What I liked most about Low Impact Week

Crunchy Chicken asked us what we liked most about Low Impact Week and here is my answer:

I have 2 things I liked the most about Low Impact Week and really can’t pick just one. The first thing I liked the most was feeling like I belong to a community of people concerned about reducing their impact. I live in an upper-middle class suburban neighborhood surrrounded by other upper-middle class surburban neighborhoods. No one here is concerned with the environment or their impact. They are all concerned with who has the biggest house or the newest car or the trendiest clothes. My husband is one of the few people in this neighborhood that mows his own grass, most have those services that spray all sorts of chemicals in addition to doing the mowing. I’m the only one in the neighborhood with a vegetable garden, the neighbors all think I’m crazy. Because this is what I’m surrounded by everyday, I’ve been very depressed about the future. But being part of this community this last week has made me feel much more hopeful. I’ve realized there are people who care and are trying to reduce their impact. Reading what everyone did this week has been very inspirational.

The second thing I liked the most was having the chance to change my thought patterns. I think so much of life is done on auto-pilot, it makes change hard. Plastic bags are a good example for me, about a month ago I bought some reusable bags and have kept them in my car. Sometimes I remembered to bring them in and sometimes I didn’t. Most of the time when I forgot I realized I had forgotten them and asked for no bag. But a few times, I received my plastic bag, went home, and didn’t even realize I’d been handed a plastic bag until I was home unpacking it. It is such a habit to be handed those plastic bags that even when I didn’t want them I sometimes didn’t even notice I had one in my hand. Low Impact Week put all these issues into the front of my mind. I spent the week really thinking about everyone of my actions and the impact of that action as well as ways to reduce that impact. It is now habit to think about these things and I’m living a much more aware life. No more plastic bags will end up in my hands without me noticing. I was even able to kick my diet soda habit by keeping thoughts of my impact front in my mind!