Revision: NO IMPACT MAN by Colin Beavan

With a cover made from recycled paper, I knew that when choosing to read No Impact Man for my Winter Break this autobiography wouldn’t be just any green-lifestyle guide—it truly is an extremist’s guide at attempting to be planet earth’s superhero.  From “no-trash, no-carbon-producing transportation and sustainable-eating…no elevators, no subway, no plastics, and no TV” to name a few, the Beavan family transformed their lifestyle in New York City’s Greenwich Village to be one that tried to improve the earth, rather than harm the earth (Beavan 2-43).  Amidst their journey, documented in this autobiography, it seems as though the Beavan family unearth a lifestyle that is in actuality more natural for humans than the lifestyles most humans in our go-go-go society are living today.

Something that struck me as both witty and candidly true was when Beavan discussed a trip to the market he took with his two-year-old daughter, the rain clouds looming above they hurried along, but the rain poured down and Beavan’s daughter, Isabella refused to be shielded by an umbrella.  Although quite unaware of the experiment her parents were undergoing, this little girl was so much a part of it—she comprehended that “This is what walking on a rainy day, instead of using mechanized transportation, is like: you get wet sometimes” (87).  How true that is!  Before the time that umbrellas existed, what would a person do?  Just hide away until the rain ceased…that would be ridiculous.  It also maybe is ridiculous to think that all us humans have a desire to get sopping wet every time it rains; what I believe Beavan is trying to express to the reader is that if you get wet from rain, then you get wet.  Humans should not try to resist nature to such a degree, because it will just fight back.  Look at the weather patterns, as Beavan put it “It is January but seventy degrees outside” (7).  More close to home for us living in Fairfield, we have had tornado warnings much more prevalently than in years past, we have had record breaking snow fall, but today it was almost 65 degrees and it isn’t even March!  Beavan’s ability to point out the fact that climate change is real and needs to be addressed without preaching to the reader is what makes this book have such high literary merit in my opinion.

Beavan indicates truths about our earth, this one in particular made me really stop and think: “We are mowing down some nine football fields of trees in the Amazon rain forest every minute” (49).  (**this made me want to go plant a tree in the Amazon for all of the college mail that I have had to recycle lately!)  This autobiography is such good literature because of facts such as these, which are stated, but never dwelled upon.  This book would be painful to read if Beavan just chastised the reader for grabbing Poland Spring water instead of that ‘Klean Kanteen’ reusable bottle.  With these facts juxtaposed with tough questions that the author poses to himself, but in turn poses to the reader.  “What is the purpose of our lives?  What makes us happy and fulfilled” (218)?  It obviously doesn’t make us feel happy to know that we are breathing in chemicals that simply float around in the air, it cannot possible make us feel fulfilled to watch the hole in the ozone layer become sickeningly larger and the sun penetrating our earth to warm it even more.  Beavan makes it seem logical that the humans that walk this earth need to change, but the problem is that yes “We cannot wait for the system [of trashing the earth] to change.  But we individuals are the system” (221).  With this sentiment Beavan leaves the reader to make a choice; he doesn’t ask the reader to be “a martyr…just try to live life deliberately” and make changes in a lifestyle that are feasible (224).  The merit of this book truly is defined by the peace the author finds in his life by committing to the no impact man project; this peace is what almost forces the reader to champion Beavan’s cause.

NO IMPACT MAN BLOG: http://noimpactman.typepad.com/

*Check it out, it’s worth it!

AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/No-Impact-Man-Adventures-Discoveries/dp/0374222886/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298941543&sr=1-1