September, 13 2011, 08:03am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Lilly Belanger, (859) 248-0632, lilly@noimpactproject.org
Susan Gleason (206) 931-2613, sgleason@yesmagazine.org
YES! No Impact Week, September 18th-25th: A Week-Long Carbon Cleanse, Inspired by the Work of Sustainability Pioneer Colin "No Impact Man" Beavan
WASHINGTON
The week of September 18-25 will be the third annual No Impact Week, a week long carbon cleanse. Participants from all over the world have registered as individuals and groups, and are ready to face the daily challenges to reduce their impact on the planet and share in a retreat from consumerdom. This year, YES! Magazine and the No Impact Project are partnering up to facilitate the week.
No Impact Week is definitely not about telling people to deprive themselves and have less, but to replace the destructive behaviors that are ruining our environment with behavior that's better for both people and the planet.
"Are we as happy as we could be, living in a system based on the idea that people are best served by ever-increasing spending and material and energy use? Might we not be happier if our system emphasized health, happiness, and security?" asks No Impact Project founder, Colin Beavan.
As Colin Beavan and other sustainability practictioners will readily confirm, living lightly on the planet is not only better for the environment, but it also leads to an increased sense of personal fulfillment, health, happiness, and time with family and friends.
Inspired by Colin Beavan's own experiment in low-carbon living, documented in the popular No Impact Man book, film, and blog, over 30,000 people worldwide have participated in a low-impact living challenge of their very own through the No Impact Week Experiment.
Beginning Sunday, September 18th, participants will work through a series of eight daily challenges, from decreasing trash production and home energy use, to eating locally and sustainably. The week will wrap up with a day of Giving Back on September 24th in which No Impact Week participants will join in on global event called Moving Planet Day, organized by the leading climate action group, 350.org.
Participants will be supported through daily email communications, as well as a lively and committed Facebook community, where people are already sparking discussion with each other about low-impact living, sharing pictures, and finding inspiration. No Impact Week'ers are encouraged to join the conversation on Twitter too, where we will be featuring live Twitter chats with well-known folks involved in the sustainable living movement, including: Bill McKibben, Annie Leonard, Raj Patel, Reverend Billy, Sarah van Gelder, and Colin Beavan.
"It's a fact of human psychology that we deny or at least don't think about problems we believe we can't do anything about. Think old age, death, and climate change. But once you show people they can make a difference, they'll look at the problem in a whole different way." --Colin Beavan.
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About the No Impact Project:
The No Impact Project is an international, environmental, nonprofit project, founded in the spring of 2009. It was inspired by the No Impact Man book, film, and blog.The No Impact Project 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 the No Impact Project.
About Colin Beavan:
Colin Beavan is the executive director of the No Impact Project, the author of the book and the subject of the documentary No Impact Man, a 350.org "Messenger," and a dharma teacher in the Kwan Um School of Zen. His prominence as a spokesperson on environmental and quality of life issues came after his year-long lifestyle experiment in extreme environmental living exploded in the international media. He since founded the No Impact Project, an international non-profit effort that empowers citizens to join the individual and societal quest for ways of life that both regenerate the planet and make people happier. Colin's work has been the subject of stories in the New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde and many other national and international news outlets. Colin has appeared on The Colbert Report, Good Morning America, Nightline and all the major NPR shows. He was named one of MSN's Ten Most Influential Men, one of Elle Magazine's Eco-Illuminators, and his blog NoImpactMan.com was named one of the world's top 15 environmental websites by Time Magazine. He is a visiting scholar at NYU, sits on the board of directors of New York City's Transportation Alternatives, and is on the advisory councils of Just Food and 350.org. The author of two books previous to No Impact Man, he earned his PhD at the University of Liverpool. He speaks and consults around the world to businesses, universities, non-profits and community groups. He has been a member of the Kwan Um School of Zen for 15 years. Related video: television interview with Democracy Now! host, Amy Goodman.
About YES! Magazine:
YES! is an award-winning, independent, nonprofit, print and online publication with a national readership. YES! fuses powerful ideas and practical actions, showing how people are building community-based economics, developing renewable energy, growing food sustainably, moving to nonviolence, and much more. YES! Magazine was recently named Best Business and Politics Website by Treehugger.com, and was nominated for two of Utne Reader's Independent Press Awards in 2011, including General Excellence. Published in Bainbridge Island, Washington, YES! celebrated its 15th Anniversary with a June 1st event featuring Van Jones and Bill McKibben. Later this year, a special anniversary edition of YES! will spotlight 15 Breakthrough Heroes.
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