No Impact Man‘s blog fascinated me when I read about it, and the fascination continued through reading the overview articles and a few of the daily posts. I mentioned I wasn’t trying to be critical as I made some comments on specific aspects of measuring impact. Now that I’ve been reading for several posts, I’ve gotten over my reluctance to be critical.
I can’t criticize his lack of no-impact toilet habits, because as he’s said several times, “I don’t, as my regular readers know, discuss my toilet habits. A boy has got to keep some secrets.” Sounds demure at first, but now I think it’s merely disingenuous. So I’ll criticize the scant information he’s shared with the community instead.
I think he won’t discuss toilet habits because it’s got the potential to shine a ruinously bright light on the hypocrisy of the undertaking. His suggestion for an alternative to toilet paper? Oh, you just have to spend a wad of cash on a brand new bidet, so you replace some of your toilet paper usage with yet more water down the drain. I spent much of my childhood living in Europe as my dad was in the U.S. Army, so I’ve seen my share of bidets, and I have nothing against them. However, as creative suggestions to reduce or eliminate environmental impact go, that one is weak. Andrea agrees, and pointed out there is better material, complete with useful, specific suggestions and discussion, on lower-impact living on mothering.com.