SHN challenges residents to No Impact Week

Cleveland Heights and University Heights have an opportunity to work towards a more sustainable and greener future. In October, the Sustainable Heights Network will host No Impact Week, a carbon cleanse challenge. Participants will receive a daily e-mail, giving them instructions on the week's challenges, which will feature eight core components of sustainable living. Local organizations will hold special events in conjunction with the day's theme. Participants are invited to blog on the Heights Observer's blog site, blogs.heightsobserver.org.

The first annual CH-UH No Impact Week will take place Oct. 16-23. Each day will cover a different area of urban sustainability, such as consumption, trash, transportation, food, energy, water, and giving back to the community. The Sustainable Heights Network invites residents to register for the event online and plan how they can participate in the upcoming challenges of No Impact Week. The goal is for the community to see how effective and valuable a reduction in our carbon footprint can be to our cities.

The project and challenge is the brain child of Colin Beaven, a writer living in New York who decided that his family would live one full year of zero-waste living. The results of that experiment led to his writing of the book No Impact Man, which demonstrates the cost of modern conveniences and questions what people really need in their daily lives.

The film, "No Impact Man," will be shown at 7 p.m. on Oct. 13, at the University Heights Library, 13866 Cedar Road.

The Sustainable Heights Network hopes to register 1,000 people in the Heights to participate in the week. Local educators and businesses are strongly encouraged to register their classes. Joe Mendes, a fourth grade teacher at Gearity Elementary School, is leading by example and is planning to register his students to participate in the project.

The Sustainable Heights Network seeks community-wide involvement and awareness in promoting sustainable cities. The event is co-sponsored by FutureHeights, Heights Libraries, the Lustry Wrench, Jeff Coryell for Council and Good Cents.

To register to participate in the event, go to www.sustainableheightsnetwork.blogspot.com.  For more information about the project, visit www.yesmagazine.org/planet/join-yes-for-no-impact-week-september-2011