 "Photo: Photo courtesy of Oscilloscope Pictures")
“We’re cutting down too many trees,” said the seemingly scatterbrained Colin Beavan as he waited in the green room before his guest spot on “The Colbert Report.” “We need the trees to save the environment ... and the polar bears.”
These are the woes of Beavan, the nonfiction writer, blogger and self-proclaimed “guilty liberal” who decided that he and his family will live in the greenest way possible. This endeavor is depicted in the new documentary “No Impact Man.”
Together the Beavan family avoids creating waste, emitting carbon dioxide and using electricity. Similarly, they decide to shop only at local farmer’s markets in addition to not eating meat. The film documents the family’s struggles with these limitations, where the distance between ideology and physicality lessens.
Beavan is hesitantly supported by his daughter Isabella and wife Michelle, a successful BusinessWeek writer, as they begin the one-year experiment that dramatically changes their lives.
Michelle Beavan, painted as a fierce consumer, is reluctant to enter her husband’s unfamiliar world of conservation and environmental awareness. In a way, she becomes her husband’s antithesis. While she in no way attempts to undermine his efforts, the film seems to suggest that her consumerist characteristics unravel the fabric of society and the environment. A Starbucks junkie, she caves in early on and buys a cup of coffee with the camera framing her in a close-up as the mega-corporation logo looms in the background.
Interestingly enough, Beavan has no trouble transitioning into this new lifestyle. He takes delight in the selection of root vegetables at the farmer’s market and the worm-filled compost heap that now inhabits the family’s kitchen. His childlike wonder with the things around him coupled with his quiet charm make him a likeable subject.
As the film progresses, external conflicts make their way to the forefront. The zero-impact project began to face heavy criticism on Colin Beavan’s blog. Even The New York Times has its reservations, questioning his motives.
Michelle Beavan bears the burden of her husband’s lifestyle choices, too. At one point, a co-worker’s wife instructs her husband not to shake Beavan’s hand for fear that she might be unsanitary.
Furthermore, in grand reality-television fashion (something the film acknowledges both humorously and seriously), she wants to have another child, sparking debate between the couple.
The film, while at times is fascinating, tends to lose its edge in its second half. Here, the stakes don’t seem as high — everyone has fully transitioned into green living. The ideological conflict that reared its head at the beginning seems to have been tamed.
But perhaps this is a good thing. Perhaps this family’s ability to make these lifestyle changes seem invisible is a testament to the film’s success. Maybe it is that easy once you get your hands dirty.
“No Impact Man” frames an interesting experiment within a traditional familial sphere. Its deviations are interesting to behold, but it doesn’t stray too far from the beaten path.
While it might not have the ability to make you stop using toilet paper or become a slave to root-vegetable frittatas, it presents an interesting portrait of a man trying to find his connection with the earth.
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