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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
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
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
Audiobook7 hours

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

Written by Colin Beavan

Narrated by Colin Beavan

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

Bill McKibben meets Bill Bryson in this seriously engaging look at one man's decision to put his money where his mouth is and go off the grid for one year—while still living in New York City—to see if it's possible to make no net impact on the environment.

In No Impact Man, 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 environmental catastrophe while dragging his baby daughter and Prada-wearing, Four Seasons–loving wife along for the ride. And that's just the beginning. In other words, no trash, no toxins in the water, no elevators, no subway, no products in packaging, no air-conditioning, no television . . .

What would it be like to try to live a no-impact lifestyle? Is it possible? Could it catch on? Is living this way more satisfying or less satisfying? Harder or easier? Is it worthwhile or senseless? Are we all doomed or can our culture reduce the barriers to sustainable living so it becomes as easy as falling off a log? These are the questions at the heart of this whole mad endeavor, via which Colin Beavan hopes to explain to the rest of us how we can realistically live a more "eco-effective" and by turns more content life in an age of inconvenient truths.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateSep 1, 2009
ISBN9781427208026
Author

Colin Beavan

Writer and social change activist Colin Beavan attracted international attention for his year-long lifestyle-redesign project and the wildly popular book, No Impact Man, and the Sundance-selected documentary film that it inspired. He has appeared on Nightline, Good Morning America, The Colbert Report, The Montel Williams Show, and NPR, and his story has been featured in news outlets from Time magazine to the New York Times. A sought-after speaker by wide-ranging audiences, he also consults with businesses on improving eco-friendly and human-centered practices. Beavan is the author of two other books, Operation Jedburgh: D-Day and America’s First Shadow War and Fingerprints: The Origins of Crime Detection and the Murder Case That Launched Forensic Science, and his writing has appeared in Esquire, the Atlantic, and the New York Times. He is the founder of the No Impact Project and a dharma teacher in the Kwan Um School of Zen. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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Reviews for No Impact Man

Rating: 3.819728019727891 out of 5 stars
4/5

147 ratings13 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    There have been a lot of books lately in which the author gives up some modern convenience (or some combination of them) for some period of time. Some of them are pretty awful. But Beavan manages to be both humble and even occasionally funny while narrating his family's attempt to make the smallest negative environmental impact possible while living in New York City and maintaining their usual social commitments, work etc. This is an inspiring book and, while I consider myself to be a "not-that bad" person in my habits (i.e. I buy organic, don't eat "much" meat, walk "most of the time" etc.) I really started to re-evaluate things after reading this book. I especially appreciate the author's openness about discouragments and doubts, but also his emphasis on the personal benefits of living with less, the enhanced family and social time etc.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Full disclosure: I just read the biographical parts - I did not read about the studies, facts and examples of how we are screwing up the environment. I already know we're doing a crappy thing to the earth...
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Colin Beavan decided to do an extreme environmental challenge, and his wife and little girl were included in the challenge. For one year (though they brought each challenge in in stages, so it wasn't the entire thing all year), they would try to produce no trash, eat sustainably, not buy new things (though second-hand was ok), live without electricity and more. He wanted to see what concessions might even make them happier.I am impressed! A lot of my friends think I'm extreme, but I wish I could do as much as Colin and Michelle did. Even Michelle, who grew up with money and loved to shop, seemed to get into most of it and even enjoy some of it. It seemed to bring them together as a family - with no tv, or even electricity, they talked more to each other and enjoyed each other's company. I do hope I can do more. Colin does stress that individuals can't do it all alone, though; companies, governments, and bigger organizations also need to help out; but it can start with individuals doing as much as they are willing to do.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I wanted to enjoy this. I really did. The mission: have no impact on the environment for one year. Even when this was impossible (his wife couldn't do coffee, elevators in some buildings, etc.), the impossibility is an eye-opener.

    Why didn't I like it? I didn't really like Colin. His writing styles oozes immaturity (he has a phobia of talking about toilet paper and sex). He rehashes environmental facts with unoriginal, high school-assigned drudgery.

    This book gets three stars instead of two because it still is a necessary story in today's society. We must need take a close look at our lives. Even living in the recycle crazed country of Sweden, trash litters the streets. Excess packaging is an issue. Possession is becoming more and more popular. Do the things that you want really make you happy?

