Original subtitles

We‘re trying to live in the city causing no environmental impact...

and I write about it in noimpactman.com.

We‘rejust cutting down too many trees.

We need the trees to save the planet.

And the polar bears.

I‘m trying to live a life in line with myvalues.

Oh, fuck.

People are intent on replacing the American way...

with wind power and tree—bark burgers.

Like this one New York family, the Beavans...

who are five months into a yearlong quest to live without impacting the environment.

The rules?

No toilet paper, no incandescent bulbs or disposable razors...

or magazines or newspapers, television...

planes, trains, automobiles, elevators, plastic bags...

or shopping for anything new.

They‘re poisoning our capitalist society.

And here now to defend himselfis the patriarch ofthese eco—Mansons, Colin Beavan.

Mr. Beavan, thankyou so much forjoining us.

Joining us now is the writer and self—proclaimed No Impact Man, Colin Beavan.

We begin tonight with one man, his family and a radical experiment to help the planet.

With more than 40% ofthe public now convinced that humans cause global warming—

I just thought, “What ifI actually tried not to hurt the environment?

What would that feel like?

Is it possible?

Is it practical?"

One ofthe things that I as a writer have wanted—

because my last two books were history books— is to become more ofan activist writer.

In some sort ofhumble way, I want to have some sense...

that my writing is helping the world.

For the next year, my wife, baby daughter and I while living in the middle of New York City...

are going to attempt to live without making any net impact on the environment.

Ultimately this means we‘ll create no trash, so no take—out food...

emit no carbon dioxide, so no driving or flying...

pour no toxins in the water, so no laundry detergent...

buy no produce from distant lands, so no New Zealand fruit.

Not to mention no elevators, no subway, no products in packaging...

no plastics, no air conditioning, no TV, no paper—

Anyway, so that‘s—

That‘s kind oflike a summary ofthe project.

Colin told me what the project would be, and my honest reaction—

I was really excited that he had an idea that he was excited about.

‘Cause that was, overall, the most important thing.

I thought, “As long as we‘re doing all these things, why don‘t we throw in...

my two current addictions,“ which are shopping and reality TV.

I‘m a reality—TV aficionado, addict and expert.

Look at her face right now.

It‘s good.

I‘ve had a really intense relationship with retail.

Catherine Malandrino sample sale.

Jean Paul Gaultier— So fun.

And I‘ll seeyou at midnight, and then we‘ll have dinner at 2:00 am.

Machacobs is, like—

“I‘m married, I‘m a mom, but I‘m still trying to workita little bit.“

I‘m a high—fructose corn syrup—addicted, you know...

screen—addicted, meat—eating girl.

I would say that I was not an environmentalist.

I would say that I was the typical, like, consuming—

I‘m a consumer.

I‘m a take—outjunkie.

You were scared of not being able to consume for a year.

Yeah, I was. You‘re right.

So you tried to do all youryear‘s consuming in one week.

I dropped a paycheck.

— Chloe boots. That was a lot. — How much?

— I‘m appalled at myself. — Can you say how much though?

That‘s appalling.

That‘sjust— I can‘t even— I‘m embarrassed.

— This was the last hurrah. — This was the binge.

— I got you. — Yeah. That‘s the bill ofthe binge.

Yeah, I was laughing ‘cause I wasjust looking for necessities.

— That was like Custer‘s last stand right there— — Okay.

spending all my money on silly things.

I don‘t care how much you spend.

This particular spending has to do with—

— Your project. — no impact.

— I thought it was our project. — Oh, yeah.

It‘s “No Impact Man." It‘s his book, and it‘s his project.

And he‘s No Impact Man, but in order—

But the project is, our family is doing this.

Two weeks ago, on day one ofthe project...

we stopped using carbon—producing transportation...

which means no airplanes, no subways, no taxis and no elevators.

People say, “Well, why get so extreme...

‘cause not everybody is gonna get so extreme,“ and this kind ofthing.

It‘s to experience the whole gamut ofthings...

to see, well,what really are we willing to give up?

At the end, we‘ll come out ofit and see what are we willing to keep.

What are we not? What was too hard? What wasn‘t too hard?

The paradigm is, ”reduce reuse, recyc/e. ”

50 the first thing is, reduce— Rea’uce our consumption, right?

Oh / think to myse/ij' ”You know, of course / can’t do Without this.

/ can’t do Without that. ”

So the idea is, ”Okay, /et’s do Without it a//. ”

— Come to see how big the TV is. —Yeah. Come on in.

They‘re gonna take the TV away.

And we‘rejust gonna not have a TV. We‘re gonna be TV—Iess people.

— Yeah. — Mommy‘s a little bit addicted to the TV.

I‘m gonna be 40 this summer, and there werejust so many things about the way...

that I was living my life— especially with Isabella— that I wanted to change.

I had my blood tested really in depth...

and it showed that ifI didn‘t change the way that I was eating...

I was on my way to diabetes and had a low thyroid and—

And then that kind ofcomingled with my 40th birthday...

is kind oflike that moment in life...

when I think, “Well, what do I want the second halfof my life to look like?“

Since the first halfis done. Ticktock.

