Coming to a Theatre Near You
Recently I came across the story of Colin Beavan, a blogger also known as No Impact Man. For one year, Colin and his family committed themselves to living a “no impact” lifestyle, taking incredible steps to reduce their environmental footprint. In Colin’s own words:
No Impact Man is my experiment with researching, developing and adopting a way of life for me and my little family—one wife, one toddler, one dog—to live in the heart of New York City while causing no net environmental impact. To do this, we will decrease the things we do that hurt the earth—make trash, cause carbon dioxide emissions, for example—and increase the things we do that help the earth—clean up the banks of the Hudson River, give money to charity, rescue sea birds, say.
In mathematical terms, in case you are an engineer or just a geek who likes math, we are trying to achieve an equilibrium that looks something like this:
Negative Impact + Positive Impact = Zero.
No net impact. Get it?
Many of us, myself included, have tried to find ways to live greener lives, like using cloth bags at the supermarket, supporting local farmers, and recycling and composting at home. But what’s fascinating about Colin’s story is the extent to which he and his family really practiced what they preached. In fact, his entire blog is filled with useful information, tips and tricks, and stories from the year. For example, you can see just how much waste they kept out of the landfills through their efforts.
Lucky for us, Colin’s terrific blog has been turned into a book and a movie. The film is making the rounds in select cities throughout the U.S. – and I’m thrilled to say it’s coming to Boston on October 2nd. I can’t wait to see it – and I’ll be sure to provide a full update on The Changebase.
In the meantime, check out the trailer – it’s incredible to see just how far they went to live a “no impact” lifestyle.
Enjoy!
Feeling inspired to try living your own “no impact” life? Check out The No Impact Project, a new nonprofit aimed at helping everyday people make small changes that add up to big impact.
Hi Ashley,
Thanks for a great post about No Impact Man. Very interesting and I will plan on seeing it.
I am in the middle of a “disagreement” with my produce manager at my local supermarket. He is posting “Locally Grown” on a host of produce, including fruit from Chile. I have kept a vigilant watch to try and curtail this.
He is now saying that if it’s grown in the United States, it’s “locally grown”. I was wondering if you can share with me and your readers the true definition of the term, Locally Grown. I’d like to print it and bring it to the market on my next visit. Maybe I’m wrong? I thought we were talking within driving distance, like food we purchase from farmers who can drive to our weekend markets?
thanks
[...] markets–was a good idea (to see the trailer for Colin’s fabulous documentary, check out my blog post). He manages to make eating locally look realistically challenging, yet intriguing at the same [...]