I found this book fascinating. It really makes you think how you would face the challenge of living in the modern world without consuming or wasting excess goods and services. ( )

Brutally honest. A great read ( )

Fantastic & inspiring. ( )

There have been a lot of books lately in which the author gives up some modern convenience (or some combination of them) for some period of time. Some of them are pretty awful. But Beavan manages to be both humble and even occasionally funny while narrating his family's attempt to make the smallest negative environmental impact possible while living in New York City and maintaining their usual social commitments, work etc. This is an inspiring book and, while I consider myself to be a "not-that bad" person in my habits (i.e. I buy organic, don't eat "much" meat, walk "most of the time" etc.) I really started to re-evaluate things after reading this book. I especially appreciate the author's openness about discouragments and doubts, but also his emphasis on the personal benefits of living with less, the enhanced family and social time etc. ( )

More than what I remembered the documentary to be, this book is full of wisdom. Especially as I've recently been questioning all the "stuff" I have that I never look at, all the materials I waste when I go to the stop and find every morsel of food wrapped in plastic... this is pretty extreme, but it sure makes you think. ( )

Full disclosure: I just read the biographical parts - I did not read about the studies, facts and examples of how we are screwing up the environment. I already know we're doing a crappy thing to the earth... ( )

Colin Beavan decided to do an extreme environmental challenge, and his wife and little girl were included in the challenge. For one year (though they brought each challenge in in stages, so it wasn't the entire thing all year), they would try to produce no trash, eat sustainably, not buy new things (though second-hand was ok), live without electricity and more. He wanted to see what concessions might even make them happier.

I am impressed! A lot of my friends think I'm extreme, but I wish I could do as much as Colin and Michelle did. Even Michelle, who grew up with money and loved to shop, seemed to get into most of it and even enjoy some of it. It seemed to bring them together as a family - with no tv, or even electricity, they talked more to each other and enjoyed each other's company. I do hope I can do more. Colin does stress that individuals can't do it all alone, though; companies, governments, and bigger organizations also need to help out; but it can start with individuals doing as much as they are willing to do. ( )

I wanted to enjoy this. I really did. The mission: have no impact on the environment for one year. Even when this was impossible (his wife couldn't do coffee, elevators in some buildings, etc.), the impossibility is an eye-opener.

Why didn't I like it? I didn't really like Colin. His writing styles oozes immaturity (he has a phobia of talking about toilet paper and sex). He rehashes environmental facts with unoriginal, high school-assigned drudgery.

This book gets three stars instead of two because it still is a necessary story in today's society. We must need take a close look at our lives. Even living in the recycle crazed country of Sweden, trash litters the streets. Excess packaging is an issue. Possession is becoming more and more popular. Do the things that you want really make you happy?

Just get through the Beavan, and it's a good book. ( )

A very inspiring book overall. I already recycle, use public transport, try to eat organic, etc., but Beavan's book shows how you have to try to do even more. He has lots of ideas on how to achieve that, and talks about the difference it makes in the quality of one's life (apart from helping the environment at large).

The problem I have with this book is that some parts of it are quite vague, and Beavan sometimes tends to focus in detail on things that are already well known to people of an environmentalist bent. So the content is great, but I wish the focus were a little different. ( )

This book is about simple living and social ties just as much as it's about the environment. I really appreciated Beavan's humble introspection and his Meaning of Life approach to the issue of lifestyle change. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking to start acting on their liberal guilt about the crazy wasteful American lifestyle.

On the other hand, I would NOT hire Colin Beavan to be my science writer, but oh well. You can't expect everything. ( )

Debates about individual v. collective action, is this a self-promotion vehicle for the author or no, aside.... this book was awesome to me because it inspired me to think about what I am doing and think about some changes I can make, as well as ways I can get involved. Also, being part of the knitting world, I agree on his answer to the individual v. collective action debate - when a few individuals start acting, they can inspire others and then it _becomes_ collective - I have seen it before.
A must read, if only for the list of resources/great variety of ways to take action included in the back. ( )

I had to read this book for work as I am a college instructor. So, I expected that I would have to slog through it as I normally do with the "freshman common book." I was pleasantly surprised to find Beavan to be relatable, talented, and far from pedantic. Beavan's narration is witty and funny, and, best of all, he acknowledges the extreme nature of his experiment. He's not advocating that we all adopt his temporary lifestyle. He's advocating that we all think about our choices and their effects on us and on others.

