Low Impact Man How do they.........???

[sheepdog 10]

Saw a spot on some news type Tv program the other day about a family that is trying to live a low or no impact on the earth and it's resources. It was a man and his wife, and a little daughter about 2 years old. They have the electricity shut off, though I did notice they still have running water. (it showed them stomping clothes in the bath tub) They won't even ride the elevator in their buildings. They only eat things they can buy in reusable containers, or buy anything that is brought in from more than 250 or so miles from where they live, so they don't even drink coffee. While they were not actually vegatarian, since meat comes in styrofom containers with plastic wrap, meat was mostly out too. Obviously with no electricity, they don't have a computer. It also stated they did not get any magazines or newspapers. But the big question here.....it also stated they did not use TOILET PAPER!!! Now just how in the heck do you get by without toilet paper?????? I mean, it's not like they are living in the wilderness, and can just go grap a handful of leaves. They are in an apartment for crying out loud. Could someone please explain to me how that one works?

[Plenoptic 0]

Well I'm glad to hear they are trying to make a difference in the world. They are saving at least 10 tons of CO2 from going out into the atmosphere each year. As for the toilet paper ordeal, I'm sure they have cloth or something. If they have water they'll was it in there. Either way they can wash their hands well too. I'm not really gonna think about that ordeal. I wonder if they ever going on vacation or anything like that or do they ride a bicycle or something and go to a hotel in a different part of the city or something. Interesting to think about what life must be like.

[TikiPrincess 0]

That seems pretty interesting. I know that they have eco-friendly housing how that's made from recycled materials, like the walls are made from used rubber tires and things like that, and the walls are painted in a way to conserve heat when it's cold and reflect heat when it's hot. It seems to me, though, that they could use electricity if they wanted to by using solar panels or wind energy. My father-in-law works for Edison, our local electric company, and he says that some people with solar panels installed generate more than enough electricity so that they can sell the energy back to Edison. Depending on where they live, they might be able to find a local farm that could supply them with poultry and dairy products without all the packaging. They could also talk to the butcher in the supermarket and ask him/her to wrap their cuts in paper rather than plastic and styrofoam. It seems like they're going too far in the extreme rather than using the resources available.

As for the toilet thing... All I can think of is that when I stayed in Europe, it was customary to use a bidet rather than the toilet paper. And several other countries don't use it either. We just grow accustomed to our conveniences, but you'd be surprised how easy it is to live without them when you choose not to. I mean, look at M. Night Shyamalan's The Village.

[sheepdog 10]

Personally, I am a BIG fan of solar power. I wish it was promoted more. I think the big problem with promoting it is that once the system is installed, no giant corperation is going to make a killing off of it. Nobody can own the sun. But currently the panels are expensive to buy and nobody is pushing for more companies to make them. Unlike so many other things that start out so terribly expensive when they first come out, computers and all the paraphanelia that goes with them are a prime example, and then drop off in price as the various companies all fight for the consumer's $. For some reason this has never happened to much of an extent with solar equipment. I would suspect that there are probably some stupid laws that forbid the use of paper to wrap meat, at least without an outer layer of plastic. There are also a lot of laws concerning the sales of milk and eggs directly off the farm that make it pretty much impossible for the farmer and consumer to sell/purchase products that are probalby healthier and fresher. We are drowing in a sea of regulations that make life extremely difficult to do anything. The consumer going direct to the farmer would cut out all those middleman that make their living off the backs of everybody above and below them, and they will not stand for that. The causes for these crazy regulations may of at one time had some reasons for being created, but when was the last time you heard of anybody getting disease from raw milk? Sue, it can happen, but it isn't likely, you stand a better chance of being lightening struck. Ok, for the benefit of this poor dumb country girl who seldom gets off the farm, what's a bidet?

[TikiPrincess 0]

Heh, when I first went to Europe and walked into the bathroom at the hotel, I thought there were two toilets. One was a normal one, but the other had a faucet with hot and cold knobs and almost looked like a sink with a really long basin, except it was as low as the toilet. My cousin explained that it's a bidet and the water shoots out so you can clean up after using the toilet. The hotel also had a bar of soap on the ledge in case you wanted to feel extra clean. :DAnyways, it's interesting about the whole regulation thing because I live in California which is probably the most regulated state in the US. The local farmer's markets have everything from fresh fruits and vegetables to fresh eggs and organic poultry and even fresh fish. There's a farmer's market everyday in one of the many communities around, and they always have the freshest and ripest produce. The only thing missing is the beef and pork. There's a restaurant about 20 miles away that raises their own cattle on a farm nearby and I think they slaughter the cow either at the farm or the restaurant so they can say they literally have the freshest meat and the choicest cuts. I'm not a big fan of pork unless I'm eating something bacon-wrapped. As for the milk, well, I drink soy milk anyways because I'm starting to become lactose intolerant, but I don't think I could get it from anywhere but the market.

[sheepdog 10]

OMG....You poor dear! If I became lactose intolerant, (again) you just as well shoot me. I had some milk allergies as a young child and had to drink soy milk, that has got to be the most foul, vile disgusting stuff on the face of the planet. I guess I am soy intolerant. To this day anything with soy in it gags me. If I eat cheap hotdogs that are soy based I belch for hours aftward. I was glad to hear they found a way to make ink out of soybeans, that's a great way to use them, hopefully they would work for bio diesel too, so they can save the corn to make good food, like tortillias! The farm would have to have a USDA inspected slaughter house to kill and process the meat for the restuarant. No other way it can be done, and that is fedral law, not just state. I'll bet you don't see much in the way of dairy products at the local farmers markets either. I know they passed a law prohibiting the sale of eggs here, but it's one of those on the books, but never inforced things. I still see them at swap meets all the time. Thanks for the explaination on the bidet thing. As you may guess, I don't get out much. Have been to Mexico, that's all, we go down there once a year, or were anyway, till they came up with this passport garbage.