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No Impact Man

3.74 of 5 stars 3.74 · rating details · 1,924 ratings · 443 reviews

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

A guilty liberal finally snaps, swears off plastic, goes organic, becomes a bicycle nut, turns off his power, and generally becomes a tree-hugging lunatic who tries to save the polar bears and the rest of the planet from environme...more

Hardcover, 288 pages

Published September 1st 2009 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux

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Nov 16, 2009 Trena rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Environmentalists In Need of an Energy Boost

Recommended to Trena by: DCPL New Books Shelf

I expected to kind of hate Colin Beavan, but actually the book really sucked me in. He recognizes that one of his main challenges as a person is a tendency toward self-righteousness, and this consciousness helps him temper the tendency when it crops up. He comes across as earnest and likeable, just doing the best he can and making it up as he goes along like the rest of us.

It was an interesting experiment and he and his family fully committed to it. It's also interesting that it's basically an e...more I expected to kind of hate Colin Beavan, but actually the book really sucked me in. He recognizes that one of his main challenges as a person is a tendency toward self-righteousness, and this consciousness helps him temper the tendency when it crops up. He comes across as earnest and likeable, just doing the best he can and making it up as he goes along like the rest of us.

It was an interesting experiment and he and his family fully committed to it. It's also interesting that it's basically an experiment that will work either in the country or in NYC, but pretty much not anywhere else. When he turned off the fridge he just popped by the farmer's market 3 times per week. Everywhere was walkable. DC comes close, but I don't have a daily farmer's market for sure.

It was a little frustrating that he seemed to put little thought into it before starting--like, it didn't occur to him until the project had already begun that they'd need an alternative to disposable diapers? Really? He spent an entire day looking for the perfect reuseable grocery bag and, not finding it, just got takeout instead? Really? These anecdotes might be meant to humanize, but they actually sound totally contrived.

Also, I am always wary of white people who think they are Eastern philosophizers. Much of his philosophizing ran to "we spend so much time working for conveniences, the conveniences don't even make us happy and kill the earth, therefore we should give up the conveniences and work less." While the major and minor premise are probably true, his lack of a real job gives him a blind spot when it comes to the syllogistic conclusion. For most of us it's a choice of having a full-time job or having no job. I can't work less at my job, even at a proportional pay cut, because it would reach the point of diminishing returns for my organization and the small contribution I could make during reduced hours would not be worth it. If I want a truly part-time job, I would have to leave my profession and go into retail. But the pay cut would be so large I would have to work twice as many hours as I do now. So, shutting off my electricity and giving up my TV (the latter of which I have already done) and my car (ditto) doesn't actually do anything to free me from the shackles of work.

Criticisms aside, I really devoured this book and I appreciated the lengths he went to for the experiment. We are all in need of a radical lifestyle makeover (by "we" I mean westerners) and he modeled it as a sort of preview so the rest of us could try on what will work for us.

I always meant to check out this guy's blog, but never remembered to do so. I was glad to see it come out in book form, because it's a lot more readable than going through someone's blog archives.

Final note: Seriously, dude, just tell us what you did instead of toilet paper.(less)

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Jun 18, 2009 Erica rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: environmental-studies

Simply awful, pretentious and obnoxious. Colin Beavan is milking the environmental movement, trying to make a quick buck off the green buzz. If the author is any indication of the caliber of person currently trying to change the world, please, thanks, but no thanks.

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Jul 12, 2011 Andrea rated it 5 of 5 stars

A must read book because it puts into perspective what it takes to leave no trace behind or have little impact on the environment. No Impact Man is about a guy who lives in New York and one day decides that he, his wife and one year old daughter are going "go off the grid" for one year. Basically it's an experiment to see if they could live a no impact life style. They start off with some basic things like giving up cars, public transportation, elevators and either walk or bike to work and place...more

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Jun 08, 2011 Margaret rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography-memoir, read-summer-2011, read-for-university-classes

No Impact Man by Colin Beavan was a required summer reading text for my university honors program. While this is a good introduction to examining the consumerism and materialism that currently pervades American consumption culture, the science and claims made in this book are shaky.

