What is so accessible, even endearing, about Colin Beavan and his quest to become the NO IMPACT MAN is that he, like most of us, didnt have a clue about what he was getting into. The fact that his commitment and then his overarching passion for living lightly on the land of Manhattan for a solid year begins as an idea for his next book speaks more to what he discovers about both what effect even one wasteful life on the environment, and the special joy in living in the moment that he discovered when he turned off the electricity off and turned on and onto, being in the moment. The documentary by Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein is sprinkled liberally with facts and figures about what a disposable society does to the planet, but the story is Beavan, his wife, Michelle, his daughter Isabella, and his four-year-old dog, Frankie, as they all, more or less willingly, follow Beaven and his plan to transition to a lifestyle that does more than reduce his carbon footprint. The goal is nothing less than living a life that has, as the title suggests, no impact whatsoever. Use no electricity produced except by solar panels, take no transportation that isnt self-powered, eat no food that is transported more than a days ride from his local farmers market, buy nothing new except underwear and socks, if necessary, and produce no garbage that cant be recycled or composted.
The tale of where he begins, and how that year unfolded, starts as Beavan, through his blog noimpactman.org, has garnered media attention and started to become a lightning rod for public opinion. The larger issues, how living a simpler life can be one that is richer, is lost in the public fascination with Beavans refusal to take an elevator even when its available and others are riding it, and the familys decision to stop using toilet paper. The frustration of having the real message lost in the details is frustrating for Beavan, and, in the context Gabbert and Schein have provided, the audience as well. Its not that there will be a clamoring for familys to stop using washing machines in favor of the ritual of stomping dirty laundry clean in the family tub using only feet and cold water and home-made, biodegradable detergent, but the playfulness with which eighteen-month-old Isabella literally leaps in, the family time it engenders, has an unmistakable sweetness. It is the gift of time together, as are the walks in the park, the family bicycle trips, and the evenings spent talking with one another, undistracted by television, radio, or the modern conveniences that seem to eat time rather than save it.
Its not all smooth sailing. Michelle goes on one last shopping binge that wipes out one of the familys IRAs. Her caffeine withdrawal causes headaches that are both medical and metaphorical as her withdrawal leads to elaborate excuses for why she doesnt just want the coffee fix, she needs it to do her work effectively. Beaven himself does not always come across as the most compassionate of life partners, though even in his or Michelles worst moments, including some painfully intimate arguments over whether or not to have another child, there is the palpable sense that this is a solid relationship, and that while both parties might perceive it as a work in progress, it is nonetheless a work that is anything but disposable.
NO IMPACT MANs purpose, man, film, and excellent companion book that illuminates the spiritual journey that the year awakened in Beavan, is not to preach this as a viable way of life to an audience perhaps still gasping over the moment when Beavan flips the circuit breakers off in his apartment. Even he turned the power back on at the end of the year. But what he and his family learned that they could do without and do without as a way of enriching their lives is both provocative and enviable. This isnt privation, its enrichment at a most fundamental level. Its not just saving the planet, its saving our psyches, too.
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