A Documentary Worth A Watch: No Impact Man
I love the idea of taking green baby steps because they can really make a big difference over time.  The family in the documentary No Impact Man did a lot more than take baby steps.  I would say they jumped off a cliff.
Over the course of one year, this New York City family made it their goal to make zero impact on the environment. Â Zero folks. Â Eating local, no public transportation, no elevators, no electricity!
Here is a blurb about the film from the No Impact Man documentary website:
A guilty New York liberal decides to practice what he preaches for one year.  Turn off the electricity.  Stops making garbage.  Gives up TV, taxis & take out and becomes a walking, bicycling, composting, tree hugging, polar bear saving, local food eating citizen.  All while taking his baby daughter & caffeine loving, retail obsessed, television-addicted wife along with him.
I sat and watched this film in complete awe. Â I loved the passion and dedication that this man displayed. Â I kept asking myself, “Could I do that? Â Could I give that up? Â Do I even want to be this extreme?” Â Honestly, the answer to all 3 of those questions is probably ‘no.’
Despite my I-could-never-do-that feeling, I was completely inspired by No Impact Man.  His passion was addictive and his wife’s frustrations were relate-able.  Although I am certainly no where close to the shade of green this family is, it gave me hope for a greener tomorrow.
If the documentary trailer below sparks your interest, then check your local libary to see if you can watch the film while making no impact on your wallet.  😉
(If you are reading this in an email, you’ll need to click over to Simply Rebekah to watch the video posted above.)
What is the most extreme green change you’ve made or are willing to try?
I am so intrigued….I need to find this video! Thanks so much for posting!
Wow! Looks very interesting, and definitely makes your brain twirl with wondering what you’d be willing to sacrifice for something you’re passionate about…
so I actually really enjoyed this documentary, however I was slightly confused by how having a camera crew follow you for 365 almost 24 hours a day could not be an impact? … but I also get it.. they were trying to make a point.
Good point, Elissa. As someone who has worked in video production I can tell you that they were probably NOT with this family 24 hours a day every single day, but I’m sure that alone was not your concern. 🙂 I actually checked out the film making blog and found two posts were they talked about their low impact film making efforts. Here are 4 things they did:
1. No cars whenever possible – used bikes & public transportation instead
2. Used rechargeable batteries for wireless mics
3. Didn’t use any extra added lights
4. Didn’t buy any new equipment for the film
this looks great! im gonna have to look into. i’ve tried to become more green, but my husband is very lazy when it comes to being green. i always want to buy local and he gives me the okie dokie for it…but he likes to go shopping with me, so we always end up at a grocery store.
but we are both passionate about animal rights, so we look into all the brands of meats and eggs and only buy free range eggs and non slaughter house meats.
We watched this a few months ago and it was definitely very intriguing, and inspiring. I wished, though, that it had more detailed “how-tos” for things like no electricity or all locally grown food. There were also just day to day things that I wondered about – remember the scene where they washed their clothes in the bathtub – did they always wash their clothes like that, or is that just how they did it for that scene? If they did wash their clothes like that, then what in the world did they do with their daughters cloth diapers?? There were just some aspects of their day to day, real life living, that I would have loved to see more details about. But, it definitely inspired me that I can always do more than I am doing now (in a good way), there will always be more baby steps to take and ways I can move toward an even greener lifestyle.
I liked it too, but I can’t imagine going as extreme as they did. As much as I want to “go Amish,” and even though I think I could definitely live that way IF I *HAD* to, there are some things that I appreciate having now, while I do!!! Electricity being one of them…and a flushing toilet, and a washing machine!!!!