No Impact Man

What brings me the most happiness during celebrations like birthdays and holidays is that I feel at home. I connect these events with home and that’s where I’m the most comfortable. Associating these events with a particular place is also hard. When I’m away from home I start to miss it. My family and friends aren’t in my life as much and these are the people that bring me the most happiness in my life and especially during these celebrations. It’s about being in the moment with those who care about you and those that you care about.

No Impact Man is a part of the same kind of family but when Thanksgiving comes around, my family takes a big part in eating a turkey or two to celebrate while he probably thinks it’s hurting the environment. No Impact Man, as you can see from his name, doesn’t want to hurt the world in any way. He has almost hypnotized him family into thinking that no electricity is a good idea. Although not having electricity for a day might be fun, it’s unrealistic for me and many people to live without it. Energy powers almost everything in this world today that works. With technology improving everyday, it’s hard to find an appliance or tool that doesn’t need to use electricity. For the Beavan’s family, they couldn’t find a renewable source of power that could meet 100% of their energy needs because in today’s world it’s just too hard to go with out any source of electricity. When thinking about people who live in the city, it is especially hard for them to live “no impact” when it comes to electricity because they do live in a city. There’s no big green area to make a fire and cook your steak. There’s no battery that will let your phone last forever without a charge. There’s no way you can work in a 100-story building without any light. Everything using electricity if you actually think about it. That’s how the world is made today.

 Going back to the idea of food and being vegetarian, the Beavan’s chose to eat locally and seasonally through their “No Impact” year. When watching the documentary, Michelle, Colin Beavan’s wife, reversed her diabetic condition by eating locally. They were able to eat healthier, know what was in their food and where exactly it came from. The negative aspects of the experience of eating locally grown food, was the example of Michelle who depended upon coffee everyday. Her work started to drag and she was tired all the time. In the end she was healthier without it.

Consumption was another part of the Beavan’s plan. They wouldn’t use the television and not purchase anything new. Michelle and Colin thought that the TV caused several problems for the. It took them away from reality when they spent time watching reality shows. It also took them away from spending quality time with each other and their daughter. Television can cause these problems in many other people’s lives including mine. I find myself watching television when I’m bored and I could clearly be doing something more productive.