The project works in phases.

/ 777 not a trained environmenta/ist, so / ‘n7 /earning as / go.

Right now we ‘re rea//y working on our trash.

The average A merican creates 7, 600 pounds of trash a year

We ‘re t/j/ing to reduce that to zero.

See that Hawthorne Valley Farm? Certified organic biodynamic.

I‘m gonna see ifwe can all, as a family, go stay on that farm for a few days...

and volunteer and stuff.

Is that okay?

Yeah, babe, that sounds like a great idea.

The majority of our trash is food packaging and food was te.

The good thing about the farmers ‘market is that most of the food is so/d unpackaged..

so it’s easy to shop there and not make trash.

— No environmental impact? — Yeah. Causing no environmental impact.

— Really? — Yeah.

— Then you can‘t have this bag. — Thankyou!

How do I say this without sounding like a dick?

I get upset to see things individually wrapped in plastic.

You know what? Are the worm people here?

— What do you need the worms for? — Well, can I tell you about it after?

Basically, the worms make it compost faster.

Honey, I‘m not into that at all.

Okay. We can talk about it.

— Michelle? —Yeah?

Wanna come see the worms?

See ‘em wiggling around in there, Mom?

— Yeah. How do you make sure they don‘t get out? — They can‘t get out.

— Wait. Is there no cover? — Ofcourse there‘s a cover.

— Let‘s cover it up. —Wait. Isabella‘s looking at ‘em.

Okay. Nature.

Mom doesn‘t really like nature, but Dad likes nature.

So, diaper cover—

Made from wool— Organic wool.

Nicely treated lambs. I checked into all this.

There‘s five different techniques.

And there‘s the bikini fold and the angel fold, and so whatever.

We‘re gonna try the angel fold.

7'here’s confusion over..

whether c/oth diapers or disposab/e diapers are better for the environment...

and the indus try—funded studies suggest that it’s the same.

But the fact is that we put 49 mi//ion p/as tic diapers a day in the /andii//s.

it’s the third—largest source of trash in the /andii//s.

Does it feel different, honey?

— It‘s too fun. — It‘s too fun.

Let‘s see.

H ey, h ey!

Look at you.

— The green—century babe. — Yeah.

Yeah.

We come here every Sunday for breakfast, and we love it.

But as a part ofour—

Colin— our no—impact project—

with phasing out everything, including restaurants—

so this is our last supper at Pastis...

and our last supper in a restaurant together as a family, right?

We‘re gonna eat food only from within 250 miles...

so it‘s not that Pastis, per se, is a problem, but—

For example, the wheat in the bread...

probably comes from the Great Plains, way far away...

so it‘s—

That‘s what the problem will be that the food comes from all over the place...

and we‘re trying to eat locally.

We can eat what we have except for the spices because the spices would last all year.

Onions are not a problem. Garlic is not a problem.

Squash is not a problem.

Potatoes are not a problem.

We had leek and potato soup last week for three days.

I‘ve gone offmeat...

but I still have been eating fish, so last night I started...

no meat, no fish, no nothing.

Out ofeverything— Out ofthe stairs and the scooter and the no garbage—

I‘ve definitely found the food to be the hardest.

It‘s still hard. Ijust wanna go get a baked good.

Why do you think foods are hardest foryou?

Because I can‘t eat anything that tastes good.

We ‘re stuck now with cabbage and root vegetab/es...

unti/ the winter’s over and the spring comes.

Hi, Ryan. I‘m gonna come back in a little while to get some milk.

I‘ve got too much to carry already.

We‘ll see ya.

The guy that I usually give my egg cartons to isn‘t here.

The transportation offood creates a /ot of carbon emissions.

Here in the United States, the average piece offood..

has trave/ed 7, 500 miles from the farm to the p/ate.

These guys have great apples.

I‘m wondering what your favorite is.

The winesaps‘ll knockyour socks off.

7'here ‘s a/so /ots of other reasons for ea ting /oca/, /ike preserving our farm/ands.

And the reason we ‘re vegetarian is...

wor/dwide, meat—eating is responsib/e formore greenhouse gases...

than anything e/se, inc/uding transportation.

There‘s no locally grown coffee, so I have to cut it out...

so today‘s my last hurrah with the iced quad espressos.

I‘m worried that I‘m gonna have a slip, that I‘m not gonna be able to do it...

and then I‘m worried about the wrath ofColin.

Because it really bothers him when I have slips...

because it makes him feel like the project is going to pot.

Basically, this is easy for Colin, andjust murder for me—

The food and the caffeine.

That‘s Mommy‘s third and last iced quad espresso.

Prepare for takeoff.

Feelin‘ good.

Oh, my God. Much better.

Part ofeating local...

is about getting to know the farmers that you‘re getting your food from.

So we‘re gonna go see Ronny at Ronnybrook Farm and all his little cows.

This is the first time I‘ve been on any sort of...

non—seIf—propelled transportation for...

more than a month.

So it‘s kind offun. Choo—choo.

Every cow has a name.

