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.
Very awesome!
ReplyDeleteThat is very awesome. I would like to change myself too. However, I would change myself at my own pace. I would start by trying to use less papers. I would continue by recycling all my papers that I do not need. I will start small. However in a couple of years, I hope to start making my own food like you.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tony about your experiment being "very awesome." I admire your courage and persistence to knead the bread, and I hope to try that myself in the near future. I have switched to only metal, washable eating utensils as well, and I found it was not that hard of a change. Also, because of the No Impact Man project, I have began to notice how little things like napkins (as you stated) are used little and then thrown away. Although there are eight of us in my family, I am going to try to get everyone to use re-usable napkins that can be washed. Good luck with your further bread-making!
ReplyDeleteThat is so interesting! I am trying to change myself too so i can have no impact! It is hard to do but I take one step at a time, my family and I have put in eco friednly light bulbs, take short showers, and turn off electricity when it is not needed. My dad and I also sometimes make our own bread! I hope this year I can become more in touch with the environment and help save our planet!
ReplyDeleteThat is very admirable and looks extremely fun to do as well! My family and I used to be oblivious to the current state of our environment but now we have slowly realized that we need to stop making huge footprints in our community. As a result, for the past three years, my family and I create a vegetable garden in our backyard and during the summer, we only use these freshly grown vegetables in our cooking. We only use eco-friendly light bulbs( I think they are called florescent light bulbs), and we turn them off whenever we leave a room, as well as constantly recycle. Through these little actions, we are trying to lessen our impact in our environment.
ReplyDeleteThis is great! Doing things like that make an idea into a reality! Thats what this world needs: proactivity. Not only does the bread look "yummy" but It's eco-friendly too! :-)
ReplyDeleteI love zuchinni bread!! My mom's been making it for my sister and I since we were toddlers! Ever since we read No Immpact Man (my mom read it, too), she's started baking/cooking food more often. She's made zuchinni bread, a treat we like called oatmeal scotchies, and we try to cook dinner more often than order out. The two of us have also been trying to change ourselves to live more sustainable lives. She's gotten better about using reusable grocery bags, and I've gotten better about eating less packaged food and spending hours on TV or Facebook. It was tough at first, but we're really getting used to it! We just have to get my dad and my sister on board! :-)
ReplyDeleteThat is so inspiring. I am trying to create less of an impact, too. I use less plastic and carry around a reusable water bottle. My family is also trying to eat more locally. That is hard, but we are getting the hang of it, slowly but surely and learning alot.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Impact Man my mind was spinning with so many ideas on improving the enviroment and what people could do and to stop treating things as disposable and waste was one of them. Is our generation really becoming that lazy that we can't walk the extra three feet to recycle that plastic bottle in our hand because recycling bins are everywhere. And I fully understand that if u don't recycle at your house because you have no one to pick it up like some people do thats fine. But instead next time you're going to grab a poland spring water bottle out of your fridge grab one of your many reusable bottles that Pingree supply's you with, and fill that up because one bottle does make a difference and it's not going to add to that 30 billion plastic groceries consumed by Americans each year.
ReplyDeleteThis year i have really been trying to buy more local foods. i have really seen a difference in my life from this. I no longer eat much meat because i have been enjoying the local foods so much. The zucchini bread sounds so good! i feel like doing this project has made me more adventurous in foods!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this and taking the "How Many Planets?" quiz, i am completely motivated to decrease my impact as well. My family has already started by recycling shopping bags and having eco-friendlly lighting installed in our new house. Also, I just convinced my mom to help make bread this weekend! :)
ReplyDeleteThe key to saving our planet is definitely to first change ourselves. I am a vegetarian, and have convinced my family to do one night a week with a no meat dinner. We recycle, and are beginning to compost. We are taking shorter showers, using reusable shopping bags, and trying to eat as much local food as possible. My nona makes zucchini bread and zucchini pie, both delicious!
ReplyDeleteThose cloth napkins are such a great idea! After just completing the survey on earthday.net, I realized how our actions can have a greater consequence on our planet and that we do need to change ourselves and our habits. I am a vegetarian as well for economical purposes and recycle avidly. My family buys produce at a local farm, and we compost all our leftovers that is later made into rich soil but I know this is just the beginning of living a more sustainable lifestyle!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading No Impact Man over the summer I was motivated to make changes in my lifestyle to help the planet. I agree that we should change ourselves before we change others. I am now more aware of my daily routine and what I can do to help the planet, not hurt it. I started taking shorter showers, I convinced my mom to use reusable napkins at dinner, we use reusable grocery bags, we recycle regularly and I am now carpooling from school with two freshmen everyday. We can all make a difference so we should start now!
ReplyDeleteThis is really cool, especially how easy it is to just use reusable napkins instead of the paper ones. I like the idea of making homemade bread but i think it can be a little too time consuming if thats the only bread you eat
ReplyDeleteThis article is very interesting and I agree that if we bought less foods, especially individually wrapped packages, we can cut down or trash by a significant amount. If we could get most people to start with bringing in their own utensils then work up to bringing in all of our eating supplies, our school would be able stop wasting all of the paper products like we have in the past.
ReplyDeleteI think this is great! The first step in helping our planet is to change our daily routines. I like how you didnt try to take on too much though, that you did little things. Which in the long run will make a huge difference. So let's all do our share to help save our wonderful planet !
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