That being said, the data for anthropogenic climate change and the unsustainable practices of the modern industrialized society as conducted by the United States are facts. There is plenty of scientifically collected...more

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Feb 15, 2011 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars

So really two things are happening here - the Project and the Book. I give the Project an A. Learning to live without so many of our modern conveniences - most of which depend on waste or environmental devastation of some sort - is fascinating. Can we live comfortable lives without harming the earth and contributing to climate change? Beavan's experience reveals that comfort and happiness are possible - even abundant - in a life free of waste, except that things start to suck when you give up el...more

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Dec 30, 2010 David rated it 5 of 5 stars

highly engaging report of a year author, his wife, and his daughter lived in NYC trying to have absolutely minimal environmental impact -- eating only locally grown foods, creating no trash, not using electricity, no TV, not traveling by plane or car or train, not buying anything new, not taking the elevator, etc. etc. etc.

Interesting from the points of view of..

(a) problem solving -- e.g., some trial and error on how to keep his daughter's milk cold without using refrigerator

(b) interpersonal r...more

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Nov 09, 2010 Alex Templeton rated it 4 of 5 stars

Beavan was another author whom I heard speak at the Brooklyn Book Festival this past September (a good place for catching new authors)! I found the premise of his book--he and his family live an entire year in New York City trying to make as tiny a carbon footprint as possible--intriguing. It certainly has made me think and want to change my own actions. His work definitely made me think about the fact that so much of what I use in each day is meant to be used for six seconds and then thrown awa...more

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Oct 03, 2010 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, environment

Thanks to this book, I have a new favorite phrase: automotive-related polar bear drowning. What better way to describe global warming, really?

This is a funny, honest and thought provoking story of one man who decides to see if he, along with this "Prada-wearing" wife and one year old daughter, can live a zero-impact life in New York City for a year. The family goes from eating take out every night and having the best luxuries to living without trash, taxis, subways, elevators, TV, chemical prod...more

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Sep 21, 2010 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: non-fiction-or-mostly-non-fiction

I had to read this book for work as I am a college instructor. So, I expected that I would have to slog through it as I normally do with the "freshman common book." I was pleasantly surprised to find Beavan to be relatable, talented, and far from pedantic. Beavan's narration is witty and funny, and, best of all, he acknowledges the extreme nature of his experiment. He's not advocating that we all adopt his temporary lifestyle. He's advocating that we all think about our choices and their effects...more

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Aug 22, 2010 Tracy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, memoir

The title of this book, 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 , pretty much sums up the book. Colin Beavan, who lives in New York city, tried to live for a year with his family having no environmental impact. He proceeded in stages. First, he created no trash, then he produced no carbon dioxide emissions, poured no toxins into the water and ate only locally produced foods. H...more

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Aug 10, 2010 Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this on a plane on my way to Seattle, and then finished it up at the hotel. It seemed like a timely read for me as he referenced Vonnegut a lot.

In some ways, it's like the author tried to have an Amish ecological footprint for a year while living in NYC. No electricity, no cars, no trains, no buses or any other transportation that uses fossil fuels, no elevators, no escalators, no packaging, no imported foods/beverages, no chemicals, no paper products including toilet paper, etc.

He seems...more

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Jun 17, 2010 Jen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Amazing. This was one of the most honest books I have read in a long time and was what I really needed to read at this point in my life. I had seen it on sale at a bookstore in the fall and figured I would pick it up--the title and the materials used to make the book were enough to convince me. And I am so glad I did.

I picked up the book on Saturday morning this last weekend as a favor to my supervisor who was looking for a book that she could use for her freshman course in the fall and I couldn...more Amazing. This was one of the most honest books I have read in a long time and was what I really needed to read at this point in my life. I had seen it on sale at a bookstore in the fall and figured I would pick it up--the title and the materials used to make the book were enough to convince me. And I am so glad I did.

