York City, decided that as a project, he and his family would try to reduce their environmental impact completely for a year. This includes reducing trash as much as possible, composting, riding a bike everywhere, using cloth diapers for their child,  eating no take-out food, buying only local foods and more extreme measures, such as cutting out electricity, using reusable cloths instead of toilet paper and taking the stairs instead of elevators (a crazy thing to do in NYC). The film also mixes a lot of emotion into the film, to show that it is a difficult task, but with determination, regular people can dramatically reduce their impact on the planet.

Source: amazon.com

Being an author, of course Colin Beavan wrote a book about what he experienced during this year-long project. People can get some personal insights from the book that were not included in the documentary. Personally, I really enjoyed this documentary and would recommend anyone who is interested in the health of the environment to give it a watch. It shows that if we all really put in an effort, a single family can significantly reduce the amount of waste and greenhouse gases affecting the world. However, we do not need to go to such extreme measures as going without electricity or not using toilet paper. At the end of the film, the family chose what things they would keep doing after the project ended, which included biking everywhere, taking the stairs, trying to reduce their trash as much as possible, buying local food and composting. These simple things can really make a positive impact on the world.

References: watchCulturetainment. “No Impact Man" - Official Trailer [HQ HD]” YouTube, July 29, 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9Ctt7FGFBo.

Becoming a Minimalist

Source: bemorewithless.com

Link: 7 Tiny Steps for the Beginner Minimalist

Interested in simplifying your life and drastically reducing your environmental impact? Then minimalism might be the lifestyle for you. Minimalism is a way of life in which people focus more on personal goals, relationships, and experiences than on personal belongings. This means cutting down on possessions that are not necessary for everyday life. This is a drastic change for most people in American culture, which is very consumer-driven.

The link above gives the average person tips on how they can slowly become a minimalist. It will most likely take a long time to completely adhere to the lifestyle change because of how much consumerism is embedded in our culture. However, the seven tips presented in this article provide simple ways to reduce the clutter and waste in our lives.

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Besides drastically reducing carbon footprints and waste, minimalism can also help people reduce their stress levels and become more connected to people and the environment. Without all of the distractions of personal belongings, individuals have more money to spend on doing what they enjoy. This often involves outdoor activities and/or traveling in the case of most minimalists. I am personally interested in trying out some of these steps to become more conscious of what I am consuming.

References: Carver, Courtney. “7 Tiny Steps for the Beginner Minimalist.” Be More with Less, 26 Sept. 2017, bemorewithless.com/begin/.

Sustainable Universities

Colleges and universities are places where innovation thrives. Therefore, they are a great place to start shifting gears in terms of energy use. They can come up with new technologies and innovations to provide the school energy while reducing its carbon footprint. This video shows the schools with the best sustainable energy degree programs. This is useful for anyone interesting in expanding their knowledge about environmental issues and joining the energy shift towards more renewable sources. Of course, these degree programs translate into their campuses being extremely sustainable. 

This video should serve as an example as what other campuses can do to become more sustainable. Of course schools like Stanford and MIT are at the forefront of new and exciting green technologies. However, University of Maryland is a public university that offers a masters degree in sustainable energy. If campuses want to become more sustainable, maybe they should start with implementing some of these programs to get the students actively involved in the movement. Then it would be much more likely to see a shift in the way campuses are run. 

Source: lmsarch.com

The University of California Berkeley is one of the top 5 sustainable schools included in the video. The image above shows the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation at the campus. This building is LEED Platinum certified and was created to reduce energy use by 90 percent. As you can see in the picture, the entire roof of the building consists of solar panels which provide its electricity. Other colleges and universities should take these top five schools as great examples of shifting to a more sustainable way of life.

References: Successful Student. “Successful Student Presents: Top 5 Sustainable and Renewable Colleges” YouTube, 15 February 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0Prr9CsQXg&t=1s&list=LL8WWggMAJxwIFwtMH2OCvww&index=1.