No Impact Man, a blog, a book, and now a movie about the year-long exercise to live lightly on the earth undertaken by Colin Beavan, his wife Michele and their young daughter Isabella, is playing across the country at select theaters. The project started as a result of Beavan’s desire to make a difference through his action. As an author, Beavan felt as though his books had no impact on society, so he embarked on what he perceived to be a more meaningful journey.

At a recent viewing, I came away wondering about the central tenet of the project, “How can we live more sustainably?” While criticisms were levied against the Beavans for their bourgeoisie lifestyle leading up to their project, it is important not to lose sight of the project’s goals and aims. While attempting to reduce his impact on the planet, Beavan comes to question how one can live in a sustainable fashion. In his phrasing of the question, living sustainably goes beyond being green and taking the steps he does to reduce his energy use. Instead, the Beavans connect with the community that feeds them. In addition, Beavan himself takes the time and opportunity to participate in New York City’s community. He meets with Majora Carter (mentioned in an earlier post), who helped start the Sustainable South Bronx project.

Aside from the reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, weight loss resulting from walking and biking, and waste reduction, Beavan and his family establish a bond with their surrounding environment and each other. As a result of having to walk or bike to their destinations, the Beavans were forced out of taxis, trains, and buses, and into a personal connection with New York City.

Barbara Kingsolver’s 2007 book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life delves into many of the same topics that the Beavans encounter. Kingsolver and her family spent a year living off the land by farming and bartering, while eating seasonally. However, Beavan conducted his experiment in an urban context, as he and his family were living on the Upper East Side in New York City. However, both of these families sacrificed many of the modern conveniences and amenities that Western civilization has come to take for granted. The Beavans purchased food produced within 250 miles of Manhattan, visiting two of the farms that provided their food during the course of their year-long experiment. In addition, the Beavans gave up meat in their diet in an effort to further reduce their impact on the earth.

If nothing else, the Beavans realized that those in the West are far removed from the production of food and energy generation, two essential, yet vaguely understood components of everyday life. Beavan comes to realize that accountability (through community) is the way to a more sustainable future. Despite how one feels about his politics or views his project, his revelations have serious implications for how we consume in the West. As Richard Louv suggests in Last Child in the Woods, the disconnect with our natural surroundings has created a society in which humans have lost sight of the value and importance of nature and where our natural resources originate.

The Washington Post reviewed the book earlier this week. While pointing out several of the criticisms levied against Beavan, many which could be chalked up to his naivete, his family’s success in reducing consumption suggests that it is possible to live outside of the disposable society we have come to know.

- Eric Wilson

[image source: No Impact Man]