I picked up the book on Saturday morning this last weekend as a favor to my supervisor who was looking for a book that she could use for her freshman course in the fall and I couldn't put it down. I have not read a book cover to cover in one day--for leisure--since the Harry Potter series (yes, I know). I just couldn't help it--each page asked to be turned. And even while breezing through the book, every moment asked that you reflect on your own life and hold it under the microscope. Beavan's honest approach--he really tries not to preach (the Epilogue is a bit of a sermon, though, but is still worth reading)and often discusses his own and his families shortcomings--make you see him not as a pretentious author of the go green movement (the way that Pollan and Kingsolver can often come across) but as someone just like you, and me. Thrown in with all the information about the ways his family was working their way to a zero net impact are conversations of the Great Religions and eastern philosophy, history lessons, and a critical look into the way the world is operating at this time.

My review cannot sum up my reactions to this text. In short, it has allowed me to make a new pact with myself in regard to the life that I want to live. It made me pick up the phone multiple times to call my boyfriend so we could discuss how we are going to live when I move in with him in 3 weeks. It made me stop, reflect, and assess. I would recommend it for anyone trying to reduce their impact on the world around them--from someone who shut the water off while brushing their teeth for the first time this morning and the person who only bikes and lobbies their elected officials on a regular basis for renewable energy.(less)

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May 13, 2010 Erika rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir

What a disaster of a book. Conceived by its publishers, the book is meant to discuss the author's year-long project in personal environmentalism. Rather than a helpful how-to, or even an informed philosophical treatise, it is (as the title suggests) a series of personal rants and revelations by a person who has recently found a cause. Lacking any sort of expertise or credibility, Beavan comes off as both obnoxious and pretentious, leaving readers to wonder at the narrator's apparent immaturity a...more

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Apr 27, 2010 Dagmar rated it 3 of 5 stars

Interesting and thought-provoking book.
Questions whether it's not only possible, but practical not to hurt the environment. Thinking about what is too extreme, what's too hard - how do they feel about it after a year? Found they had more time with friends and family. Enjoyed riding scooter and rickshaw through NYC.
I watched the documentary after reading the book - the book was much more insightful and in-depth, but it was fun to see the real people who were the book.
Its interesting to think abo...more

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Feb 10, 2010 Beth Bonini rated it 4 of 5 stars

I feel like I should make a personal disclosure about this book: Colin's wife, Michelle, is a friend of mine. Although I'm interested in environmental issues, I probably wouldn't have read this without the personal connection; but having said that, I'm glad that I did.

If you want a how-to guide, this probably isn't your best choice. Although Colin Beavan does describe some specific details about the (often drastic) lifestyle changes he and his family made, the book is fairly philosophical in ton...more

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Jan 25, 2010 Stringy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Less a how-to or an examination of environmental science, this is more of a why-to, an exploration of what's in it for you. Beavan's one-year stunt isn't about an earnest hippy going that extra mile, it's about your average concerned citizen realising that he's got to walk the walk as well as talk the talk.

So he gives himself, his wife and daughter a huge challenge, realises it's a bit insane, and forges ahead anyway. It's about his efforts to reduce his hypocrisy as well as his eco-footprint....more

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Jan 23, 2010 jess rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010

This book has been hot in the eco-blogosphere for a while now. I missed the documentary when it came to Olympia, but I thought I should read the book anyway. There was a long wait at the library, so I experienced plenty of build-up and hype. This book brought out some strong feelings and opinions that I didn't realize I was harboring. I spent some time working through my assumptions. I was really irritated - what an arrogant, presumptuous, hyperbolic, self-serving premise for a book! Doesn't the...more This book has been hot in the eco-blogosphere for a while now. I missed the documentary when it came to Olympia, but I thought I should read the book anyway. There was a long wait at the library, so I experienced plenty of build-up and hype. This book brought out some strong feelings and opinions that I didn't realize I was harboring. I spent some time working through my assumptions. I was really irritated - what an arrogant, presumptuous, hyperbolic, self-serving premise for a book! Doesn't the act of publishing a book inherently cause an impact on the planet? The subtitle grates me the wrong way. "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) ." BARF! But in the end, I felt like the project redeemed itself.

