No Impact Man

No Impact Man was a great film on living eco-effectively. At first I was a little hesitant, thinking that there is no way Colin Beavan and his family, who were living in the heart of Manhattan, would be able to live without certain things (that wouldn’t be considered eco-friendly) for a year. Especially when you consider that they had a very young daughter still in diapers. As the documentary continued, I began to appreciate their effort to save the environment. It’s the trying that counts, right? Although their yearlong journey proved to be difficult, the benefits far outweighed the costs. While attempting to make zero impact on the environment, they faced their own set of struggles but it also opened their minds to a new way of living. At times, it would be a little overwhelming to watch considering they were eliminating so many things out of their lives (electricity, refrigeration, heat, etc.) throughout the year. But as you continue to watch, you learn how much Americans take these things for granted. Even though their efforts as a family might not have had much of significance on the earth, they had a positive impact on their relationship with each other. They began to realize the benefits when their lives were no longer focused on the act of consumption.

Now, I consider myself to be eco-friendly and cautious about the things I eat and use but what I never had considered was what I was throwing out in the trash. Of course, I knew about the overwhelming amounts of garbage that Americans throw out daily but never thought about what I could do to limit the amounts that I throw out. This documentary also got me thinking about my future plans of living in the city. Colin and his family’s efforts prove that trying to live eco-friendly while living in the heart of a big city isn’t the easiest task to accomplish. Yet, they found ways to do it. When I plan on moving into the city, I plan on taking some of their ideas and using them in order to live environmentally...