Colin Beavan decided he’d live for a year with as little impact on the environment as possible. In the heart of New York city – in an apartment with wife, child and dog (”ten legs and a tail” he calls them).
When you think of living environmentally friendly, what changes do you imagine you’d make? He started out thinking they would simply use less rubbish, create less carbon emissions and GIVE a little more like helping to clean up community areas, rescue wildlife and give money to charity.
They were surprised by learning to love walking to work; having no TV because it meant more time on the floor playing with their daughter; losing weight from not using lifts or cars.. In the 7th month of the experiment they were so confident and willing to push things that they turned off their electricity!
The experiment is long since over and they’ve kept lots of their environmentally friendly ways – I suppose you could say they are lo-imact rather than no-impact these days. I cannot imagine how we’d manage to do this at our house… but I like the idea of trying.
Check out the blog here:noimpactman.com (which also became a book and a soon to be film)