I would not say this was a great break-thru learning experience, but I read those self-sufficiency memoirs fairly often. So there are all the trademarks you expect from one of these publicity stunts-as-books -- earnest, sincere, impossible expectations for themselves, a specific time frame, conflict (like, coffee and electricity), interpersonal conflicts, struggling to talk to people about the project without seeming judge-y, attempt to focus on the benefits instead of the martyrdom, etc, etc. If you read these books you know what I'm talking about.

With that said, here is what's different about this book:
1. This family does not live in the country. They live in NYC. They have no plans to move to the country, or even an apartment building with a yard. They do not get chickens or goats or a rooftop garden. Half the world's population lives in cities, and if everyone went "back to the land," we'd get an eviction notice from Earth. This family is working under the belief that people living in densely-populated areas have the potential to have lower carbon impacts through easier, more effective public transportation, lower physical footprint on the land, ability to pool resources in a myriad of ways, and so on.
2. This family is not well-versed in "green" or "simple" living. They are not hippies; they are Mainstream Manhattanites. They don't ride their bikes, grow food, use alternative energy, eat locally, reduce, reuse, recycle. The only real "alternative feature" of their lives before the project is that the dad is involved in his kid's life and appears to be an equal caregiver for the child. A lot of dads aren't. This family is virtually at square one. The only thing they have that anyone else doesn't is a desire to make no impact on the planet.
3. The author hopes that the media blitz from this project, book, documentary and blog will encourage other people to take steps toward sustainable living, and he says it. He is living by example, certainly, but he also comes right out and says "You need to be doing these things too. What you do matters. What all of us do matters." I have come to expect a sort of neutrality and shoe gazing from these self-sufficiency memoirs, as if the authors' experiences should do the talking, like "look how easy it was for me to raise pigs, butcher chickens, give up electricity, invent the composting toilet and bike everywhere. HMMM!" without a call to action. It's always implied but Colin comes out & says it. I appreciate that transparency. Of course now he's made a career out of it & built a foundation around it, so... but I think that was his intention.

I wish Colin had found a way to talk about community more, and specifically about people working in concert to make lower/no-impact changes in the world, but it was outside the scope of his project. Instead of starting collective, local, community and solution-oriented projects, he volunteered with larger organizations. Don't get me wrong, I love NPOs, but I am not convinced that they have the secrets of our eco-salvation. That whole 'give back' part rang a little hollow, like a tacked-on afterthought. It is impossible to totally eliminate your carbon impact so you should plant trees or something to cancel it out.

One of my favorite paragraphs was the issue of cloth diapers versus disposable diapers. Yes, there was a study (funded by Proctor & Gamble, who make disposable diapers) that said disposable diapers are not "worse" than cloth diapers, and that the water and soap used to wash cloth diapers means they are not really "green." At six diapers a day for (at least) two years, that's 4,380 plastic diapers. Plastic diapers are made from oil that is extracted in one part of the world, shipped somewhere to be refined, then shipped to China where the diapers are manufactured, then shipped to the US, where you drive to the store, drive the diapers home, use them for a few hours and then they are driven to a landfill and buried. Forever. I'm certain that whole carbon footprint did not end up in P&G's study. Compare that to washing 24 cotton diapers every four days, or 183 times in those same two years. It's an incredible, nearly inconceivable leap of stupidity to pretend that this is even a controversial topic up for debate.

The No Impact project had defined stages, all with the intention of ending up at the "no impact" equilibrium -- create no trash, reduce consumption, get carbon-free transportation, eat locally, use no power, reduce water use, be mindful, give back. It didn't happen all at once. The project and the family's experiences came across as earnest and a little naive, but not pompous or ignorant. The spirit of the project was infectious. I think the strength of the book was the fundamental question the author returns to. Don't ask, "Do I know enough to be fully self-sufficient? Can I eliminate my carbon impact entirely? How will I solve all these nuances of problems? Can I get through all the greenwashing, misrepresentation, fear-mongering, profit-margining capitalist interests and actually save the world?" Those are the wrong questions. These are the questions that overwhelm and convince you not to even start. The right question is, "Do I want to be the kind of person who tries?" So they try. They find other ways to live their life. It's hard. It's exciting. People cheer them on. People ask rude questions. They host parties. They seem to rediscover the "romantic side" of marriage, and spend more quality time with their toddler.