This is Thelma. Hi, girl.

Is your relationship with the animals part ofwhyyou do it?

That‘s the reason we started doing it.

My wife tells me that when my son was born, I had to milk the cows.

I couldn‘t take her to the hospital.

I didn‘t remember that one.

Let‘s talk about organic.

You don‘t have the “organic“ label.

Why don‘t you, and what do you think about the organic label and—

Well, I think“organic“ is a good thing.

The one thing that I am opposed to as organic is not being able to treat your cows.

Right.

That‘s the only thing that I couldn‘t subscribe to.

Which is what? Explain that to me.

Well, ifa cow gets sick, you can‘t use any antibiotics.

That‘s the problem I have is Iettin‘ cows die.

These have been the same cows for generations.

Wow.

Hi, honey.

So let me askyou this. So everything you‘re saying— So let‘s go to the other end.

People are onboard the organic marketing bus.

The most important thing— the reason local is important—

is I want to make the food chain legible.

IfI‘m gonna buya grape from you, I wanna go see what you‘re doing.

You might not be certified organic, but everything you do is organic or better.

In milk, it only has to be—

it only has to be local...

and you have to go see the treatment ofthose animals.

You gotta go see it.

This is an entirely local—food frittata.

Now, the root vegetables come from an upstate farm.

Red cabbage— Also upstate New York.

Eggs and cheese—

It‘s from upstate New York too.

— Did you hear the phone ring? —I did.

— That was Robin. — Yeah?

And basically, the deal is that they wanna try and make this the cover story.

Yeah.

But early Monday morning at 7:00 am, Robin needs to have the new draft in his hand.

So I‘m...

feeling so debilitated by my caffeine withdrawal...

that I feel like it‘s gonna affect my work.

— Uh—huh. — I feel like this is a really important story.

This is what I think. Why don‘t you wait until whenever—

— When are you gonna start doing the work? — After our dinner party.

Why don‘t you wait till then, and then you can decide.

You‘ve gotta be kidding me.

I feel like my head is about to pop off my body.

It‘s gonna help me through the process, and I feel like it‘s gonna be stressful...

and so why not avail myselfofthat help?

Just a second.

What you really mean is, you want some coffee right now.

— It‘s got nothing to do— — I‘m gonna take the dog out.

—juice up. — That‘s what you really—

Yeah, I wanna go use. I wanna go on a run.

— Well, I don‘t care. — But you do care.

— Well, you know— — I only eat local food. I don‘t create any garbage.

— I don‘t eat anything— —Wait, wait.

You only eat local food, but who provides it...

gets up in the morning and makes you breakfast every day—

— You. — does your lunch—

— You. — does your dinner—

— That wasn‘t the point. — Then washes the dishes when it‘s all done?

Iwash the dishes.

What really happened is, Robin called you up, and you thought, “Oh, this is an excuse.“

So you‘re gonna have your— You‘re mad at me.

And I‘m telling you that I‘m gonna go take care ofmyself.

You‘re putting words in my mouth. I never said I was mad.

I am now going to go take care of myself and get an iced quad espresso, and maybe two.

I don‘t know.

I don‘t want to let everyone down, or let myselfdown.

I use this spicy olive oil, and it‘s the remnants ofour olive oil...

‘cause pretty soon we won‘t be able to use olive oil.

— And you‘re going to do without power here? — Eventually.

Well, what about power in somebody else‘s apartment?

Ifsomebody were to invite us to watch TV at their house, we‘d say yes...

‘cause it was a social occasion.

I‘m not begging, but close.

—Clothing? — Used clothes are allowed.

No new materials, but Michelle, I think, wants to go cold turkey.

For the whole year. I‘m not gonna buy anything all year.

It‘s been really great letting it go, ‘cause I‘ve been able to rethink everything.

What do I use? What don‘t I use?

‘Cause Colin‘s out ofstyle anyway.

We‘re the superficial friends.

Second syllable.

Goodjob.

At first, because it was ourhabit to watch TV, we missed it.

And now that space is iii/ed.

with being in the moment, with friends and each other

I‘m making cornmeal porridge...

which we have a lot, even though Michelle doesn‘t like it that much...

because there‘s not that much we can get locally.

So cornmeal porridge is what it is.

My apple.

— Okay, give Mommy a kiss good—bye. — I love you.

I‘ll see you later, okay, honey? I‘m gonna go to work.

And I put a post on the blog called “How We Avoid Making Trash.“

“No Indian food in throwaway take—out tubs.

No Chinese food in plastic throwaway tubs.

No Italian food in plastic throwaway tubs.

No soda cans. No water in plastic bottles.

Canceling our magazine and newspaper subscriptions.

Putting an end to thejunk mail tree killing.“

I‘m calling up the companies...

to ask them not to send them to us anymore.

“Returning egg and berry cartons to the vendors at the farmers‘ market for reuse.

Buying milk in returnable, reusable bottles.

Carrying my ultra—cool, reusable cup and water bottle...

which is a glassjar I diverted from the landfill.

Using baking soda from a recyclable container to brush my teeth.

Switching to real— meaning cloth— diapers.

