"No Impact Man"

I receive daily updates from the New York Times in my email and like to glance over the headlines to see if there are any news items of interest to me. Well, being that I'm interested in environmental concerns and issues, I was attracted to the article, "The Year Without Toilet Paper" by Penelope Green. This article is about a middle-aged man living in New York named Colin Beavan who is trying to lead a life that has no net impact on the environment, hence the name of his experiment, "No Impact Man". His no “net” impact concept entails that he and his family (wife, 2-year-old daughter, and dog) don’t contribute to the production of trash, carbon emissions, and toxins in the water, don’t use elevators or the subway, don’t purchase products in packaging, don’t use plastics, don’t use air conditioning, don’t watch TV, don’t use toilets, etc. Included in the article was the link to the fellow's website/blog: "No Impact Man". On his website, Colin Beavan explains his reasons for starting this project and what he is trying to accomplish. He also routinely comments on his blog, documenting his experience, and answers/responds to question/comments left by others on his site.

I was really interested in Colin Beavan and this experiment that he's trying out because instead of talking and complaining about the negative impact we humans have on the environment and how we need to be more environmental cautious, Colin Beavan takes matters into his own hands and sees what happens when he gives up all the comforts of our current lifestyles that are actually harmful to the environment. Here are some questions he asked himself at the beginning of his experiment:

”What would it be like to try to live a no impact lifestyle? Is it possible? Could it catch on? Is living this way more fun or less fun? More satisfying or less satisfying? Harder or easier? Is it worthwhile or senseless? Are we all doomed or is there hope?"

Colin Beavan completely changes his lifestyle for this cause without knowing how things will turn out, something that not many would do nowadays. This is what our society needs to do in order to solve our problems; instead of pointing fingers and just talking about our issues, we need to make changes and follow through with them.