The No Impact Week Guide Is Here!

Alright folks, the guide for HuffPost's inaugural No Impact Week is here! Thousands of you have already signed up for our week-long carbon cleanse starting October 18th, and now all of the details about how to pull this exciting week off are available. The week is not about strict rules or precisely replicating No Impact Man (unless you want to!) it's about thinking about your environmental impact in a new way and picking the goals that are right for you.

Download The Guide (PDF)

No Impact Week Guide -
Download the guide (but don't print it -- remember your impact!) read through it, and share it with your friends, family and coworkers. If you haven't signed up for No Impact Week, you can do so here. We're asking people to sign up so we can communicate with you about the week-- and as one way for you to share your experiences with us. We'll also be inviting you to send in photos, videos and blogs to be featured on HuffPost Green. You can also keep the conversation going on Twitter by using the hashtag #nipweek and following @noimpactgroup.

To Sign Up For HuffPost's No Impact Week, Click Here!

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Comments

[sunny0711]

After going through the No Impact Week Guide, I thought that it offered a lot of great suggestions that were easy enough for people to do to reduce their carbon footprint. Just by doing little things like it's suggesting can really make a difference. Obviously some of the things they suggested would be tough for many, like riding your bike everywhere, that is a little difficult where I live since the winter's are cold and there is no way I'm getting out on my bike in 15 degree weather. And as for the food, you don't necessarily have to buy stuff that has the green logo on it, but just try and buy as many fresh produce when you can and possibly even buy organic; you dont' have to buy a lot of organic food but maybe buy certain things organic. But I do believe that this guide is a great start to getting people involved.

[sheila]

With respect, lobbying for democratic, affordable, clean energy policies will make a much bigger difference than no longer putting your small, used razor blades in the trash once a week. "Buying Green Power" is such a harmful, destructive cop-out to the BIGGEST element of this plan, it is really sad that more thought couldn't be put into it.

Power produced by permanently destroying millions of acres of wilderness, emitting HUGE amounts of particulate and GHGs (check out SF6, concrete and steel for starters), sucking HUGE amounts of scarce desert water (even air-cooled CSP and industrial PV use tens of millions of gallons a year per plant to rinse mirrors and panels), and re-monopolizing the grid at a moment when the technology is there for US to fully power our grid using existing rooftops and conservation is an enormous travesty.

Hyper-focusing on where your food and other goods come from then brushing over and even greenwashing the enormous impacts of Industrial Wind, Solar and Transmission is incredibly irresponsible. Look past the sound bytes and learn the truth. Then lobby HARD for point of use solutions supported by sensible policies like loans and feed in tariffs so WE can conserve and produce clean, NON-lethal energy right where it is needed - in the already-built environment.

[SneathLane]

I read through that document. It says to massage greens to soften them instead of sauteing them - is Swedish massage better for spinach than Shiatsu?

If you want people to actually reduce their carbon footprint, stick to simple, sensible ways to do that - ways that actually work, every time.

There are too many nonsensical, made-up-ov­er-beers-i­n-the-bar-­but-never-­tried pieces of advice in this PDF. Like fermenting your own vinegar from fruit scraps. Clearly, you didn't try that. You are much more likely to end up with a peculiar smelling mess and lots of fruit flies than usable vinegar.

I will buy a bottle of vinegar, eat less meat, and not take taxis. We already have lower carbon footprints here in New York, so getting them really low is fairly easy.

[janeycat]

well i dont know about you guys and where you live but it is impossible to ride a bike everywhere you go around here.
I cant afford to eat green... everything has been labeled green so it can be sold for triple the price .... it's ridiculous how everyone has blown everything out of proportion. i do what i can to recycle and reuse,it not only is good for the landfills but most of all it is good for my pocketbook...polar bears,red ants,fruit flies,spotted cows what next... are we going to have to put human beings on the endangered species to get our kids fed when they are hungry....and what are we going to do about the homeless people..
i under stand all these rare species and Forrest are beautiful ...like i said i do what i can .....but lets get our priorities straight for once and look out for each other

[dyates]

The No Impact Guide is great - how about including more information about traveling? In Spain most homes don't have clothes dryers - even the fancy ones - people hang their clothes out all year long. And most of Europe has easy curbside recycling open 24 hours. The Green Earth Guide: Traveling Naturally in France and Green Earth Guide: Traveling Naturally in Spain are all about traveling with a low impact - that is extending a no to low impact lifestyle while visiting other countries. Think about impact not just at home and enjoy yourself - no impact doesn't mean no fun. Happy trails.

[hippie4ever]

This can be consciousness raising but the real challenge is how to live greener in the long run. When an appliance dies I question whether I need a replacement. If I do I pay the increase for an energystar, figuring its better for the environment & that I'll eventually break-even in energy cost savings.

The government is inept so it's up to us, the public, to make personal choices that favor the earth. Today San Francisco is being battered by a huge storm; it defines climate change for our region. And the scary thought: perhaps this is our entire winter, rolled into a few days, and then the drought will return. Our paltry decisions as individuals will echo with those made by others; together we can make a difference.

[Ventoi]

If your property is tidy...and safe...and if its not pretty...shaded with trees along the walkway...

there should be no issue...

we have gone to far...

that is why we are seeing the debt figures next to the names of the big successes...