Shopping for food only from the bulk bins...

and from the local farmers‘ market, where food is unpackaged and fresh.“

IfI want what‘s inside this box, why do I need the box?

And inside the box, there‘s a bag.

“No throwaway plastic razors and blade cartridges.

Using old clothes for rags around the apartment instead of paper towels.

Keeping a worm bin to compost our food scraps...

into nourishment that can be returned to the earth...

instead oftoxins that seep from the landfills.“

Here. Look at this.

They‘re gonna eat, I thinkyou told me, three pounds offood material—

A week. Yeah.

Before the project started, we took four days where we saved all our trash.

There was 90 gallons in four days, which is kind ofdisgusting.

This is our combined trash for a week.

— Okay, so, we‘ve done the trash phase. — Yeah.

— And we‘ve done the local—eating phase. — Yeah.

And now we‘re moving into the sustainable consumption phase.

But what about transportation and all the other stuffwe‘ve done?

Yes, but those aren‘t part ofthe phases.

— So now we‘re moving into— — Okay.

Making sure that we don‘t have any environmental impact through purchasing, basically.

So the first rule is, don‘t buy new products. Okay?

But we can borrow, rent or buy used.

Do you have to go to the potty?

Do you have to go to the potty?

Do you want some toilet paper?

Actually, we‘re out oftoilet paper.

Honey, do we have any toilet paper?

One thing that‘s really, really hard is for a consumer...

to figure out what‘s okay to buy and what‘s not okay to buy...

and what should be disposable and what‘s not disposable, right?

— Yeah. — So that research is really, really hard to do...

— and nobody can do it all. —Yeah.

But ifyoujust cut out consuming the things you don‘t really need—

— Yeah. — you‘ve already done it.

— Yeah! — You don‘t have to do the research.

So ifyou discover that reallyyou don‘t need toilet paper, you canjust reuse cloths—

— Yeah. — Yeah. You don‘t have to buy toilet paper...

and you don‘t have to do the research about toilet paper.

You get it?

—Yeah. — Do we really want to be this graphic?

‘Cause—

The thing about it is, is you don‘t know until you try.

I feel like I‘m gonna lose myjob.

The public health mockery of us isjust gonna be—

— It‘s a one—year experiment. — Right.

Isn‘t it making you, No Impact Man, so fringe and wacko...

that you‘ll just be discounted as a fringe wacko?

I‘m just asking rhetorically.

But ifI tried it, and I found out that it works...

and it‘s environmentally better and it‘s no problem...

and it can be donejust as hygienically, then I don‘t see why it would cheapen it.

But ifI don‘t try it, I won‘t know at all.

— You see? — Oh, Frankie.

What‘s bad about toilet paper?

We need our trees to absorb carbon dioxide...

but instead we‘re cutting ‘em down to make toilet paper.

So part ofour experiment isjust to ask...

do we have to be a disposable culture?

Right? And toilet pa—

And it‘s extreme, because we‘re looking at every angle ofthat “disposableness.“

Because the throwaway culture itself is reallya big problem.

And actually, ifwe were—

Maybe we can get away from everything that‘s throwaway.

Tonight I was, like, “Okay, well, ifyou‘re gonna ask me to do this...

then I should be getting a prize, a coupon or a voucher, redeemable for something.“

But I don‘t really want anything.

And then the next thought was—

I felt this sadness for the wanting part ofme kind ofdying a little bit...

and it felt like there wasjust a hole there.

So what is left?

— What‘s that? — It‘s all the stuffthat we‘re gonna give away.

From cleaning out the closets.

Okay, ready?

This is called “inventory reduction.“

I‘ve never, ever been here before where there‘s been a Marcjacobs bag.

— You already have that exact same bag. — No, I don‘t, honey.

— You don‘t? — Honey, I have the white Sophia.

— And what‘s that? — That‘s not white.

It‘s a kind oftaupe, and it‘s a totally different bag.

Maybe ours was a little bigger. I don‘t know.

But, anyway, itjust reminds me ofour TV.

You’re on New Vorkpub/ic radio, WNI/C, FM andAM, New York..

and wnyc. org

Mos t/ysunn y skies in Centra/ Park at 7 0:00.

My first guest today is No Impact Man.

Colin Beavanjust walked up 24 fiights ofstairs...

accompanied byyour host, who is not proud—

or tired— to avoid consuming electricity in an elevator.

For those ofyou who happen to have the New York 77mes around...

take out section F, the House and Home section.

There‘s a big, green—tinted picture ofCoIin Beavan‘s apartment...

with his wife and daughter and everything.

One ofthe biggest pictures I‘ve ever seen in the New York Times—

ofone ofthe littlest apartments I‘ve ever seen in the New York 77mes.

I rode home from The Brian LehrerShow, and I thought...

“I‘m gonna go see ifany of my friends saw the New York 77mes story...

and e—mailed me to say congratulations“...

and there was 150 e—mails.

The subject line says things like “Greetings from The TodayShow “

Hi. This is Mary Know/es. / ‘m a producer for Bi// Maher

Atfintlmudud.

but then when I saw how many requests there were, and I didn‘t know what to do...

