THE NO IMPACT FAMILY

Can you imagine life with no TV? What about no toilet paper?

In the Beavan family’s New York apartment, there isn’t a TV, a washing machine,
a dishwasher or a fridge and they’re only using one electric light bulb. In the bathroom,
there aren’t any shampoo bottles, rolls of toilet paper or tubes of toothpaste. …………(1)
They make them and use alternatives.

Some people think that they’re crazy, but Colin Beavan explains that it’s just an experiment.
………(2) The Beavan are living like this for a year because they want to reduce their impact on the environment.
At the end of the year they’ll decide what they really need and what they can live without.

They are trying to create less rubbish and use less electricity and fuel. The family doesn’t travel by car or fly.
………(3)They buy second-hand things for the apartment and they buy food at a market,
where they can avoid plastic bags, packets and boxes. They carry the food home in a basket,
not a plastic shopping bag. They don’t buy any food which comes from more than 400 kilometres away.

The Beavans also avoid takeaway food which wastes a lot of containers. ………(4) In the places where Colin has coffee,
they give it to him in his jar instead of a disposable plastic cup. They make their own yoghurt,
so they don’t throw a lot of plastic pots.

Colin says that the experiment is interesting, but it isn’t always easy. He isn’t trying to change other people’s lifestyle,
but he hopes that people who read his blog or book will think about how much they use and waste.