Customer Reviews

No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet, and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process

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3 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

As an incoming freshman at UNC Wilmington I was required to read No Impact Man over the summer. This book has changed the way that I view the environment and the carbon footprint that I leave on the planet. Colin Beavan is a brave individual for "going green" for a full year. This book follows him and his family as they abandon all of what are considered necessities to me. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an inspirational story that will hit close to home. Reading this book has encouraged me to think before I use up valuable resources that cannot be replenished. If more people read this book I think the planet would be better off.

No Impact Man starts out with the author, Colin Beavan, talking about how he and his wife, Michelle differ on certain things, such as her love of fur and his dislike of reality television. They make a deal that Michelle can watch reality television; as long as she didn't buy anything made of or trimmed with fur. He then talks briefly about global warming and the January day that inspired his decision to become "No Impact Man". After meeting with his book editor, he decides to embark on a life of no impact - no disposable products, no travel that caused carbon emissions, lowering the environmental impact of their food choices, consumer purchases, household operations, and water use/pollution.

He admits that this project has forced him to change himself and the way he looks at things. He is honest and admits that he isn't perfect. He knows that he can't solve the world's problems on his own, but he is going to give it the best possible shot he can. No Impact Man is his chronicle of that shot. It provides us with a snapshot of his life prior to the changes, during the changes, and after the changes. In chapter three, Mr. Beavan talks about his trash. He and his wife collected their trash over the course of three days to see how much they actually generated. The result was an appalling ninety gallons. That is a lot of trash for a family of three - imagine what larger families must generate (even in one day). Another startling statistic, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, is that food packaging makes up 20 percent of waste nationwide; that includes take out packages and grabbing frozen meals from the grocery store, which tends to be easiest in these busy times (Beavan, 39).

Chapter four covers his adventures in purchasing food for his family without using any disposable containers. It is both an exercise in frugality and ingenuity for Mr. Beavan and his family. He tries a variety of different modes of transportation for the food, before settling on organic muslin bags for transporting the bulk goods he purchases home. He also talks about the restraint he and his wife have to show - they can no longer cave to their every craving because it's not sustainable. For example, they must learn to go without their daily coffee fix if they forget the reusable cups at home. This chapter is also peppered with statistics about the amount of garbage in the ocean - statistics that are sickening, yet, given the disposability of our society are not that shocking. Although this has been an interesting read thus far, it is saddening to think about what we are doing to our planet. I think anyone reading this book would begin to question their habits; I know that I certainly have been (as I think about the plastic disposable cup I used from Starbucks a couple of weeks ago).

Chapter five covers travel and reducing your carbon footprint via using non-emission producing modes of transportation (biking, walking). Faced with quite a bit of travel over the course of the no impact project, Mr. Beavan decides he must cancel several trips home. In doing so, he gets a lesson in slowing down and enjoying life for what it is and learning to live in the moment. I think this is a lesson that we could all stand to learn from. He's not saying that people should quit traveling, but that they should simply take a step back and rethink how they are trying to get where they are going. Longer, less frequent trips are a viable option that could make all involved much happier than a bunch of short trips. And, the planet will thank you for forcing fewer emissions into the environment.

As we go through the remainder of the book, we learn about becoming sustainable consumers by not purchasing anything new. We also get a glimpse into life without electricity and living off the grid. I'm not so sure I could live off the grid, but I am definitely willing to make some changes toward living a greener, more sustainable life.

The final chapter talks about water use: over the next 15 years, one of two things will happen - we will either run out of water entirely or the water will be so polluted that we won't be able to drink it. Mr. Beavan also talks about giving back - to our community and to our world. He does this through volunteer work at a variety of non-profit organizations. Helping our community is one simple way that everyone can give back a little something to the world. Although the changes we need to make are bigger than that, it's a small step toward creating a better world for future generations.

No Impact Man also provides an appendix outlining how the average person can help make the world a little better. This section is broken down by chapter and provides a list of resources, books, and websites that people can visit to help them enact each phase of No Impact year on their own lives.

This book has really made me think about how I'm living my life environmentally. It makes me kind of glad I don't have a car and that I can find other ways to get around. That is not to say I don't do more than my fair share of riding in cars and I travel a lot, which means planes and trains, but there is something about having to walk everywhere that makes you slow down and really take in the world.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. I learned a lot about the environment that I didn't know. It has definitely spurred me find ways to waste less and use fewer resources. I would recommend it to anyone who has any interest in environmentalism and doing well for the world, both locally and globally. I really felt connected to Mr. Beavan and his family. He added a lot of personal touches and stories which make his story relatable to anyone who reads it.

I think this is one of the most inspiring accounts of "going green" I've ever read.

It's not so much that Beavan finds the Perfect Solution to global environmental issues, or actually changes the world with his actions. What he does is better: he *tries*, and he lets us know how hard it is for an urban wannabe environmentalist to pull it off. He doesn't just switch to 'eco' coffee or buy grass-fed beef (the kind of things that most people I know do - and they all really do care). He stops using all food that comes with paper or isn't grown locally. He stops using cars and even public transportation. His goal isn't to be "Lower Impact Man" but instead be "NO Impact Man". He gets very close.