I went from excited to scared out of my mind.

Hi, Co/in. My name is Ce/ia Converse. / work with the Discove/y Channei.

Hi, Mr Beavan. Myname isAbian Agradge...

and / ‘m ca//ing from A/jazeera in Eng/ish, based out of Washington, D. C.

People contacting me from Australia, Colombia, Germany, Italy—

Time Out Kids is doing a story about families that live in New York—

Sort of eco—effective, environmental green families.

— Can you turn yourselfmore towards me? — Oh, my God—

You see?

Not to mention, like, Italian television, Japanese television.

Interview request from a newspaper in France.

Before we started this project, Michelle and I—

Sir, you were talking about the philosophy. What‘s behind No Impact Man?

I kind ofam always thinking about collective action.

What we as a society should do.

The laws that should be changed.

But one ofthe things I‘ve always been weak on as a liberal is individual action.

Why do I have to wait for Congress to do something?

Why do I have to wait for big business to do something? Why don‘t I do something?

The Times, though, makes it sound like part change the world...

part gimmick foryour next book.

— Do you cop to that? — Yeah, I totally cop to that.

I am whoI am. This is whatI do.

But IfI can take the energy ofwho I am as a person...

and point that energy in a direction that— I say this most humbly—

and point that energy in a direction that can help the world...

then it‘s better than pointing it in another direction.

This is what the New York 77mes reporter says about the project at the end.

“It may seem at best like a scene from an old—fashioned situation comedy...

and at worst an ethically murky exercise in self—promotion“—

So she wrote basically that the range of possibilities...

was that it‘s bad, or it‘s really bad.

To a reader it was really funny.

From my point ofview, it undermines the opportunity to cause people to think.

What if we ca//ed it ”The Year/ Lost 20 Pounds Without Going to the Gym Once ”?

Or ”The Year We Didn’t Watch 7'I/and We Became Much Better Parents as a Result”?

Or if we ca//ed it ”The Year We Ate Loca/iy and Seasona//y..

and /t Ended Up Reversing My Wi/fe’s Pre—diabetic Condition ”2

There are actua/ benefits to /iving environmenta/iy

So this is the readers‘ opinions, right?

379 comments. Apparently it‘s a huge number ofcomments.

“Sacrifice now or sacrifice later.

I‘m already doing a lot, but plan to do a lot more.“

Then there is this one. “I can‘t wait to wipe my ass with this book.“

This one says, “DTMFA, Michelle.“

Which I‘m guessing stands for “Dump the motherfucking asshole.“

Gawker is a site that kind of parodies and sends things up that are in the media.

“Colin quietly weeps on the toilet too moist to move, and too proud to wipe.“

That was great. But the comments—

“My first impulse was to rake these people with Uzi fire...

while screaming, ‘Is that enough impact foryou?“‘

I started— I doubted myselffor a little while.

I think I‘m doing something worthwhile, but maybe I‘m not.

Maybe one, it‘s philosophically wrong.

Because I‘ve also got e—mails from some environmentalists that say...

“Crazy people like you give the rest of us a bad name.“

Could I potentially be making completely the wrong decisions?

Yeah, but—

I‘mjust trying—

I just try to ask myself to do what my cons—

I try to follow the dictates of my conscience.

I know that I can‘t back out now, and I‘m not gonna back out on you...

but it‘s making me not want to do it.

I think that it‘s create— We‘ve been reading the blogs and stufflike that.

One person at work has come up—

WhoI reallylike. She‘s a friend ofmine, but I guess she—

Everywhere she goes, people were talking about it—

Basically how we‘re bourgeoise fucks and crazy...

and she spends all her time defending me.

Then one guy said...

“My wife has instructed me to never, ever shake your hand.“

And she went on all night about the hygiene and—

I understand why people would criticize. I just don‘t get why they hate us.

— I don‘t think they hate us. — I don‘t get that.

Completely coincidentally, Colin and I were invited to brunch...

by this woman Kerry, because she‘s a food writer.

And it turns out, at the end ofthe brunch that I discover that—

She comes clean with the fact that she had written negatively about us...

and had been one ofour haters on the Web.

She claims that she‘s changed her mind about us. I don‘t know.

Let me see ifI can pull this up.

I have been dreading this moment. I was afraid you were gonna ask.

You‘re a sport.

Oh, God.

“No Impact Man is, in fact, having an impact but probably not the one he intended.

Once upon a time, virtue was its own reward.

Now a vow ofvoluntary simplicity isjust another entrepreneurial enterprise.

The fact that No Impact Man‘s ostentation embrace ofall things organic...

did not come about in, well, an organic fashion, is what bothers me.

While No Impact Man runs around air—drying his ass for posterity...

less fiamboyant folks are leading lives ofquiet inspiration.“

—Yeah, I questioned his sincerity and his motives. — Yes.

And there was a “gee whillikers“ quality to the posts that rubbed me the wrong way.

Your criticism, in the context ofthe criticism...

is very, very mild.