Obsessive compulsive can come in the form of tidy, brick garden homes also.

[Ventoi]

I was reminded recently that most of these eco-homes are not approved by town-property rules...

we need to work WITH the environmen­talists...

sometimes...

along with or instead of the big land developers...

if we are to progress...

surely the big land develepers can make environmental homes...

which are too expensive for regular people to buy anyway...

but they won't forage and save objects...

and improvise and invent and discover as they go along...

and if we do not do those things...

we do not properly progress...

or allow the poor to live as they should...

WE won't allow them to show that they are ABLE to save this earth of ours...

by virtue of being poor and knowing how to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear...

by hand...with some string they found downtown..­.littering the sidewalk.

[Ventoi]

I was thinking about this topic over the weekend...
while I listened to somebody speaking about something related...

most of us are trying to become more conscious of the environment...
and our impact upon it...

within our means,
of course...

the poor tend to be good walkers...
we tend to not be big emission adders...
can't afford cars...can't afford gas...can't afford oil for our homes...
hang our laundry on the line...because the electricity bill or the gas bill or the broken dryer are too costly to worry about...

the rich or well-to-do have a tougher job...
often...
by virtue of the expectations placed on them to use the things they have paid good money for...

waste not...
want not...

but sometimes...
their environmental causes...
become HIGH IMPACT...
saving the seals or the polar ice caps...
for example...
more boats in the northern ice...
leaking oil...
leaving a mess behind...
burning fuel...
disrupting wildlife (to save them)...

big bucks...
big impact...

this will be a great day for Greenpeace...
and maybe quiet also.

[2warvet]

What is going on with global warming, climate change, or whatever you are calling it this week?

Even the British Press is getting in on the act.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8299079.stm

Then the goracle gets blasted with a question that causes him to shut the mic off of the reporter who asked it. Just because he couldn't address the British High Court saying there were at least 9 factual errors in his film that prevented it from being viewed in schools. All he could say was "do you think the polar bears are endangered?" Even after the the reporter said "Well the polar bear population is increasing so no I don't think they are endangered."

LMAO. As with the 70's when the sky was falling because of the next coming ice age, global warming is a natural trend that occurs with or without the interference of man.

[CapableOne]

Yeah, who needs the polar ice cap, anyway. Not you! So the heck with it!

[2warvet]

You mean the same polar ice cap that has significant ice growth over the last 2 years?

[Ken Freedom]

Gore did not shut off his mic, the hosts of the event did that. Gore did answer his question, and you're either misinformed or lying: the British High Court approved the film for showing in schools.

What's laughable is that you think "Well the polar bear population is increasing so no I don't think they are endangered." is an intelligent and meaningful response. Polar bear populations could increase significantly and the polar bear would still be endangered.

Since 1987 there has been a 1400% increase in the population of the California condor. If increasing population means that the animal in question is no longer endangered, then the California condor must not be endangered, right? Except that the total population of California condors is 322, up from 22 in 1987, and it's the rarest bird in the world. So it's very endangered, still.

Does that clear it up for you? Are you ready to admit that your opposition to the facts of global climate change are the result of your antipathy towards the left, and you are operating from a position of unreasonable emotion?

[2warvet]

Hmmmm.....Nope.

What it has to do with is common sense approach to science and not the "debate is over" approach that the goracle and others took.

The British High Court did ban the film from being shown, HOWEVER (I should have mentioned this but I thought you might be able to look it up online for yourself) The film could be shown as long as a statement was read to point out the 9 factual errors that were in the film.

And the quoted statement in my post is from the journalist not me. I do believe that the polar bear population should be watched to ensure it is stable, which it appears to be. Especially when you look at the increase from the 70's when they were around 9,000 to today where they are around 25,000

[BLUEBIRD1234]

It is indeed a program that will engulf all subjects, that may start from any point of any subject but will touch all other subjects that is connected with life on earth and living that will ultimately end up with the subject on ecological balance.

Looks like we need to be clear about with which subject to start with and which one to end with. This is need for clear understanding of the issues that are need to practice NO IMPACT program and its future continuation once those who all us will undergo the total program and participate in its practicalities .

Well, may be the organizers would know better how to stage the program and how to end it, that would factually benefit people all around the globe by organizing such a timely program that has the emergent call of the day.

[jennwho]

Wow I'am very much looking forward to this. But to all the women out there what are your thoughts on the Diva Cup referenced in this weeks guide??

[Criss Kraus]

Well this No Impact weeks sounds interesting .... but what is one to do if they have a food allergy to soy products and can't go meatless?

I already walk, ride a bike or take public transportation, grow my own vegetables, shop local, keep my thermostat low in winter and high in summer, have CFL bulbs, dusk to dawn exterior lighting, reduce, reuse, recycle to name the top things I already do - so what else can one do? I mean, just by breathing we alter the environment ... lordy - everytime a politican opens their mouth the environment is altered by their hot air.

[Angie Cordeiro - Huffpost Blogger]

Wow! I'm still on page one...goals and ideas, gotta love it!

[Ping]

I'll admit I didn't read the whole thing because I lost interest in the first page. But ... Not running the dishwasher and not running the dryer are a start. As well as not drinking anything that comes is small plastic bottles or cans should be a real step towards a greener earth.