The Year of Living TP-lessly

The New York Times published a profile of New Yorkers Colin Beavan, 43, a writer of historical nonfiction, and Michelle Conlin, 39, a senior writer at Business Week, who are four months into a yearlong lifestyle experiment they call No Impact.

Its rules are evolving, as Mr. Beavan will tell you, but to date include eating only food (organically) grown within a 250-mile radius of Manhattan; (mostly) no shopping for anything except said food; producing no trash (except compost, see above); using no paper; and, most intriguingly, using no carbon-fueled transportation.

Perhaps even more interesting than the article is the related forum in which readers confess what they would give up for the sake of the environment.

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