Above all others, two major personal goals rose to the top for me:
1) Stop treating resources as disposable.
2) Make my diet more sustainable.
I've already posted about how I began making my own yogurt at home. (If you've yet to try it, you're missing out.) I also started making my own bread from scratch. Now, making yogurt is EASY! I discovered that making good bread is NOT! It seems that success or failure mainly lies in kneading the dough. There are TONS of different "ways" to knead bread dough and the truth is, none is better than another (many people will vehemently disagree with that). Do a youtube search on "how to knead bread." You'll get a thousand videos. Chose a technique you like the looks of and use it. The real trick--the difference between success and failure--is learning what the dough "feels like" when you've kneaded it long enough. Most of the youtube videos will tell you what to look for and what to feel for, but I will warn you that you will be very, VERY tempted to quit kneading before it actually happens. Why? Because your arms are going to feel like they're about to fall off and you'll curse having ever tried this. Don't quit!! It might take you 10 minutes before the dough "transforms," or (if you're weak like me) it might take you 20 minutes, but KEEP GOING!!
It took me several attempts before I got a light, nicely risen, delicious tasting loaf, but now that I've figured things out, I don't think my family is ever going back to store bought bread. I use the recipe for "Milk Bread" taken from the Joy of Cooking. If you don't give up in the kneading process, it will be so worth it to try this for yourself! You can brag that you successfully made a delicious, all natural, non-digestively-toxic loaf of bread.
Okay, my second goal was to stop treating resources as disposable. You'll see me with my nalgene bottle for my TAP water around school this fall. I am consciously abstaining from drinking the Poland Springs water that was trucked to Pingree. I have my metal fork, spoon, and knife tucked into my desk drawer at school for days when plastic utensils are put out at lunch. I might even add a plate, but haven't decided about that yet. I made a whole bunch of cloth napkins for my family so that we could stop using paper napkins and paper towels at home, and I have one tucked away with my metal utensils at school that I will TRY to use every day with my lunch. Here's a pic of my cloth napkins, by the way.
That's a piece of zuchinni bread in the background.
My point in writing about all of this relates to No Impact Man in this way: I've decided to try to change MYSELF, MY behaviors. Rather than trying to get everyone else to "do the right thing" as it were, I'm going to choose my own goals and try out some solutions for myself. I urge everyone who read this book and felt it resonate to do the same. Don't wait to see what other people are doing. Brainstorm your own solutions and try them on to see how they feel.