I didn‘t quite get why people hated us or why it was such a—

— I have a theory. — I didn‘t quite get it.

Based on my own experience with this kind ofthing, to a much lesser extent...

but I think that a lot ofthis really touches a nerve for people.

Aside from making people feel guilty and defensive...

about their consumer habits...

people are very traumatized...

ifyou suggest that they should make do without something.

The notion ofgoing without—

— The notion of“I need it.“ — Yeah. I need this.

OrI don‘t need it, but I want it, and why shouldn‘t I have it?

This is being a good American.

Part of/oca/ food is about connecting with the way the food is grown...

so / talked to the /oca/ community garden...

and the waiting /ist for having your own plot is /ong /ike years and years.

But it turns out that there is on/y one person in the community garden who grows vegetab/es.

Even/body e/se grows fiowers.

And he was actua//y wi//ing to take me on and to mentorme.

You gonna help us in the garden?

—Yeah. — You wanna grow things?

That‘s my friend Mayer.

Be careful. That‘s a rosebush. That has thorns.

That has sharp things.

— Let‘s talk about what we hope to do today. — Yep.

This little plot is gonna be parsley.

Just kind of broadcast it over this rectangle.

And cover it to the depth that it says to, and whatever else.

Want me to tell you what I‘m doing?

We‘re gonna put some plants in there.

So I‘m breaking up the soil so that the plants can grow.

I thought gardening was supposed to be hard work, Mayer.

Itis. I dida lot ofthe most labor—intensive—

— When you spread the manure? — Yeah.

— Right. — When I dug the whole fuckin‘ place up last fall.

I‘m takin‘ these seeds, right?

And I‘m gonna put ‘em in the ground.

Mayer, we‘re going to go spend four days up at Hawthorne Valley Farm.

There whole thing is that everything on the farm is recycled.

— Yes. — It‘s all self—contained.

Yes. I called them up, and the whole family—

Me and Isabella and Michelle— It‘s gonna be our holiday.

— That‘s great. — Yeah.

I feel like we should talk about having another kid.

But I know that you don‘t want another kid...

so I feel like that means we‘re probably aren‘t gonna have another kid.

When we had Isabella, I felt like you really wanted a baby...

and what I wanted for my life could have—

I just couldn‘t keep that from you.

And I was willing to take the leap with you from that because I felt like—

Also it‘s funny ‘cause we have this history.

I was scared to get married too, and I would say to you, “Are we doing the right thing?“

And you said yes, and I trust—

I trusted you, and for me, it‘s totally the right thing.

But when I think about having a second child—

Whose career is it that‘s gonna get—

Whose work‘s gonna get sidelined?

‘Cause you‘re totally riding high at work.

Ifwe were to have a second child, are you willing to give up that work?

I don‘t have to— That‘s so— Well, that‘s so—

I don‘t have to give up myjob to have a second child.

I don‘t know whyyou‘re bringing—

I don‘t really feel like my work has anything to do with it, really.

It does.

Because the point is I wanna know ifwe were to have a second child— Right?

I don‘t particularly want a sec—

I don‘t want a second child. Right?

But before we even begin to consider it...

there is not much flexibility in our schedules, right?

So what I‘m asking you is, where is the flexibility gonna come from?

It‘ll come from me.

Okay. I‘ve collected all the cleaning products we have in the house already.

Standard cleaning products contain all sorts ofchemicals...

that aren‘t good for us, and they‘re not good for the environment either.

And they end up getting flushed down our drains and into the water supply.

What we‘re looking at here...

are a lot ofthings that are marketed...

as natural and not harming the environment already...

because we‘ve been on the project for a while now.

They do not allow you to refill the bottles...

and for the purposes ofthis project, we don‘t use disposable products.

And people say, “Well, what about recycling?“

But the fact ofthe matter is that plastic recycling...

is not as good as it‘s made out to be.

It‘s better than nothing, but it‘s still not perfect.

So the people call it “downcycling“ rather than recycling...

‘cause it goes down in quality every time, and then becomes toxic.

As we‘ve been running out ofstuff, I‘ve—

We‘ve save the empty bottles so that we can...

put our homemade cleaning products in the empty bottles.

All our cleaning products can be made from these things—

White vinegar, baking soda...

castile soap...

and borax.

How doyou tell ifit‘s really clean?

But it feels like it—

Itfeels the same as though I‘m using a regular cleaner.

Hey, poop, you know what I‘m doing right now, right?

— I‘m gettin‘ rid ofall the cosmetics. — My cosmetics?

— Well, aren‘t we supposed to do that? — You mean my makeup and stuff?

Well, I thought so, but I don‘t know.

What are you doin‘ about your makeup?

What are you doing? You‘re gonna throw all that stuffout?

Well, no, I wasn‘t gonna throw it out.

I was gonna put it in this box till the year‘s over.

Okay.Just let me know.

We have to put all this stuffin this box.

Can you help me?

— Honey? — Yeah?

Leave that bottle that says “fresh“ on it. I‘ll take care ofit.

I already left that foryou.

Okay, em pty.

— It empty. —I know. I need that.

