No Impact Man

May each go his own way

The other day I published a post called about finding your own path to helping the world by trusting yourself.

What I didn't say was that the post was inspired by something I read in the recently released book of secret writings by Carl Jung collected in The Red Book. The book is, in a way, Jung's journal of his voyage of self discover.

I thought I'd share the quote that inspired me:

Believe me: It is no teaching and no instruction that I give you. On what basis should I presume to teach you? I give you news of the way of this man, but not of your own way. My path is not your path, therefore I cannot teach you. The way is within us, but not in Gods, nor teachings, nor in laws. Within us is the way, the truth and the life.

Woe betide those who live by way of examples! Life is not with them. If you live according to an example, you thus live the life of that example, but who should live your own life if not yourself? So live yourselves.

The signposts have fallen, unblazed trails lie before us. Do not be greedy to gobble up the fruits of foreign fields. Do you not know that you yourselves are the fertile acre which bears everything that avails you?

Yet who today knows this? Who knows the way to the eternally fruitful climes of the soul? You seek the way through mere appearances, you study books and give ear to all kinds of opinion. What good is all that?

There is only one way and that is your way.

I will be no savior, no lawgiver, no master teacher unto you. You are no longer little children.

Giving laws, wanting improvements, making things easier, has all become wrong and evil. May each one seek out his own way. The way leads to mutual love in community. Men will come to see and feel the similarity and commonality of their ways.

Laws and teachings held in common compel people to solitude, so that they may escape the pressure of undesirable contact, but solitude makes people hostile and venomous.

Therefore give people dignity and let each of them stand apart, so that each may find his own fellowship and love it.

Power stands against power, contempt against contempt, love against love. Give humanity dignity, and trust that lfe will find the better way.

The one eye of the Godhead is blind, the one ear of the Godhead is deaf, the order of its being is crossed by chaos. So be patient with the crippledness of the world and do not overvalue its consummate beauty.

Trust the spark within and find your own path

Since the release of the No Impact Man book and film I have been privileged to be in conversation with many groups. And always, someone asks me with great earnestness, "What can I do?" Many times, in other words, people ask me for how-to-save-the-planet directions.

"Just start," I say.

And then I pause while they wait expectantly for more guidance.

"If you were to just start, without waiting for someone like me to come along, what would you do?" I ask finally.

Because, while I want to help and I want to support, I don't want to put people back to sleep by giving them connect-the-dot directions that don't require them to engage their spirits. I trust my listeners and my readers to figure things out for themselves way more than I trust myself to give them ideas that are appropriate to them.

After I ask what people would do if they didn't wait for someone like me to come along, there is another pause.

Finally, I might say, "Look to yourself for guidance. What would you like to do?"

And then a person might say: "I'd like to start riding my bike to work" or "I'd like to campaign against bottled water" or "I'd like to start a compost pile in my building" or "I'd like to tell people we should love each other  more."

Then I laugh. "So why are you asking me what you can do? Just start."

Most of us already know.

We know. You know.

Underneath the worry and the despair and the fear of doing the wrong thing, we are all imbued with a wonderful compassion and wisdom.

I love the word "inspire." It has the same route as to respire, to breathe. To be inspired means to have the breath within in us. The breath of what? Some might say God. Some might say something else. But the breath is within us. The compassion and wisdom is there. We are all inspired, filled with the breath.

This is why I try not to give directions: I do not want to risk replacing someone else's deep wisdom and compassion with my shallow ideas.

It could be said that,in many ways, the trouble we find ourselves in is actually caused by too many off us following directions. I don't want to give more directions. There isn't a shortage of directions.

One day, for example, a teacher raised her hand and said, "I want to teach second graders how to recycle. What should I do?"

But I am not a teacher. "You are the expert here, not me. You have much more of what is necessary to teach second graders about recycling than I do."

What she needed, what we all need, is the ability to trust ourselves. That second grade teacher simply needed to trust that she was enough, that she had enough to start.

Each of us already has what we need to save the world inside of us. It's a simply matter of trusting the impulse and putting one foot in front of the other without necessarily seeing where the path will ultimately lead.

A Buddhist might say, "Trust your True Self." A Christian might say, "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you." There is no need for directions. We all have a True Self. We all have the Kingdom of Heaven within us.

So many of us have nascent ideas for what we can do to help our communities or our planet, but we don't start because we are waiting for permission or directions from someone else. But we don't need permission. We don't need directions.

We can find our own paths.

We can take charge ourselves.

We can simply start.

