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

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 is an autobiography published in 2009. Author Colin Beavan, tired of being a liberal who only lectures his wife about not wearing fur, decides to dedicate himself, his wife Michelle, and their toddler Isabella to a year of creating no impact on the environment. His plan is, while living in an apartment in Manhattan, to reduce his use of resources to create a net impact of zero on the environment.

Although his project starts with some hiccups, he eventually works through eliminating packaging by refusing to order takeout and only buying locally grown, in-season food. He must forgo New York delicacies like pizza on a plate, and he runs the risk of seeming unsocial when he refuses to have coffee outside of the house. He brings a cup with him wherever he goes, and he gives up his TV.

His account ranges from meditations on his life to insights from different religions, including Zen Buddhism. He determines that living a life with less waste will create a more meaningful existence and that people are caught on a “hedonistic treadmill” (26) in which they have to work harder and harder to afford goods that take them away from the essence of life. His desire to find a more meaningful life is in part fueled by the loss of his infant brother when he was 4 and the loss of an uncle to suicide. His parents in rural coastal Massachusetts also instill in him the importance of living a slower life that involves creating little waste. He finds that as he dedicates himself to his project, he is healthier, has more time for his family, and has more opportunities to socialize with others.

The author becomes increasingly more involved in his project as it begins to attract widespread media attention. He rides his bike everywhere and turns the lights off and uses a solar panel on his roof for power. At night, he lights beeswax candles to read, and he cleans his family’s clothes by agitating them in the tub. He also dedicates himself to working for local conservation groups. When his daughter has a febrile seizure and goes to the hospital, he meets a girl who has asthma attacks because her South Bronx neighborhood is choked with pollution.

In the end, he keeps some of the aspects of the project, while turning the lights back on. However, he does not lose his commitment to living a life with determination and purpose.