In this Green Blog, Mary Ann and I have made mostly unobtrusive suggestions of changing your everyday life to make it a little greener. Simple things like choosing reusable water bottles over bottled water, turning the lights off, and composting can make a difference. But, Colin Beavan decided to take it to a whole new level.
Beavan, a non-fiction writer and blogger, decided that he and his family (including his wife and then 2 year old daughter Isabella) would try to live a zero impact lifestyle for a year. That means no trash except items that could be composted, food grown locally (with a 250 mile radius), no carbon-based transportation, and no paper products. And by no paper products, he was serious – the family didn’t even use toilet paper! The No Impact rule also meant no new items, nothing that came in packaging, and the no using carbon-based transportation even stretched to no elevators. That is tough for a family that lives on the ninth floor!
Beavan lives in New York City, so he and his wife either used a scooter or walked to get where they needed to go. All that exercise helped Beavan lose 20 pounds. There was no coffee for a year as it wasn’t grown locally. And, half way through the experiment, they turned off the electricity. The family did have a solar panel in the roof, but also used candles and solar lamps for light.
While that may sound a bit crazy, Beavan said that the lack of electricity forced the family spend more time outside and actually brought them closer to each other as well as other friends and family. For his efforts, Beavan was honored as one of the Ten Most Influential Men by MSN in 2007 and Elle Magazine named him an Eco-Illuminator for its 2008 Green Awards.
After the experiment ended, the family did return to what most of us think of as normality. The electricity was turned back on, the family now uses elevators, and they do purchase items that aren’t locally grown or made. However, there are a few remnants of extreme green living as the family uses no air conditioning or electric fans, has a fridge but no freezer, and Beavan still washes his hair with baking soda.
The experiment was made into a documentary titled “No Impact Man: The Documentary” and a book titled “No Impact Man” was just released.