‘Cause you know what I‘m gonna do? I‘m gonna make shampoo and put it in there.

A few days ago I blogged about the fact...

that we were gettin‘ rid ofthe electricity, and I asked for suggestions.

And I gave a list ofall the things I needed help with...

and one ofthe things was laundry.

And somebody e—mailed me and said that they used to do their laundry...

in the bathtub, and they would just walk on it.

And that sounded good to me.

You wanna do it too?

Mom?

We‘re doing the laundry.

Iwanna do it myself.

You wanna do ityourself? But I‘m worried you‘ll fall over.

Don‘t fall over.

What are you cleaning these clothes with?

Castile—

I told you not to fall. I told you not to fall.

— What‘s in there? — Castile soap and borax.

— What‘s borax? — It‘s natural.

It‘s all natural laundry stuff.

— You wanna get in? —Yes.

—A laundry. — You‘re doin‘ the laundry.

When she goes to college, she‘s gonna be—

You made the water so cold.

— Well, they‘ve been soakin‘ for three hours. —Well, this isn‘t fun.

Come on. It‘s like crushing grapes.

Come on, get it clean, kids.

— I see something troublesome. — Troublesome? What?

— Okay. That‘s all right. — See? Always lookin‘ for trouble.

—A laundry. — We‘re all doing a laundry.

Don‘t your friends thinkyou‘re insane?

And I‘m trying to imagine—

When they come over for supper at your house...

for parsnips or whatever it is you have lying around.

What do your friends say about this?

With no napkins and no toilet paper.

Could you do it?

Nobody has to do what I do.

That‘s not the important thing. What I‘m doing brings attention to the issue.

But all ofus shouldjust learn to do what we can do.

You‘re now— What? Five and a halfmonths in.

Next step is to get rid ofelectricity and live by daylight alone in New York City.

Saturday— There‘s a switch in my apartment...

which is the circuit breaker for the whole apartment.

We‘re having a little party for our friends, and we‘re gonna click the switch off, so, yeah.

We should let everybody know we‘re gonna be following Colin...

throughout this long year.

I was gonna get some spinach...

but now that the electricity‘s going off, I realize I can‘t buy a lot ofstuff.

I gottajust buy for the next couple ofdays because everything will just spoil.

Tonight we‘re switching off the electricity...

and I haven‘t really thought about it, butI actually feel—

We‘re moving into the sixth month...

and I‘m starting to really get into the dividends...

and the benefits are really starting to pour in...

so I‘m actually kind ofexcited, but I‘m sure that—

Talkto me in a day, and I might bejust miserable.

Let‘sjust talk a little bit about what it‘s gonna be like.

Well, there‘s gonna be a transition period that‘s hard like everything else.

Hi. Hi, baby.

— How areyou? — How‘s it goin‘?

— Hello! How areyou? — Hi.

“Composed of post—consumer recycled materials.

Help us help the planet.“ Is that not good enough?

Tell me what‘s wrong with it.

— It‘s a disposable cup. —Yes.

— Non—recyclable top. — Yes.

And thejacket, and then the—

And then you have two cups, in fact, it looks like.

— You‘ve broken every rule. — Every rule there is. Okay.

Have you guys seen our new refrigerator?

— You want one, don‘t you? — What‘s the story?

—What‘s it called? — It‘s called a pot in a pot.

It was invented for use in Nigeria.

And the idea is that the—

The water evaporates from the—

The sand in between the two pots is wet, and the water evaporates...

and the energy ofevaporation is taken from the inner pot...

which causes it to cool down.

And, for example, a tomato—

which would only last in Nigeria two days after picking—

in this thing would last three weeks.

And there‘s a glass ofwater in there right now, so we‘re gonna see ifthe glass and water—

See, I thought that was part ofthe refrigeration.

No, the glass ofwater‘s in there ‘cause we‘re gonna see...

at the end ofthe night, ifthe glass ofwater‘s cold.

I thought that was like the nuclear core—

that drove the whole thing.

— Nuclear energy. — It‘s not. Okay.

— I got the gist ofit. —Oh,yeah?

And are these from the farmers‘ market?

Yes.

Okay, here we go.

—Just sit. — We‘re fine.

It‘s colder, but it‘s not that cold.

Futz with it, I suppose, and see ifthere‘s a way to make it a bit colder.

This has become my Four Seasons.

I have my lights.

Somebody comes in, empties my garbage.

And there‘s, you know...

plenty of heat and electricity and air conditioning.

So now my huge treat has become...

the ice. I‘m gonna go show you.

Technically, the ice shouldn‘t be allowed either...

but I...

allow myselfthe ice.

It‘s really good. It‘s tap— New York City tap.

So it‘sjust as good as bottled water.

Probably cleaner and better than a lot of bottled waters.

It‘s good to get the ice— But to get it really cold, you have to wait a little bit.

You guys, I wanna run a story byyou.

Basically, I got a really good, juicy inside dope today.

It‘s kind oflike a “what went wrong“ story.

They focused on theirweaknesses.

They totally neglected and under invested in their strengths.

At this point, I just have tojust report the thing to death, right?

