Could You Live Without Toilet Paper?
November 9, 2007 · Written by Joel
Once again the BBC have an interesting article on a family in New York trying to live without toilet paper, shampoo or other toiletries.
No Impact Man, or Colin Beavan as he’s known, is trying to reduce the amount of toiletries his family uses as part of the latest stage of his involvement in environmentally friendly or sustainable projects around the city.
The first stage of the one-year experiment was to reduce rubbish. The family buys only second-hand goods and takes a hamper to the market. Food is bought every other day from the nearby farmers’ market on Union Square, and put in the hamper without wrapping. The family then stopped using all carbon-producing transport, so they now walk or cycle. They then shut down electricity in the flat - no more dishwasher, fridge or washing machine.
Now they are trying to reduce the amount of water they use, from the 80-100 gallons (303-379 litres) a day used by the average American, down to seven!! The average European uses about 150 litres or water a day, not because they wash less(!) but due to having smaller gardens, small bathrooms, smaller washing machines and so on.
Not everyone wants to go to these extremes, but could you manage it? I’m not sure I could…
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Colin is my hero. I read his blog every weekday and get so much inspiration from it! In fact, hearing an interview with him is what inspired me to create my blog, Fake Plastic Fish.
I encourage everyone who hasn’t already to check out the No Impact Man blog.