I would recommend this book as part of the growing canon of persons interested in walking lightly on the planet. It's not a how-to road map, but there are valuable insights and, if you can get past the irritation of the subtitle and hyberbolic expectations, if you can forgive him the letter-pressed, recycled cardboard eco-book aesthetic, this is an enjoyable read. Colin is either a good enough writer, or the beneficiary of a fine editor or writers group, or maybe both? The human moments of the story - angering your mom, make your sister cry, having a miscarriage - carry the reader through the infrequent preachy religious reflection and dull self-absorbed moments. It's a balance of content and momentum that worked for me. (less)

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Nov 22, 2009 Ciara rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: autobio-memoir, read-in-2009

it's kind of amazing to me that this book doesn't have more one-star reviews, considering how insufferable it was. i went on a jag a couple of months ago, where i read every eco-gimmick book out there, almost all of which were dreadful. i put this one on hold at the library during that time & then forgot about it & moved on to better books. when the library let me know the book was in & waiting for me, i felt a pang of dread. i didn't go in expecting the book to be any great shakes,...more it's kind of amazing to me that this book doesn't have more one-star reviews, considering how insufferable it was. i went on a jag a couple of months ago, where i read every eco-gimmick book out there, almost all of which were dreadful. i put this one on hold at the library during that time & then forgot about it & moved on to better books. when the library let me know the book was in & waiting for me, i felt a pang of dread. i didn't go in expecting the book to be any great shakes, but i was not prepared for it to be so boring! other reviewers have summed up the main problem with the book: it's less a memoir of this one guy & his family attempting to reduce their carbon footprint to zero over the course of a year as it is this one dude spending 225 flipping out about climate change. there are many excellent scientific books already written, detailing the potentially disastrous long-term consequences of climate change, many of which are actually written by scientists (as opposed to "guilty liberals" like this guy), many of which end up in beavan's bibliography. i didn't come to this book wanting to read twenty pages of beavan wringing his hands over drowning polar bears & starving sea turtles. i was looking for more about the changes he & his family implemented, the problems they bumped up against, & the conclusions they came to about what they need to be happy & healthy. i am one of those people that beavan seems to take to task at the end of the book--the folks who think over-emphasizing small individual changes as a solution to the climate change issue possibly does more harm than good to the environmental movement, but that doesn't mean i don't enjoy occasionally reading about the foibles of people who try to live with refrigerators.

but this was just shit. on the very first day of the project, beavan wakes up & wants to blow his nose. but--oh no! he's not supposed to produce trash, & how could he possibly blow his nose without using a paper towel? he explains elsewhere that he was trying to start the no impact project from where he was, but seriously, dude. it's called a handkerchief, look into it. he finally figures it out & starts using handkerchiefs all the time, but...am i supposed to think this is any kind of breakthrough? i can't even remember the last time i used a tissue for blowing my nose, even in the depths of the flu. handkerchiefs are where it's at.

ten minutes later, his toddler needs a diaper change, & beavan reaches for his supply of handy plastic diapers. seriously? seriously?! this dude wants to make "no impact," which means composting in a new york city apartment & getting a worm tub, & it didn't occur to him until the first day of the project, the first time his kid needs a diaper change, that maybe part of making no trash means switching to cloth diapers? the mind boggles. i don't even know how i can take him seriously at this point, & we're like ten pages in (we would be about two pages in, but eight pages of ink were spilled summarizing better writers' ruminations of the role of trash in producing climate change).

later in the book, he is seeking a solution to the problem of his wife's forty-minute walking commute. it occurs to him to buy her a collapsible scooter. so he does. he calls the company & has a scooter delivered the next day & is pleased with himself for helping make his wife's commute faster & more fun. nowhere does he acknowledge that the delivery person probably did not ride the scooter over to beavan's apartment from the warehouse. it probably came in a box & was delivered via truck, hence contributing at least a smidgen of pollution & trash packaging. this is also a textbook example of buying something to make life simpler--throwing money at a problem. it's great that she liked the scooter & everything, but jesus eff. taking the train would have been lower impact, since the train runs everyday, whether beavan's wife is on it or not. no delivery trucks would have had to come to their neighborhood with new scooters (that are not manufactured using rainbows & happy unicorns, by the way) in big cardboard boxes full of packaging.

