No Impact Man

No Impact Man is a documentary that follows a journalist, his wife, and their daughter on their quest to live without any environmental impact for one year. The couple's lifestyle underwent a transformation into sustainability - it wasn't over night, but rather a process.

According to the project's website: "For one year, Colin Beavan and his family unplugged from the electric grid, produced no trash, traveled exclusively foot or bike, and bought nothing except food (all of it locally grown). By the end they discovered something surprisingly: living simply wasn't just good for the environment; it made them healthier, happier, and richer in ways they'd never expected."

Since they lived in New York relying on walking and bicycling wasn't too extreme. They did use public transportation on a few occasions. The family only ate seasonal foods that were grown within 250 mile radius of their home. That meant they were primarily relying on vegetables from upstate New York (lots and lots of roots in the winter!).

Many of the lifestyles changes the family underwent were things I already do. Though I was inspired by many of their habits. For example, I already bring my own bags with me to the market, but now I'm going to star bringing empty containers to fill with bulk items.

One of my most unsustainable habits is consumerism, so I admire the family's buy nothing approach. Since quitting my retail job at Urban Outfitters I have drastically reduced my consumption. Though I have set a goal for myself to stop buying "I want" items all together and only buy "I need" items or second-hand items. I will discuss this more in a future post.

In addition to being environmentally sustainable, there were socially sustainable benefits of the Beavan's project. By eliminating use of electric - thus, selling the television - the family started interacting more and their relationship improved. They began entertaining guest with conversations and games rather than mindlessly starring a box.

At one point in the film the wife became very upset that she was not allowed to have coffee and ended up storming out of the house to go buy a quad espresso from Starbucks. I understand the importance of buying local, but rather than deprive oneself of coffee I think an alternative would be to buy sustainably-traded coffee from a locally-owned establishment (be aware of the fair trade trap!) - not Starbucks!

What I found most interesting was how others reacted to the couple's lifestyle. The wife discussed how many people were hesitant to interact with them, fearing they must be dirty. Others encouraged her to divorce him for forcing her to participate in his crazy experiment.

The family lived without toilet paper. Admittedly, I enjoy the luxury of toilet paper, though I find it futile and pretentious to use fluffy, quilted paper made from virgin forest wood (read: Kimberly-Clark). I always by the septic-safe stuff made from recycled paper. Yeah, it's not the softest, but so what? Think about what you use it for. The amount of toilet paper you use is another thing: I live alone and I typically go through a roll about once every two weeks. Use what you need. I used to have a friend who'd wrap her entire hand in eight layers of t.p. before wiping, which is just wasteful. Soap and water after you're finished works just fine.

I grew up with a cistern so I was taught to be very conservative with water. Growing up my family had the mantra, if it's yellow let it mellow. Certainly you may want to adjust your habits when you're having guest, but constantly flushing a lil pee is silly. Just use your best judgment hear.

Overall, the documentary was very entertaining. Check out more about the No Impact Project




Once I am completely moved into the cabin I am going to join the No Impact Project and track my results in this blog.