Last week, I was watching 20/20 or Dateline, and saw a piece on "No Impact Man." This guy lives in NYC, with heis wife and 2 year old daughter. They are living for 1 year without many things you and I use on a daily basis (no refridgerator, no toilet paper, no elevators, no train). The goal is to leave as small an eco-footprint as possible. They wash their clothes by hand in the tub. They don't watch tv and have a small compost box in the kitchen. No coffee is allowed because they only consume food grown within 250 miles of NYC. Every day involves a trip to the local market, where milk is bought in a reusable glass container and cheese is wrapped in cheesecloth rather than put into a paper bag. After one year, this family will evaluate what eco-friendly practices they will keep.

From the piece I watched, it was interesting to hear the wife say dinnertime is now family time, where the husband and wife sit in the kitchen and talk about their day rather than watch the 52 inch television. What's the one thing the wife misses? Ice cubes! How do they "cheat"? With store bought cookies made with ingredients from more than 250 miles away.

I haven't had a chance to thoroughly read over the blog (although I am curious to know how he can have a blog when he doesn't use electricity). When googling him, I saw he was on the Colbert Report too.

So take a look at his page and see if there is anything you can do to help lessen your impact. I think I am going to keep my toilet paper though.