Living Green

I recently discovered several interesting blogs of people who are taking steps to live a more ecologically balanced life, some in the city, some in less urban areas.

The first is Little Blog in the Big Woods, written by "Greenpa." Greenpa lives in a log cabin in the woods, but he writes his blog for everyone -- city dwellers and country folk alike. He hasn't had a refrigerator for thirty years, and offers information on living off the grid.

Then there's No Impact Man, written by Colin Beavan. For one year, he, his wife, and their two-year-old daughter are attempting to live, in the middle of New York City, without making any net impact on the environment. No trash, no carbon emissions, no toxins in the water, no elevators, no subway, no products in packaging, no plastics, no air conditioning, no TV, and no toilets. The only electricity they use is generated by one solar panel to power their laptop computer.

Rachel Kessel of San Francisco writes a blog called The Compact. She's part of a very large Yahoo discussion group also called The Compact whose aims are 1) to go beyond recycling, 2) to reduce clutter and waste, and 3) to simply lives. Rachel hasn't bought anything new in two years, except underwear, which she broke down and purchased recently.

I find this fascinating. It never occurred to me that I could live without a refrigerator.