& then there's the whole issue of deciding to wean his family off toilet paper. he mentions this repeatedly throughout the book & his feelings are hurt when he is profiled in the "new york times" & the toilet paper issue ends up in the headline. never in the book does he answer the most-asked media question about the no impact project: 'what did you do instead of toilet paper?" he just insists that this question is somehow puerile & "embarrassing". but i can tell you that in the feminist movement, it's pretty common for women to discuss what they use in lieu of mass-produced dioxin-leaching pads & tampons. menstruation is a more taboo topic than pooping & peeing, & beavan himself had no qualms about suggesting that his wife switch to the diva cup or some other more environmentally-friendly menstrual product. every single person in the world goes to the bathroom several times a day, & many many many of those people employ toilet paper in the process. here we have this guy not only acknowledging that toilet paper isn't the most environmentally-friendly product in the world, but actually saying that he & his family found a way to go without. most people, even ones who care a great deal about the environment, are hard-pressed to imagine what would substitute for toilet paper. throw 'em a bone, beavan! it's hypocritical & ridiculous to get up on your high horse & refuse to discuss it while getting in everyone's face about living in the suburbs & having long commutes & how hard life is for you because people in your family have died.

i could go on, but suffice to say that this book was even worse than i expected it to be. a lot of these crappy eco-stunt memoirs are at least kind of funny, if nothing else. this one bored me half to death. i hated everything about it, right down to the cutesy little rounded corners & the tiny font in the appendix & the three glaring misspellings in the first 125 pages (my corrections: "municipal," "eked," & "demurred") & the fact that the whole thing was cooked up with the dude's literary agent over a nice lunch. yuck.(less)

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Oct 14, 2009 Anne rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: borrowed, non-fiction

I was apprehensive picking up this book. There have been other "eco-action" books I've perused in the past, and many of them read like sermons full of exhortations to be less a selfish person and more an altruistic savior of the world. That approach turned me off entirely.

Colin Beavan doesn't take that sermonizing approach. He quite clearly points out the gaps in his own background and education that make him "unfit" to preach to anyone what they "should" do to reduce human beings impact on the...more

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Apr 01, 2013 Becki Iverson rated it 5 of 5 stars

My first exposure to the No Impact project was through the documentary that came out a few years ago. I remember being turned off by Colin Beavan's personality, but being extremely interested in the intricacies of the project itself.

Fast forward several years and I finally sat down and read this marvelous book. It is written in such an engaging, positive and readable style - many non-fiction books (especially those touting eco-friendly policies and lifestyle changes) could learn a lot from it....more

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Mar 14, 2013 Stephen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Beavan really is an everyman He is an everyday American and his life at the beginning of his project contains all the pejorative actions against the environment that goes along with that. At the beginning of the book, he uses a high volume of throw-away plastics, relying on the national media for entertainment, and using fossil fuels to power his transportation. So when he begins his quest, it is refreshing to hear an account from someone who is very much like you, and not some outstanding envir...more

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Sep 06, 2012 Maeve rated it 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed how Beavan strove to live his values. So often we claim we value something with our words but our deeds say otherwise. How can we align our deeds to our words? How can we take action? Just because we can't do everything, does that mean we should not try to do something? This book looks at what it is like to try to live an environmentally conscious life and how to be informed of the choices we make. Yes, the environmental crisis is larger than what one person can solve, but socie...more

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Oct 03, 2010 Helen (Helena/Nell) rated it 5 of 5 stars

I knew this book would make me uncomfortable. I was right.

It was uncomfortable in a good way, though. It made me think, which is what Beavan intended. And it will do more than just make me think: I know I’m going to change some things in my life as a result of reading it (how often do we say that of a book?).

