Wasting Away Again in ... New York City?

These days, it’s fairly easy being at least a lighter shade of “green” – you can buy and eat mostly local and organic foods, carefully plan your shopping outings to minimize driving around, and buy only the greenest household products – but is that enough?  If you want to go Full Monty (Python), throwing yourself tempestuously at the goal of having zero net eco-impact, as Colin Bevan, AKA, “No Impact Man” did, it could take you way outside your comfort zone.   

In fact, taken to an extreme, comfort has little to do with survival.  If our so-called sustainability were suddenly threatened (or if we were to “act as if” this was so), we’d be moved to take immediate action, because inaction would be seen as foolish.  Enter the realm of the “tragically committed.” 

Since few but the hardest-core greenies have yet to hook up solar panels, you probably still conserve energy by keeping your thermostat set slightly above “frostbite.” How about the odd form of kitchen art that results from laying washed plastic bags out to dry?  Or collecting various unintended and not-so-helpful critters – from maggots to raccoons – in a half-baked attempt at urban composting.  These new traditions are a tell-tale signs that you have become green beyond all reason. 

In a similar way, Mr. Bevan’s ambitious demonstration project doubles as a form of post-modern family torture, laying bear the troubles and tribulations of a fierce societal criticism fueled by a media backlash for even attempting such an audacious act of naked virtue.  But the exposure and attention – much of it gratifying, some of it unwanted – thanks to this year-long experiment, has such a strong impact on others, it becomes a powerful story with ripple effects and valuable lessons for all. 

Imagine, if you can:  what would be required to go without many of the conveniences and habitual buying patterns that most of us take for granted.  We’re not talking about going to live in the woods somewhere, taking an oath of poverty or stepping off the grid to disconnect with society.  To prove it could be done, the Bevans go “no impact” (or as close to that as they could imagine) while living in New York City and occupying dependent-on-practically-everything apartment. This takes some serious work. 

The Bevan’s family deserves tremendous credit here.  This is what love can make you do.  Wife, Michelle, is more-or-less at Colin’s side – aftera all, his commitment so contagious he's making a movie about it – but she certainly has doubts and reservations, mostly expressed “off camera.”  Some of the most difficult and hilarious moments come from this tension.  Faced with going “cold turkey” on caffeine (coffee beans don’t grow too well in NYC), for example, Michelle goes on a serious Starbucks bender. 

Turns out, if you do anything that is “right and good” for the planet, and dare talk about it, you will get quite a reaction because … everyone around you is joyfully consuming, wasting and bathing in the toxic side-effects, probably quite oblivious to any viable alternatives.  Plus, there’s a fine line between pioneering, blazing a trail, leading … and taking it so far out into Xtremeville that you risk being seen as a, well, weirdo. 

The odd thing is, No Impact Man manages to tell us a fanciful fable that also holds up a powerful and at times comedic mirror for how each of us has this “no impact” potential buried deep inside.  Of course, few (none?) of us would volunteer for such an experiment.  The very notion of zero waste is, at least for now, a romantic ideal suited to only the bravest and most committed (and slightly crazy) souls.

What’s the big deal?  Already think you’re as green as Kermit and the best environmentalist you could be?  Sound easy?  Imagine not using electricity for month after month … as John Lennon mused, “I wonder if you can.”  Most of us are not willing to give up, well, anything we truly value, just to show that it is possible to live more lightly and sustainably.  And why should we?  We earned the right by putting up with the best and worst that society offers, shouldn’t we be allowed to enjoy the spoils?  Hot showers, refrigeration, light at the flip of a switch, lighting bright enough to illuminate our entire neighborhood. Ours, at last!  But will it last?

And if you think about it, in order to avoid producing any waste, you’d have to not buy anything that is packaged, one time use, or unnecessary.  Sure, you can recycle or “downcycle” as they explain in the film, but that uses energy, too. 

And what if sending stuff to the landfill was no longer an option?  What would you do with waste?  Avoid it, let it pile up, or (as explained in this film), let worms eat it?  If you want to implement the most expensive solutions, those are all the right moves, but if you want to profit from waste’s extraction and elimination, stay tuned to Part 2 of this blog.

For now, the No Impact Man book, blog and film brilliantly chronicle the challenges and eventual virtues of such a strong commitment to “bicycling and walking the ‘no impact’ talk.”  Our unconventional hero takes his goals so much to heart, while taking his unsuspecting family along for the ride, that it is inspiring and at times quite moving.  This is a display of passion and eco-trust.  “Whatever it takes” may be an effective mantra for 2010 and beyond.  (See www.noimpactman.com, buy his book, and watch for the just-released film at a theatre near you.)