This brings me to my favorite part of the book. Colin Beavan is clearly a believer in emotional unity, which is an incredibly important life value for me. He writes that "[t]here is no my despair or your despair. There is only our despair." When we destroy the planet, we are hurting one another, and, so, we are hurting ourselves. Even if this had been the only insight I gleaned from the book (and it wasn't), the narrative would have been completely worth reading. Beavan presents environmentalism as simultaneously self-interested and generous, which is an amazing rhetorical shift from the more common depiction of recycling, etc... as a sacrifice of time and energy. The complexity of his argument, and the effectiveness that complexity generates, is fascinating to any writer. Amazing. ( )

The author decided to stop ranting about environmental destruction, and do something about it. With the somewhat reluctant cooperation of his wife, while living in a New York apartment with a toddler and dog, he embarked on a year long project to reduce or counteract his impact on the planet. In stages they reduced trash, eliminated all but self-propelled travel, purchased no new products, consumed only local food, shut off the electricity and relied on a solar panel, and got involved with city environmental organizations. This was not 100% pure; the adults had jobs, the child was in daycare, and the rules allowed socializing in the homes of friends. The year was not without marital discord, but his wife seized the opportunity to change unsatisfying habits (too much TV, too much shopping), she loved the scooter and the rickshaw, and if he was going to transform their shared life for his goals, then she was going to write her opinions on the bathroom wall. She did not, however, take to the peppermint tea as a substitute for coffee. The book is not much of a how-to; it is more rationale and musings and consequences and relationships. A documentary, recorded through year, complements the book, with little additional information but a view of the personalities in action. There is a blog too.

(read 8 Jan 2013)

I have to admire Colin Beavan for his consistent attempt to make no impact on the environment. I admire his wife, daughter, and dog even more for joining him on his urban adventure (he attempts this feat while living in a 9th-floor apartment in NYC—and his self-imposed rules prohibit the use of an elevator). Beavan is a good writer; his words and his tone truly capture the concurrent folly, heartbreak, earnestness, absurdity, and exasperation engendered by his attempt to live for one year without damaging the planet. And his reflective prose clarifies for us (without being too preachy) just how dependent we are on the alleged conveniences of modern life. I’m not sure if I could even attempt one-tenth of what Beavan does to improve the planet, but his example proves that we—and by we, I mean the human race—must do something to avert the inevitable disasters that our careless stewardship of the planet will evoke. I’m not sure, however, that I share Beavan’s optimism. I suspect that most people will have to be forced to make changes that will require them to do more to save the planet. ( )

From Trish at Quailridge: No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet, and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process by Colin Beavan (Picador $15). If you've ever tried to make changes in your life to have a smaller carbon footprint, imagine Colin Beavan's life changes when he, his wife and toddler strive to have no impact on the earth for one year. It's filled with funny and serious situations, along with a lot of great information about conservation, eating locally/organically/ethically, voting with your dollars, and which actions make the biggest difference. I found some usable ideas, more changes to consider, and very helpful resources, and I found this an enjoyable and at times hilarious read.

Loved it - very thought provoking

When this first book came out I thought 'I really should read that' but for some reason I didn't. Then my young son and I watched the DVD of the project and thought it was pretty amazing, and again thought I really should read the book. Finally I got a Kindle edition and read this book, almost in one single go.

Colin Beavan undertakes a year long project to start reducing the impact he and his family have on the environment, though measures such as reducing all rubbish output, seriously reducing carbon-based transport, sourcing food locally and other such things. These parts of the book - where he writes about this and the outcomes, and why he did it - are great. However, much of the book is taken up with Beavan's existential musings, and wondering why he is doing this project: is it because his brother died in childhood? Is it because an Uncle committed suicide? I found these parts of the book a bit tedious, yet feel bad writing that as Beavan is such an engaging writer in other parts of the book (and has gone on to do such great things) that he almost feels like someone I know and it feels like a personal insult to say such things. But I really think his editors should have been a bit more tough and kept the book to the issue at hand.