Global warming or no, a renewable energy economy would bring a better world

Things are not going well there as you'll see by the video below. That's too bad for the American economy, for our prospects as world leader, and for our national security (even the US Army now believes that the geopolitical instability brought about by climate change will be one of the biggest threats to our security).

I make these points because some who read this blog don't believe in global warming. I do. But that's beside the point.

A worldwide transition to a renewable energy economy has other huge benefits too. Ask the people who are getting cancer from drinking tainted water downstream from coal mines. Ask the kids who get asthma from living near coal-burning power stations.

Whether American citizens believe in global warming or not, the rest of the world does. That means the rest of the world wants technological and industrial leaders in the race to renewable energy. You don't have to believe in global warming to know that you give the customers--the world energy market--what they want.

If the US is smart, we get the chance to sell the rest of the world renewable energy and we can stop depending on the unstable regimes which supply us oil.

So, if you want an energy system that will bring us jobs, national security while protecting the habitat that we depend upon for our health, happiness and security, join with me by asking President Obama to deliver that system. Ask him to make Copenhagen a success by clicking here.

Finally doing what I can about the Copenhagen climate talks

I Skyped with a good friend who is in Copenhagen participating in the climate negotiations today. She told me she woke up crying.

Yesterday, a large group of some 70 developing countries walked out of the climate talks because they felt that an unfair responsibility for carbon reductions was falling on poor countries. Luckily, they came back. But rich countries like ours are simply not doing enough.

There are so many obstacles to a meaningful treaty resulting from these talks. That's why my friend cried. She's been working 20 hour days.

"What are you saying about the talks on the blog?" she asked me.

"Nothing," I said. "What can I do from here? What can I say?"

"You have an audience!" she said.

And I realized.

I haven't been discussing the climate talks here on the blog because I have fallen into feelings of paralyzing helplessness. I have fallen into that terrible place of doubting that I can say or do anything that makes a difference and so not even bothering to try.

That, I know, is a big mistake. The question, I've written many times before, is not whether I can make a difference, but whether I want to be the type of person who tries. Each of us starts from where we are. We do what we can within our own life situation.

And what I can do tonight, from my bed where I am typing, is ask that you join with me by clicking here to automatically phone the White House to ask the President, when he shows up at Copenhagen next week, to push for a strong, binding treaty on climate.

As it says on the 1Sky blog, tell President Obama to step up on climate by:

Leading negotiations to create a fair, ambitious, and binding agreement based on the best and most current climate science;

Taking responsibility to protect vulnerable communities: The U.S. is responsible for over 1/3 of developed nation emissions, so we should finance at least 1/3 of allocations to protect vulnerable communities worldwide who are being hit first and worst by climate change, and help developing countries reduce their carbon emissions;

Building the political will necessary to pass a strong bill in the Senate this spring.

Making the call is easy. Click here, then enter your phone number, and an automated service will call you back and connect you to the White House. 

You can do that, and then, like me, you can pray (or, if you have no belief, hope).

In search of a unifying theory of all our problems

When you look at the climate problem and the difficulties we have dealing with it and you combine that with a consumer culture that doesn't seem to be making people happy, you'd think we'd be able to find a solution. You'd think we'd be able to do better by ourselves.

But things are moving so slowly. What I want to know is why? What is the fundamental human flaw? What is the single underlying assumption about how we live or what we do that is causing us to damage ourselves and the habitat we depend upon for our health, happiness and security?

On a subway train the other day, my friend Katherine told me that she thought that humans were congenitally dissatisfied. That human beings just couldn't ever be satisfied and want more and more no matter what they already had. At a food and climate summit where I spoke this week, someone else said it was our short term view of things. That we put immediate gratification before long term benefit.

So my question to you is, what do you think? What is the underlying problem with everything? What is it about us that, if we could work on it, would solve our difficulties? In short, what is your unifying theory of all our problems?

No Impact Project needs interns

From the No Impact Project:

Project

The No Impact Project (NIP) was conceived by Colin Beavan, aka No Impact Man, following the success of his blog, book, and film, which chronicle his family’s year-long experiment living a zero-waste lifestyle in New York City. Central to his thesis is the notion that deep-seated individual behavior change leads to both cultural change and political engagement. Living low-impact provides a clear entry point into the environmental movement. This thesis is the bedrock of NIP. 

