No Impact Man

I just watched No Impact Man, the documentary of the project of Colin Beavey and his family to live in NYC with no environmental impact for a period of one year. I will say right up front that I loved the documentary. There were a few things about the story that really spoke to me, and I will address those in turn. The real impact on me, though was this: the film was inspirational to me. The Beavey family go into this year-long journey as a project for a book, and a bit of a curiosity...but they come out of it more educated people, and a more compassionate family. In the end, Colin is turned toward a strong belief in individual action as the unit of change in the world, and Michelle, Colin's wife, makes an amazing transformation from a skeptical TV and caffeine-addicted, consumer-culture maven to an incredibly open-minded and refreshingly honest woman who becomes so proud of the project she was reluctant to endure in the beginning. Throughout the film, the couple's daughter Isabella is adorable.

So, first, the basics: when they say "no impact" they literally mean "no impact". They strive to live without producing any garbage (which means no take-out containers or packaging of any kind, no disposable diapers or napkins or toilet paper), without using any form of motor transportation, without using harmful cleaning products such as laundry detergent that have an impact on the environment. Recognizing the importance of meat-eating in environmental degradation, they also elect to become vegetarian for the year. They eat only locally grown (within 250 miles) produce and they obtain dairy from a local farm, which they visit during the course of the documentary. Halfway through the experiment they turn off the electricity in their apartment, living in candlelight and experimenting with alternative refrigeration systems.

On the face of it, the documentary is a story about environmentalism - about a family's quest to see how far they can go to leave the world better than (or at least not worse than) they found it. But to me, it was also a story about the power of individual action, about optimism, idealism, and community - the beauty of truly connecting with other people and with the world. There is a point where Colin visits a community garden in order to start growing vegetables, but he finds that all the spots are filled and the waiting-list is years long, so he finds the one person in this garden who grows vegetables (the rest grow flowers) and begins a sort of apprenticeship under this man, an ex-hippie who becomes a character of his own throughout the story. Toward the end of the documentary Colin goes and speaks to children and college students about his project, and the message he gives is one of optimism and hope - it's truly an inspiration.

The message of hope is especially remarkable given the context in which the family is able to hold onto it. About 5 months into the project they start getting a lot of media attention, and Colin goes on a number of radio & TV shows to talk about it. Colin also has kept a blog throughout. At the point where the media attention commences, they start getting an angry backlash. People say that there's no point in this project, he's only doing it for the money (there's a book deal involved) and the publicity, and that it's pointless because although he claims to be exploring what people can do to reduce their impact, he acknowledges that no one is going to go quite this far (abandoning electricity and toilet paper) in an effort to be environmentally-friendly. They are accused of being out-of-touch with reality and bourgeois. They even receive some hateful messages on the blog. This is very difficult on Michelle especially, who is already struggling with having given up caffeine (no coffee is grown locally) and who went along with the project for Colin's benefit in the first place.

Now, I'll interject to point out that this family did what many families (probably most families) do not have an option to do. Colin is a successful writer and Michelle writes for Business Week, and they are clearly doing well, with a beautiful (if tiny) NYC apartment and lots and lots of designer clothes (bought pre-No Impact Man) for Michelle. Before they begin the "no-consuming" piece of the adventure, Michelle goes on a sort of shopping binge and purchases a pair of boots for $975. Obviously, these people are doing okay, financially. Which means that they can afford things like farmer's markets and locally-organically-grown food and the like. They also have the freedom and flexibility in their lives to embark upon a project like this one - something most families do not have. So they get a lot of backlash for this. I will not argue that their project is doable for the masses, but neither do they. Colin says a number of times that this is an exploration. They are using this year to determine, what's good, what's bad? What can they live without after the year is over, what will they continue with? What can the average American do?

By the end, the lights are turned back on and although it seems as though Colin could have lived happily ever after as No Impact Man, Michelle has a few things in mind to return to a semblance of normal life. As I said before, Michelle's transformation within the space of this movie is incredible, but she is a real person and is very honest about what she's no longer willing to do without. In the end she says she wants to stay vegetarian with the exception of a hot dog every now and then, she wants to continue riding the bike to get around, and she wants to keep the TV (to which she was formerly addicted) out of her home, but maintains that she will watch it on vacation. She does, however, draw the line at the "worm box" (the composting bin that has attracted flies to the kitchen).

During this year, the family doesn't just give up things in the service of environmentalism - they gain some more important things that they weren't even expecting. Michelle points out that since they no longer have TV or air-conditioning they are forced outside of their home all of the time to do things. The TV and the air-conditioning were the things that were keeping them inside almost all of the time. Now they are going around NYC and playing in fountains and riding bikes and doing active things together that actually strengthen their bonds with each other and the community. Colin points out that no one told him at the beginning that this project would mean that he would lose weight without ever visiting a gym and that as a result of the change in diet, Michelle's pre-diabetic condition would be reversed, but these are the "extras" that have happened and these things become more important in the long run.

I just have to reiterate that I loved the message of this film. I was already an environmentalist and I was already interested in positive action for change on the part of individuals and groups, and I was already interested in the value of community. So this documentary did not change my outlook - but it reaffirmed my decision to be an idealist in a world where idealism often not valued, and is in fact mocked, mistaken for naiveté. I love having the proof that other people are out there doing what they can to make a difference. It is these little changes, all put together that will change the world. No one has to live like the Beaveys did for that year - I would never choose that for myself. But all of us choosing to care a little more about other people, about the world around us...doing little things every day...these things truly do add up and they do matter.