HornNoImpactMan

**Title:** No Impact Man **Director:** Colin Beaven **Release Year:** 2009

**Argument:** The goal of this film, besides the journey towards an activist piece of literature, was to attempt to become a family that would have no impact on the environment. By following 3 stages of lifestyle change, the family was to weed themselves off of all detrimental environmental aspects of human living. Very simply there was a desire to challenge the idea of need and simply remove everything from their lives to see what they could live without and what new experiences and passions would emerge from the project. At the end of the session they would piece the two worlds back together and see what they really did need and what they wanted to retain in their lives.

**Problems:** The sustainability problems that were called into question were two fold. One theme constantly running through the movie was the addressing of a wasteful family structure. The family was trying to address problems of transportation, food, sanitation, and even entertainment. Having a young child enhances all of these questions as it is difficult say with bikes to transport families any long distances, and such a thing as diaper consumption. All trash was to be The other theme was really shown through Michelle, the wife. Her struggle was one of material and actual substance addiction. A reliance on coffee was really impacting mood in the beginning of the film, a strong desire for designer goods, and a misunderstanding of nature bred animosity towards the success of the project. Another emergent theme was the negative portrayal of the family in the media and community. They were looked down upon for being elitist while trying to simplify their lives, and specifically a New York Times article and negative phrasing undermined the intention of the project.

**Persuasive:** The project was definitely daring and well intentioned. I think it raised a number of important issues, and really a new set of problems amongst those involved with the environmental community in that we are pushed to a certain limit by the “green” movement but what are we actually willing to lose and is it appropriate to look to the past and old technologies to solve our problems? The extreme nature of the family's goals I think was important in illustrating to many trendy green city inhabitants how hypocritical or shallow many of them are. Drastic lifestyle changes need to be made in order to live a sustainable life, and if we don't begin addressing how to evolve to a balance we will be forced back into a simple existence. There were several moments in the film where I thought raw emotion did a good job of expressing the importance and possibilities that emerge from an experience like this. One of my favorite moments was when the wife was becoming obviously frustrated after the husband said she had to box up all of her unnatural cosmetics that were chemically harmful. Colin then began washing clothes using an old technique where the clothes soak in a bathtub and are walked on to commence the scrubbing process. Michelle entered the bathroom and looked seriously distraught by what was occurring but when the daughter began singing and expressing extreme happiness for the action she couldn't help but give in and join in on the experience. It developed into an intensely happy family moment. I thought the dedication to going without power 6 months into the program was also extremely honorable. Vision at night was driven entirely by candle and there was no air conditioning in an extremely hot summer. What this forced was a movement out of the apartments and instead of entertaining in front of the TV, they experienced each other and the city to a greater extent. The best thing about the entire piece was that it was addressing these sustainable issues and merging them into the context of everyday life. Lastly an interesting factual piece of information I thought was interesting as well as congruent with the entire piece was when they went up to visit a dairy farm and discussed what it means for a farmer to be organic and that includes no antibiotics for the animals. **Not Compelled:** I think one of the negative aspects of this project was that in completely giving up every aspect of human impact they were severely detracting from the sustainable nature and opportunities of actual being in a place like New York City. For example, their rule of no restaurants I believe squashed the opportunity to discover places with excellent food and sustainable meals. While mass transit still utilizes a great deal of energy, the density of travelers makes it an extremely efficient system for traversing the city. Their apartment definitely illustrated the problems inherent in building design in the city however, and throws into question can these buildings be retrofitted in an appropriate way or does the entirety of the building have to be rebuilt, making it an extremely unsustainable practice.

**Audience:** I think that this film was primarily geared towards families and also as a critique of those members of the community that believe they are acting in a sustainable way by using reusable bags as they continue to consume and create waste. The combination of real family issues, like having more children and continuing careers, merges with the issues of sustainability and works to provoke questions within other families. The involvement of the child in the sustainable education also targets families by showing them how enjoyable and what a bonding experience occurs when this education occurs.

**Enhancement:** There was a section of the film towards the end where Colin was tracking waste to the sites of disposal and seeing the other various areas of the city that are impacted as a result of the consumption present in the center of New York. It is amazing how even in such a small area, waste can be removed beyond view. I think that a stronger engagement with the volunteering Colin was taking part in and a better understanding of the impact that occurs for other less fortunate families in the boroughs surrounding New York City would have been appropriate.

**Intervention:** The film was suggested basically an analysis of your life as a starting point for realizing what kind of impact one has on the state of the environment. It ended with too light of a message though. The message should have been that changes need to occur and we shouldn't be scared of what emerges but it does require an effort, it's simply an effort that is re-appropriated from daily tasks that are currently put into cleaning and maintaining a blemish free environment.

**Additional Info:**

**1]** I had to check out the blog that No Impact Man had setup and kept referring to throughout the movie. I think it's excellent that he is still involved with the blog and hasn't abandoned it but embraced and remained interested. It also seems like his work has expanded and he has begun to organize individuals and participate in more volunteer events.

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 **2]** The movie brought me to the realization that I didn't actually know what the term organic meant, or at least how precise the definition is. I decided to check out the organic growers websites online to see exactly how far they go to produce high quality foods. Specifically I looked at the California Growers whose website layout itself suggests how difficult the process of labeling appears to be.   []