Overview

The No Impact Project is looking for talented and motivated interns to work in close partnership with the Associate Director to ensure the successful execution of multiple programs during the coming winter break and/or spring semester. Interns will be vital in helping us build capacity in our fledgling organization.  Areas of responsibility will include:

• Program related research, development and execution
• Grant proposal research
• Curriculum outreach
• Social media and technology project development
• Communications and marketing
• Administrative duties

Time Commitment

15 hours/week in the “office” and/or telecommuting.

Start Date: ASAP

End Date: May 15 

Payment

None. Academic credit only (if applicable).  Letter of reference from Executive Director upon completion of internship.

Qualifications

• Excellent writing and research skills.
• Previous experience working for a small non-profit a plus.
• Interest in environmental issues.
• Ability to work independently and take initiative.
• Confident, good sense of humor, creative thinker (all requirements!)

Application

Please send a brief cover letter and resume (2 page max) to Stephanie at Stephanie@noimpactproject.org. 

 

No Impact Man screening and Christmas consumption discussion

From the No Impact Project:

Every year, growing numbers of us are unhappy with the shopping frenzy that surrounds the holidays but most of us don’t know how to get off the treadmill. What if we worked together to find another way to celebrate?  This holiday season join us in finding more of what matters.

During the two-weeks of the historic UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (December 7th-18th), we’re bringing people together to talk about the impact of holiday spending on their lives and the environment.  Join the No Impact Project and Center for a New American Dream for nationwide pre-DVD release community screenings of the documentary, No Impact Man, and a post-screening discussion about how to simplify our holidays this year.

Find a screening near you, click here.

What's important?

First thing, wanted to remind you that you can follow me on twitter here and friend me on on Facebook here. Onwards...

As you may know, Japan has lower per capita carbon emissions than any Western European country. For that reason, I asked my friend, Sean Sakamoto, who recently moved to Japan and who blogs at I'd Rather Be In Japan, to check in with us every so often. I thought we might be able to learn a little something about "happier planet, happier people" lifestyles from Sean's experience there.

You can read some of Sean's past posts here, here, and here.

Here is Sean's latest dispatch (by video). Kazu, so you know, is Sean's son:

Figuring out how to live--Part 2

People often ask me how we are supposed to cope with the tragedy of the cliff of climate change and the fact that humanity seems ready to charge straight off it. How do you live in the face of that?

One time, I went to a spiritual workshop at the Esalen Institute. The man in charge, some sort of teacher, said we must train ourselves to see the good in the bad and the bad in the good. He talked about the rainbow colors you can see in an oil spill--the beautiful in the ugly.

When Isabella, my four-year-old little girl sees a puddle with gasoline in it, she calls it "rainbow water." We'll be crossing the street and step over some dirty puddle cuddling against the curb. I see pollution, but Isabella smiles and says happily, "Look at the rainbow water, Daddy."

In "Figuring out how to live," my post from the other day, I wrote about a mom with an autistic child who tried to figure out how juggle the difficulties of her particular life situation with a desire to live environmentally.

Doesn't it all seem too much sometimes?

That's why people, I think, get so mad at environmentalists. I've lost my job. I can't pay my mortgage. I've worked so hard. And people like you are saying that my way of life is wrecking the planet?! Why don't you just shut up?

It all seems too much sometimes.

I was speaking at a college in Virginia. A young woman told me she lived in a house with no electricity. She ate only local food (much of which she grew herself). She worked in environmental education. "What more should I do?" she asked me earnestly.

I was confused. "It sounds like you're doing so much, maybe too much. Why do you need to do more?"

"Because people still don't listen. How can I get people to listen?"

Then she started crying and I hugged her.

There is a story by Tim O'Brien called "How to Tell a True War Story." You can search it. You can read it here. Here's a little part of it, set in Vietnam during the war:

We crossed that river and marched west into the mountains. On the third day, my friend Curt Lemon stepped on a boobytrapped artillery round. He was playing catch with Rat Kiley, laughing, and then he was dead. The trees were thick; it took nearly an hour to cut an LZ for the dustoff.

Later, higher in the mountains, we came across a baby VC water buffalo. What it was doing there I don't know - no farms, no paddies - but we chased it down and, got a rope around it and led it along to a deserted village where we set up for the night. After supper Rat Kiley went over and stroked its nose.

He opened up a can of C rations, pork and beans, but the baby buffalo wasn't interested.

Rat shrugged.