One can argue (and I see that some reviews do) that his efforts are feeble. I disagree. Yes, living in a New York City apartment may not be the ideal platform to bring on an urban eco-paradise. But Beavan's project is even better: he starts WHERE HE IS. So many manifestos simply critique the current situation and describe an lovely impossible Utopia - educational but not *helpful*. Those works might articulate a *societal* road map but they are not very helpful as a *personal* road map.

I really appreciate that Beavan doesn't come across as The Expert. Certainly he's learned a LOT, but he clues us in with his self-doubt, his circular mind-chatter - all the kind of stuff that trips us up when we try to change things. To watch another person have the same experiences and challenges we all do - and still muddle through - is hugely liberating.

When I first saw the "No Impact Man" blog some months ago, I couldn't help but dismiss it as yet another environmentalist scare tactic that was going to point out what I was doing wrong, and would attempt to change my habits through furthering my guilt. Although I consider myself an environmentalist, it sometimes becomes daunting to try to make sure that I am doing everything to minimize my impact. Even the premise of a no impact man seems absurd at best.

Fortunately author Colin Beavan takes a revealing and uncomfortable introspective venture into what exactly it takes to be a no impact person (that is a person who takes steps to maintain a neutral impact on the earth's resources). Admittedly, I remained skeptical during my journey through the book (and I still don't think it's possible to achieve no impact), but Beavan managed to pull of an insightful narrative without merely projecting his own guilt onto the reader.

No Impact Man (or No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet, and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process as the book is officially titled) takes the reader through a year in the life of Colin Beavan as he experiments reducing his net environmental impact to zero. Instead of just focusing on the ecological merits and pitfalls of the project, Beavan throws the reader into the emotional and mental struggles associated with such a project. No Impact Man presents a refreshingly honest perspective on exactly what it takes to truly reduce our ecological footprint (and it turns out it takes a lot more than simply buying organic food).

No Impact Man carefully balances relevant environmental advice with a narrative that pulls the reader into the life of Colin Beavan and his family as the struggle through their efforts. Beavan rarely holds anything back as he documents his progress allowing the reader into the most personal aspects of his life. At times the reader will probably find that Beavan's life is amusingly different from their own and while we certainly want to know that our peers share the same struggle to be more "green" it goes to show that we all have bad habits to eliminate if we are going to make the necessary changes to our lifestyles.

Beavan writes in an extremely approachable level while avoiding placing guilt on the reader. In many ways No Impact Man is inspirational as it allows the reader to understand that they are not the first person to hit stumbling points in their own path to sustainability. Most importantly No Impact Man creates a discussion around many sustainability issues and show where the major hangs-up exist in getting people to accept sustainability as a worthwhile effort.

This is a fascinating book documenting one family's attempt to make no negative impact on the earth, and what that all entails -- and also brings up the question of what our values are and what they mean. Well worth reading.

At first my thoughts were there was no way a person could do that in NYC. If they lived in the rural area, sure they could but in NYC. Colin and his family actually show us how much they can greatly reduce their impact even when living in a one bedroom apartment in NYC. I quite enjoyed the way this book was written where we get facts, but we also get the humanity too. It is the realness of life that kept me drawn to this book. There were mistakes, he admitted them, and then found ways around them. I would definitely recommend this book.

I found the book to be an easy read, but also a vital read for people of our generation. I would highly recommend the book (or documentary) to anyone. Colin Beavan points out the great impact that all of us have on the environment, even those of us that are conscious of the effects of Global Warming. The book is inspiring and outlines simple everyday things that everyone can do in order to reduce their global footprint. For those who want to have a positive impact on the planet, the book is a type of "how-to" guide. For those who are simply uneducated about the effects of our everyday actions, the book is educating and hopefully eye-opening and inspiring.

Colin Beavan opened my eyes to all sorts of aspects of daily living that I'd never closely examined before. His chronicle of his year of reducing his carbon footprint is easy to read and relate to as he talks from his personal experiences and discoveries. He tackles problems, solves them, does his research, and shares it all with the reader along the way. I have loaned my copy to a couple of friends, and they loved the book also. His extensive reference index at the end of the book is invaluable for anyone who wants to read more about this. I recommend also reading EAARTH by Bill McGibbons, and Collapse by Jared Diamond.

This books pushes a sensible message about the need to live our lives with smaller ecological footprints. It is hard to fault the message...but there are many other books that offer the same message in more penetrating and profound ways. This book ultimately ends up being more about the author and less about what is good for the planet. That would be fine for me if I found the author more compelling. He comes off as privileged and self-obsessed. Unfortunately, a few chapters into the book I found myself rooting for his wife (initially painted as the fur-wearing villain) who took the changes to their lifestyle to heart and traveled a greater distance mindset-wise than the author. This book makes for fine airplane reading, though--easy, not particularly profound and not particularly memorable.

With a title this long, who needs a review?!

I'll just add that I loved how this man tried to be a better person. That's all I'll say.