Obviously the drawback to the huge challenge of sustainability is that when faced with the reality, we feel overwhelmed. What’s the point? What difference can we, as individuals, possibly...more

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Jun 30, 2010 Sapote3 rated it 3 of 5 stars

I often find that I'm most influenced by books I hated (that Positivity book is another one) or books where I find the research spotty but the idea strong. I think there are some really good things about this book: the author is an ecoschlub who is not already awash in tips and tricks but rather has to start from the ground up (handkerchiefs exist, and you can't grow coffee in New York.) He lives in a city and doesn't apologize for it, which I appreciate - I'm sick of people acting like driving...more I often find that I'm most influenced by books I hated (that Positivity book is another one) or books where I find the research spotty but the idea strong. I think there are some really good things about this book: the author is an ecoschlub who is not already awash in tips and tricks but rather has to start from the ground up (handkerchiefs exist, and you can't grow coffee in New York.) He lives in a city and doesn't apologize for it, which I appreciate - I'm sick of people acting like driving three hours a day to get to and from your solar homestead is the Only Responsible Choice, geez - and he does some pretty wacky things like cut his electricity off entirely. He also gets aggravated at the whole moral calculus of "disposable diapers are more ecofriendly then washable diapers because water. Or ARE they?", which is an issue I share.

I thought he was a dick for pooping on bread machines (alright, then, start doing all your work by hand and see how you like it, Mister We-Have-No-Lights-Because-I-Run-My-Laptop-Off-The-Solar-Panel), and I think it was dumb that he still won't explain to the nation how he handles pooping without toilet paper. He also never explained what he did about washing diapers by hand. But mainly my displeasure with this book is centered around one single sentence by his wife that managed to be sizest and ablest all at once and reminded me how much this smug ecotopia, and most smug ecotopias like it, are reserved for the extremely able-bodied. I am in reasonable physical shape for an American, but I have a persistent joint injury that presently makes stair climbing an actively self-destructive thing to do, and I read all their accounts of climbing twelve or twenty flights of stairs and thought "Well. How nice for you." and just wished just once they'd talk about how, much like many of the global poor need to consume more, not less, there are many people for whom mechanical helps through daily activity are the difference between good lives and a world of pain, not the difference between sloth and Ideal Fitness. (less)

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Feb 02, 2011 Nicole rated it 5 of 5 stars

After following Beavan's blog while he was doing the No Impact experiment, I was thrilled when the book, and then the movie, were released. I listened to this one and it was read by the author. It is an authentic attempt at really trying to take a look at what we can live - and maybe even ought to live - without. Beavan gave an engaging read and I appreciated his honesty at what the experiment forced him and his family to take a look at. I've read that some people thought his book was dry; perha...more

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Jan 05, 2010 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, the-sustainable-life

There were several things I really liked about this book.

-I liked that he didn't let himself off the hook for living in an apartment in a major city. (Though he was told that you can't make a difference if you live in New York.)

-I liked that he honestly presented the conflict between some of his choices and the stress it put on his relationships. (The most obvious example of this being not going on a plane, and thus, not visiting the in-laws.)

-I like that he pointed out the problem of books l...more

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Sep 27, 2011 Jo Ann rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is my town's (Fayetteville, Arkansas) 2011 Community Read for the year, and also my bookclub's selection for October - so, there's lots of hype, lots of films, activities, challenges out there surrouonding the book, and the author will be speaking here at the end of October.
Since the book's been explained so well, so often, I won't do so again. Colin Beavan's sojourn into a year's living, with his wife and toddler, of no impact on the environment, was entertaining, challenging, sometimes do...more

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Jul 07, 2010 Mo Tipton rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: sustainable-homesteading

In spite of the gross "guilty liberal" subtitle business, I'm enjoying this book more than I thought I would. There's something appealing about Beavan's honesty, even when I'm sometimes baffled as to how an adult human being could be so completely clueless about things that seem pretty common sense from where I'm standing. Example: He spends a couple of hours in search of a mesh shopping bag, because he saw or imagined--can't remember--people in France using them at the open stall markets, and a...more

