Have you heard of the No Impact Project? The idea is to join No Impact Man (yes, that’s what he wants to be called) for a week. In this week, you will learn to use less, buy less, and hopefully start walking, riding or public transporting to your work.  The No Impact website has a How to Guide to help you walk through a week.

We do most of his suggestions in our house. It’s been a gradual march over the last eight or nine years. Sometimes we are more invested in things like “one light on at night” and other times we forget. Most summers, we eat almost exclusively from our garden. And sometimes we drive for miles just to have a fantastic Mediterranean meal.

Overall, it’s a fairly easy lifestyle to maintain. Our neighbors think our beehives, large vegetable gardens and low water front yard is ‘strange’ but we don’t pay their water bill either. The Joneses yard is perfect and our is not. I can live with that.

How does low impact relate to kindness? Letting go of the cultural press for “MORE” is one of the greatest kindnesses you can give yourself. Get off the treadmill of purchase to garbage. Give yourself the gift of whole, real food prepared simply.

If only for a week, go no impact. You’ll feel better for it and the world will rejoice in your kindness.