Feature photo: Diego 3336; Photo above: gauravonomics
Is Colin Beavan admirable or just plain kooky?
I’m going to assume–and maybe I’m wrong, but I hope not–that if you’re a regular Matador reader you’re interested in living a conscientious life, making a minimal negative impact on the environment and a maximum positive impact in your community.
But would you go as far as Colin Beavan, a.k.a. “No Impact Man”?
Beavan, who lives in New York City, describes himself as
“A Guilty Liberal [Who] Finally Snaps, Swears Off Plastic, Goes Organic, Becomes A Bicycle Nazi, Turns Off His Power, Composts His Poop and, While Living In New York City, Generally Turns Into a Tree-Hugging Lunatic Who Tries to Save the Polar Bears and The Rest of the Planet from Environmental Catastrophe While Dragging His Baby Daughter and Prada-Wearing, Four Seasons-Loving Wife Along for the Ride.”
In November 2006, Beavan decided to undertake a radical personal project: he’d spend the next year reducing his environmental impact as much as possible. He’d swear off shrink wrap and subways. He’d take stairs instead of elevators or escalators. He’d try to trim his waste to zero. He’d buy local, eat organic, and, yes, compost his poop.
A project of this magnitude is game-changing for sure, and there’s no way his wife and young daughter would be able to go along for the ride without being deeply affected.
That’s what made directors Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein interested in turning Beavan’s experiment into a documentary film, which will be released in New York and Los Angeles on September 11, followed by other cities around the U.S.
I caught the preview for “No Impact Man” this weekend and can confirm that the Prada-wearing, Four Seasons loving wife was stretched to her limits by Beavan’s experiment to live more conscientiously. But the question left dangling in the air is whether Beavan’s experiment ultimately achieves its goal and brings his family closer in the process:
What do you think? Does Beavan seem to have gone to extremes with his low-impact living experiment, or is he right on? Share your thoughts below!
Community Connection:
Wonder how your consumption affects the environment? Read “Is Water the New Oil? Global Water Consumption Doubling Every 20 Years.“
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9 Comments... join the discussion!
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This is a great experiment. I enjoyed seeing some of the unintended side effects: spending more time together, being more healthy, being better parents, etc. Hopefully it will inspire people to cut down on at least a few of their bad habits…
But wait, he has a blog? So he uses a computer? Last I checked, those use electricity.
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I am really tempted to be cynical and critical about this, but really, fundamentally, I think it’s super-inspiring. As long as he doesn’t turn out to be one of those types who thinks anyone who hops a flight or eats corn flakes is a murderous evil freak, I think this is great.
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I’m really looking forward to seeing the documentary. It seems that the biggest challenge for him wasn’t necessarily making the lifestyle changes himself, but helping his wife, in particular, get on board and become accustomed to seeing his new decisions as a viable way of life, rather than as one sign after another of deprivation. The clips at the end of the trailer are really moving and hey, I don’t need much convincing that the closer you get to knowing where things come from and how your own behavior affects other people, the better off you’ll live.
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bravo Colin and extra super bravo for the reluctant wife.
we need a 180 degree turn from our collision course with disaster so fast the shift alone threatens our existence with whiplash…but that is what we need.
i will watch this movie!
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Wow, I’m very inspired! Can’t wait til it comes out in New Zealand. Obviously it is a huge challenge to have zero impact – using no electricity would be near impossible for me (I’d hate to miss out on reading Matador articles), but definitely if everyone could make a small change such as buying locally, reducing the amount of packaging in their shopping, biking or walking for short distances and ride sharing for longer distances it should have a positive impact on our planet’s health. Go Beavan family!
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I went to the NYC opening of “No Impact Man” on Sept. 2, which Colin and Michelle Beavan also attended. They spoke on a panel with the filmmakers after the screening, and I’m happy to report that husband and wife are still together. She was looking quite fashionable at Lincoln Center that night, so a year of consuming less has done her no harm.
I’ve read a bunch of film reviews about “No Impact Man,” and the cynical New York critics have been mixed, calling Colin Beavan a rich man’s Thoreau who did a lot of his writing in a studio near Union Square after sending his daughter to a day care center that suffered no shortage of electricity. Still, his example is both inspiring and humorous, and shows all of us city dwellers how we can survive on a lot less than we think we can.
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Hi, Joyce-
Thanks for giving us a report directly from the opening!
I recently wrote an update piece about this, engaging some of the articles youv’e read (sounds like we’ve read the same ones!). I arrived at the same conclusion you did.
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