He stepped back and shot it through the right front knee. The animal did not make a sound. It went down hard, then got up again, and Rat took careful aim and shot off an ear. He shot it in the hindquarters and in the little hump at its back. He shot it twice in the flanks. It wasn't to kill; it was to hurt. He put the rifle muzzle up against the mouth and shot the mouth away. Nobody said much. The whole platoon stood there watching, feeling all kinds of things, but there wasn't a great deal of pity for the baby water buffalo. Curt Lemon was dead. Rat Kiley had lost his best friend in the world. Later in the week Rat would write a long personal letter to the guy's sister, who would not write back, but for now, it was simply a question of pain. He shot off the tail. He shot away -chunks of meat below the ribs. All around us there was the smell of smoke and filth and greenery, and the evening was humid and very hot. Rat went to automatic. He shot randomly, almost casually, quick little spurts in the belly. Then he reloaded, squatted down, and shot it in the left front knee. Again the animal fell hard and tried to get up, but this time it couldn't quite make it. It wobbled and went down sideways. Rat shot it in the nose. He bent forward and whispered something, as if talking to a pet, then he shot it in the throat. All the while the baby water buffalo was silent, or almost silent, just a little bubbling sound where the nose had been. It lay very still. Nothing moved except the eyes, which were enormous, the pupils shiny black and dumb.

Rat Kiley was crying. He tried to say something, but them cradled his rifle and went off by himself.

The rest of us stood in a ragged circle around the baby buffalo. For a long time no one spoke. We had witnessed some- thing essential, something brand-new and profound, a piece of the world so startling there was not yet a word for it.

Somebody kicked the baby buffalo.

It was still alive, though just barely, just in the eyes. "Amazing," Dave Jensen said. "My whole life, I never seen anything like it."

"Never?"

"Not hardly. Not once."

Kiowa and Mitchell Sanders picked up the baby buffalo. They hauled it across the open square, hoisted it up, and dumped it in the village well.

Afterward, we sat waiting for Rat to get himself together.

"Amazing," Dave Jensen kept saying. "A new wrinkle. I never seen it before."

Mitchell Sanders took out his yo-yo. "Well, that's Nam,' he said. "Garden of Evil. Over here, man, every sin's real fresh and original."

I remember first reading this story on the subway. I tried not to cry but failed. I wept and quickly wiped the tears away. It had to do with the senselessness of the slaughter of the buffalo. I kept wondering, Why? Why did this happen?

Am I supposed to see rainbow water in this particular puddle? Would even Isabella be able to see rainbow water in it? What would the teacher at Esalen say? Where is the good in this story? For a war story to be true, Tim O'Brien writes, it cannot be moral. I can see no rainbow.

Over a long time, I realized that the question of Why? is a trick. It's a trick of the mind that keeps me paralyzed and stuck and stops me from responding.

Because the question is not so much Why does it happen? but, knowing that it happened, What should I do, knowing that it happened? Is there some way, in other words, I can help?

A rabbi friend told me that "The truly righteous do not complain about what is wrong. They just add to the goodness."

The sad thing is that sometimes, like in the case of the water buffalo, the only goodness I know how to add may be to cry. That, and, perhaps, to pray.

Figuring out how to live

Figuring out how to live. Isn't that what we're all trying to do? To that point, here is some correspondence from my Facebook page to do with someone trying to figure out how to live in their own special circumstances:

To Colin and friends:

How do I become No Impact with an Autistic son? He eats good but I buy a lot of mixes (lke bread, pancakes, rice flour..etc) all of these come in little plastic bags. He is on a gluten free, casien free, egg free and soy free diet. I make mostly everything from scratch, but being no impact is ...difficult. He is 5 and still no potty trained, so he is still in pull-ups. If there is anyone out there who can give me suggestions (I am trying to potty train, but he is non-verbal so it is a challange). Thank you--Kathy

Hi Kathy--
I don't know anything about your situation but I will tell you a story. There was a woman from Egypt who wrote me and said that she ran an orphanage. She said that she had bought her 100 children presents and then she suddenly realized they were made from plastic. What should I do, she asked?

To me, No Impact has another meaning. It means to be gentle. To be kind. Sometimes, being gentle and kind has some environmental impact, but that is GOOD environmental impact.

There is no way to make no environmental impact at all. So to my way of thinking the question is, What are we making the environmental impact for? If the result outweighs the impact then, it's worth it. So I thought the Egyptian foster mama and her kids should have a ball!

At the same time, probably the Egyptian woman wanted to demonstrate some solidarity with people who are trying to live No Impact. So the trick then, to my mind, is to find some way of doing it that didn't cause the children problems--in some other part of her life.

Like me with Michelle, my wife. I can bang my head against the wall trying to get her to do all the eco things I want. Or I can just put more effort into areas where she does not resist.

Hope that helps. All the best to you and your son!
Colin