    Just get through the Beavan, and it's a good book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A very inspiring book overall. I already recycle, use public transport, try to eat organic, etc., but Beavan's book shows how you have to try to do even more. He has lots of ideas on how to achieve that, and talks about the difference it makes in the quality of one's life (apart from helping the environment at large).

    The problem I have with this book is that some parts of it are quite vague, and Beavan sometimes tends to focus in detail on things that are already well known to people of an environmentalist bent. So the content is great, but I wish the focus were a little different.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book is about simple living and social ties just as much as it's about the environment. I really appreciated Beavan's humble introspection and his Meaning of Life approach to the issue of lifestyle change. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking to start acting on their liberal guilt about the crazy wasteful American lifestyle.

    On the other hand, I would NOT hire Colin Beavan to be my science writer, but oh well. You can't expect everything.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Debates about individual v. collective action, is this a self-promotion vehicle for the author or no, aside.... this book was awesome to me because it inspired me to think about what I am doing and think about some changes I can make, as well as ways I can get involved. Also, being part of the knitting world, I agree on his answer to the individual v. collective action debate - when a few individuals start acting, they can inspire others and then it _becomes_ collective - I have seen it before.
    A must read, if only for the list of resources/great variety of ways to take action included in the back.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    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 on us and on others.

    This brings me to my favorite part of the book. Colin Beavan is clearly a believer in emotional unity, which is an incredibly important life value for me. He writes that "[t]here is no my despair or your despair. There is only our despair." When we destroy the planet, we are hurting one another, and, so, we are hurting ourselves. Even if this had been the only insight I gleaned from the book (and it wasn't), the narrative would have been completely worth reading. Beavan presents environmentalism as simultaneously self-interested and generous, which is an amazing rhetorical shift from the more common depiction of recycling, etc... as a sacrifice of time and energy. The complexity of his argument, and the effectiveness that complexity generates, is fascinating to any writer. Amazing.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I have to admire Colin Beavan for his consistent attempt to make no impact on the environment. I admire his wife, daughter, and dog even more for joining him on his urban adventure (he attempts this feat while living in a 9th-floor apartment in NYC—and his self-imposed rules prohibit the use of an elevator). Beavan is a good writer; his words and his tone truly capture the concurrent folly, heartbreak, earnestness, absurdity, and exasperation engendered by his attempt to live for one year without damaging the planet. And his reflective prose clarifies for us (without being too preachy) just how dependent we are on the alleged conveniences of modern life. I’m not sure if I could even attempt one-tenth of what Beavan does to improve the planet, but his example proves that we—and by we, I mean the human race—must do something to avert the inevitable disasters that our careless stewardship of the planet will evoke. I’m not sure, however, that I share Beavan’s optimism. I suspect that most people will have to be forced to make changes that will require them to do more to save the planet.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    On a whim, my husband and I stopped at a Border’s bookstore that was closing on the north side Milwaukee. I just can’t pass up a book sale. You never know what kind of treasures you may find. This was one of the gems.Colin Beavan’s No Impact Man is a wonderful book about a man who decides to make his impact on the Earth as small as possible. His family goes along for the ride albeit a bit reluctantly. Having seen the film first, I was pretty sure I knew what to expect. I enjoyed the film and I was not disappointed with the book. Over the course of a year, Beavan and his family changed their purchasing habits and their lifestyle. They changed many aspects of their lives from going without a refrigerator to using a solar panel to power a laptop. According to Beavan, one of the most frequent (and annoying) questions he got from interested followers had to do with issue of hygiene due to the lack of toilet paper. It is interesting social commentary as to what people focus on.Unlike Sleeping Naked is Green that I previously reviewed, No Impact Man seems to be a much more dedicated and serious guide to greening one’s life. Beavan gives the reader a much better idea of hard it is to try to be ‘green’ in a society that seems to work wholeheartedly against you. (This is not to say that anyone who tries to be greener is wasting their time. Every little bit helps!)For those of us who would like to be a little bit ‘greener’, a very detailed appendix is included with websites and other resources to help on that journey. The book is even printed on 100% postconsumer recycled paper using energy created from biogas for production. Now that is putting your money where your mouth is.If you’d like a little taste of the world of No Impact Man, visit the No Impact Man blog.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A world issue written from a very experiential point of view. Like the way he weaves in "the meaning of life" into environmental issues. Highly recommended.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    no particular news on the environmental front but hats off to colin beavan for the internet presence he now has and the spin-off events. i enjoyed his narrative throughout but i am a hard core on these issues. i'm signed up for the april no-impact week!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    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.