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

Narrated by: Colin Beavan

Bill McKibben meets Bill Bryson in this seriously engaging look at one man's decision to put his money where his mouth is and go off the grid for one year—while still living in New York City—to see if it's possible to make no net impact on the environment.

In No Impact Man, a guilty liberal finally snaps, swears off plastic, goes organic, becomes a bicycle nut, turns off his power, and generally becomes a tree-hugging lunatic who tries to save the polar bears and the rest of the planet from environmental catastrophe while dragging his baby daughter and Prada-wearing, Four Seasons–loving wife along for the ride. And that's just the beginning. In other words, no trash, no toxins in the water, no elevators, no subway, no products in packaging, no air-conditioning, no television . . .

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 satisfying or less satisfying? Harder or easier? Is it worthwhile or senseless? Are we all doomed or can our culture reduce the barriers to sustainable living so it becomes as easy as falling off a log? These are the questions at the heart of this whole mad endeavor, via which Colin Beavan hopes to explain to the rest of us how we can realistically live a more "eco-effective" and by turns more content life in an age of inconvenient truths.

©2009 Colin Beavan; (P)2009 Macmillan Audio

It may change your life

A very interesting tale that, while I can't guarantee that it will change your life, it will make you reconsider our current wasteful ways. The narration is amazingly good for an amateur. My only complaint is that it can be a little "preachy" at times and there's still that nagging question about toilet paper . . .

Thank goodness :)

Lovely, engaging, humorous, informative and easy to relate book.

Highly recommended.

Super Inspiring

You ever wonder sometimes if your life is missing something. This man and his family have the answers to how to have a more loving and connective life through living with less impact on the world.
Everyone should read this and practice this way of life.

Wow good effort

This got me thinking and acting in my life to try cut out what I can to help the planet. It’s the simple things that matter most and together we can all make an impact.

Silly Title- Worthwhile Story

Would you listen to No Impact Man again? Why?

No. It's a message that's clearly worth hearing once, but there would be little additional value or excitement to a second time.

What other book might you compare No Impact Man to and why?

It's a genre of its own.

Which scene was your favorite?

The author ran an experiment which many of would conceptually like to pursue, but few of us ever would. Living the experiment vicariously delivers a lot of the learning, without the pain.

Any additional comments?

This is a 1.5 speed read. You don't need to listen at 1.0 speed to get the point, and I moved it to 1.5 speed about 1/3 of the way in.