Overall, this is a great book, not just as a how-to, or even a why-to in the immediate 'this is what we are doing that is destroying the planet way', but also in a philosophical look at why we do what we do and how it is not making us happy. I would recommend it to just about anyone (actually, I would recommend the documentary over the book). ( )

I love these types of books on people's attempts to change their daily lives, but I didn't love this one. I think the author was honest and sincere about how he learned and his reflections on the process, all of which read easily. But his writing style was too casual for me. This book could have used a stronger editing hand--for spelling errors as well as for style. I felt irritated that the author only briefly alluded to Judith Levine's Not Buying It, with a dismissive take on her book, when I found the latter to be succinct, deeply thoughtful, and still accessible.

On a whim, my husband and I stopped at a Border’s bookstore that was closing on the north side Milwaukee. I just can’t pass up a book sale. You never know what kind of treasures you may find. This was one of the gems.

Colin Beavan’s No Impact Man is a wonderful book about a man who decides to make his impact on the Earth as small as possible. His family goes along for the ride albeit a bit reluctantly. Having seen the film first, I was pretty sure I knew what to expect. I enjoyed the film and I was not disappointed with the book. Over the course of a year, Beavan and his family changed their purchasing habits and their lifestyle. They changed many aspects of their lives from going without a refrigerator to using a solar panel to power a laptop. According to Beavan, one of the most frequent (and annoying) questions he got from interested followers had to do with issue of hygiene due to the lack of toilet paper. It is interesting social commentary as to what people focus on.

Unlike Sleeping Naked is Green that I previously reviewed, No Impact Man seems to be a much more dedicated and serious guide to greening one’s life. Beavan gives the reader a much better idea of hard it is to try to be ‘green’ in a society that seems to work wholeheartedly against you. (This is not to say that anyone who tries to be greener is wasting their time. Every little bit helps!)

For those of us who would like to be a little bit ‘greener’, a very detailed appendix is included with websites and other resources to help on that journey. The book is even printed on 100% postconsumer recycled paper using energy created from biogas for production. Now that is putting your money where your mouth is.

If you’d like a little taste of the world of No Impact Man, visit the No Impact Man blog. ( )

Everything I know is a lie. Well not everything, I had been suspicious of the car companies for a while, but being a good union democrat that spent a childhood in Detroit, I certainly didn't suspect them of things like killing the electric car (wait that's another movie) and buying up and dismantling over 100 trolley lines in the U.S. during the first half of the 20th century.

But what I've been sensing is what Beavan calls the "hedonistic treadmill" where we work to get a car to drive to work so we can pay for our car to get to work kind of thing. Is it really making us happy to spend 4 months of our year working to pay for our cars? Or would we be happier biking? These are the questions that we should maybe all be asking. But I know I've been finding answers to these questions.

A world issue written from a very experiential point of view. Like the way he weaves in "the meaning of life" into environmental issues. Highly recommended. ( )

no particular news on the environmental front but hats off to colin beavan for the internet presence he now has and the spin-off events. i enjoyed his narrative throughout but i am a hard core on these issues. i'm signed up for the april no-impact week! ( )

http://ibrakeforyarnhooksandbooks.blogspot.com/2010/02/no-impact-man.html ( )

With a title this long, who needs a review?!I'll just add that I loved how this man tried to be a better person. That's all I'll say. ( )

I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook, which was read by the author. Colin Beavan really made me think about what it means to do no harm to others. He gives all of us an example of what the average American can accomplish with enough motivation. And I loved hearing about Isabella too. I appreciated all the wisdom he brought into what he was doing through quotations from various zen and Buddhist teachers. When he quoted Pema Chodron, it made me feel even more connected to what he and his family was doing with their project and the reasons for it. I am looking forward to checking out his blog and continuing to follow their adventures in the big city. ( )