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Sep 06, 2011 Jillian rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Jillian by: Kyle

Shelves: own, history-culture-politics, summer-2011

No Impact Man is the story of a family of three trying to make as little environmental impact as possible for a year: eat only local food, take only human-powered transportation, buy no brand new products, live without electricity, produce no trash (which means no paper products, disposable items, food that come in packaging...) etc. They make a few exceptions, but it’s still an impressive and extreme project. As the subtitle explains, Colin starts as a “guilty Liberal” who doesn’t do much for t...more No Impact Man is the story of a family of three trying to make as little environmental impact as possible for a year: eat only local food, take only human-powered transportation, buy no brand new products, live without electricity, produce no trash (which means no paper products, disposable items, food that come in packaging...) etc. They make a few exceptions, but it’s still an impressive and extreme project. As the subtitle explains, Colin starts as a “guilty Liberal” who doesn’t do much for the environment other than complain about pollution and politicians, and who has an idea for a book without any real expertise on the topic. As the project gets going he is imperfect, even woefully clueless at times, but he owns it and ultimately comes off as pretty earnest and likeable. So does his wife, who is initially set up as a privileged over-consumer who isn’t going to fare well with the project, but who emerges as quite interesting, humorous, and dedicated in her own way. (I probably also ended up liking her because I’ve also been dragged along on my husband’s crazy schemes -- riding a tandem bicycle across the country; going car-free in a brand new town -- and have come to enthusiastically embrace them. Sometimes crazy lifestyle changes are the best kind.)

Colin also goes beyond environmentalism to talk about the meaning of life and death and evaluating how we actually want to spend the time that we have.

And then there are the sobering statistics…

--80% of our products are designed to be used only once. 80%!
--The U.S. produces a quarter of the total greenhouse gases and half of the planet’s automotive greenhouse gases.
--In fifteen years two-thirds of the world’s population will face water scarcity.
--Within 5 years, more than half of the states in the U.S. will face water shortages.
--The average US household uses seventy gallons of water every day.
--Food packaging makes up 20% of our solid waste nationwide.
--We recycle less than 1% of our plastic bags and there are 46,000 pieces of plastic floating in every square mile of ocean, killing an estimate 100,000 marine animals who confuse them with jellyfish and other food.
--In the middle of the Pacific Ocean is a swirling “garbage patch” twice the size of the continental United States.
--And in terms of all this waste (not) contributing to our quality of life… A 2007 UNICEF study evaluated the overall well-being (health, education, family relationships, etc.) of children in twenty-one countries of the industrialized world. The U.K. was last and the U.S. was second-to-last.

Those sections of the book are just depressing and terrifying, I'm not going to lie, and the suggestions and solutions that Colin Beavan offers aren't quite enough to combat the feelings of hopelessness. But at least he tries. The most extreme of his no-impact living adaptations are just entertaining to read about, but many of the changes he made (buying and using less, choosing more reusable products, avoiding unnecessary car and elevator trips, sharing infrequently used items like lawnmowers amongst neighbors, etc.) are completely practical for the average person. And as Colin likes to point out throughout the book, the important question isn't whether one person can change the world; it's whether or not you want to be the kind of person who at least tries.(less)

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Jun 04, 2010 Maya rated it 1 of 5 stars

It's my own fault. I picked this up thinking I would hate it because of the title, yet I checked it out and read it anyway. I almost gave it two stars because I want to shoulder part of the blame, but that doesn't excuse how bad this book was.

Author just annoyed the hell out of me through the entire book. If you're actually encouraging people to make these kinds of changes, why not explain what you're doing instead of using toilet paper rather than getting angry about it when people ask questio...more

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“At what age did I start to think that where I was going was more important than where I already was? When was it that I began to believe that the most important thing about what I was doing was getting it over with? Knowing how to live is not something we have to teach children. Knowing how to live is something we have to be careful not to take away from them.” — 4 people liked it

“We can all change the people around us by changing ourselves.” — 3 people liked it

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