And then see what we have midday Monday.

— This is a very big story. —I know.

This is the first story where I didn‘t even think about having to do it without caffeine.

I‘m making some progress. I‘m making some progress.

Honey?

Do you remember where you put the matches?

Wait. Hang on. Hang on. Here they are.

I got ‘em.

It‘s kind of really our first night without the electricity...

‘cause last night we had people over, and we had the electricity for most ofthe night.

Are you down?

Are you mad at me?

What is it, babe?

It‘s stupid.

— What, the project‘s stupid? — Well, the going without electricity.

Who‘s gonna go without electricity? That‘s dumb.

So that‘s what‘s really bothering you? You‘re afraid that—

Ijust think it‘s gonna be— I feel like it‘s a pain in the ass.

Itkind ofis.

— Can‘t argue with you there. — I don‘t know.

Ijust feel like the whole project‘s a curio—

maybe a curiosity...

but not—

Everybody will have moved on by the time the book comes out, and—

It‘sjust gonna be another irrelevant book.

Let‘sjust say it turns out that it‘s totally stupid.

Right? Okay, I don‘t think that.

Butjust worst—case scenario.

So we had a ball.

We‘ve had a ball doing it so far. It‘s been hard, but it‘s been fun, hasn‘t it?

Yeah, it‘s been fun.

New York Rub/ic Radio, WNYC FM and A M New York and wnyc org

And the heat index issue is not just a warning

The heat is here.

/t’s already 84 degrees, and it’s on/ysix minutes after 7 0—

That‘s gross.

I got home yesterday, and there was fiies all over the apartment.

and every time I opened the worm bin, more baby fiies flew out.

Oh, my God. Look at ‘em.

Oh, my God.

By the way, look at this.

It‘s all earth. See?

I didn‘t think that it would work.

Itjust doesn‘t work, okay?

There‘s a reason why people have refrigerators.

The truth is I‘m just mad because I‘m—

I‘m just devastated about that Google information about getting pregnant.

The statistics are so low, and I‘m basically turning 40—

and note the gray hair—

and Ijust feel devastated about it.

And I feel in a sense that somebody like me would have a five—percent chance...

like in anygiven—

It‘s gonna work out your way anyway because the chances are so low.

I totally hear that you‘re sad, and I totally understand...

but it feels like a reality show for me, discussing this issue on camera.

I thought that you wanted to know how I felt about the pot in the pot.

Well, that‘s— I totally wanted to know how you feel about the pot in the pot.

This is howI feel about it.

Our whole thing was that we were gonna totally support...

who the other person wanted to become, right?

We were gonna kind of be onboard for each other‘s dreams.

This is important toyou that we don‘t have a fridge.

Right?

I‘m onboard with that, and then I feel really bummed...

becauseI feel like we‘re putting all this energy on your dream, right?

And then I‘m like—

I‘m totally willing to work with you and talktoyou...

about the prospect of having another child and see where we get to in talking.

But ifyou‘re connecting it to the project, I—

It‘s tied together for me. They‘re totally connected.

So ifthey‘re not connected foryou, then—

IfI‘ve got this right, you feel as though you support me, but I don‘t support you.

I don‘t support your dreams.

I feel like this is my biggest, most important, most precious thing.

— Right. —And I feel like—

Yeah, you don‘t wanna do it, so—

So it‘s kind oflike no. The answer‘s no.

Well, I want to want what you want.

ButI don‘t feel like it would be good for our family...

for me tojust say, “Okay, you want it, so I‘ll do it“...

when I have such strong feelings about it.

Do you wanna move this out then?

That‘s okay, honey. We‘rejust gonna leave that therejust for now, okay?

Okay.

The pot in the pot has been moved out.

And this is our latest refrigerator.

To keep it cold, I mooched ice offof my neighbor Hilary.

Do you need to come and get it every day? Or how do you wanna—

I thinkthis will last a little while in the cooler.

Yeah. I hope so. I think so.

—Okay. — Can I carry the bag?

Yeah, yeah. You can carry the bag. Let‘s put the freezer—

— Thankyou so much. — You‘re welcome.

— Say thankyou to Hilary, honey. — Thankyou.

Bye. You‘re welcome. Bye, sweetie.

Okay. Perfect.

We‘re gonna take the ice pack and put it right on top...

so that your milk stays nice and cold.

And you wannajust drop the cubes on there?

Drop ‘em? One by one?

One by one.

The refrigerator is my bottom.

The pot in the pot. And now the—

I don‘t know what I hate more— the pot in the pot or this.

I‘m not sure.

Just mooching power and ice cubes.

So I kind ofdon‘t get it.

I‘m kind oflike, “What?“

Say, “Bye, wacko fridge.“

Bye, wacko fridge.

Who cheats more—you or Colin?

I‘m sure I have to cheat more. Like this.

I tried a vegetable dye at home, but it was a disaster.

— Right. — He doesn‘t really cheat.

He‘ll bend the rules a little, but that to him wouldn‘t be a cheat.

There‘s no trips this year because we can‘t go anywhere.

So he decides that we‘re gonna make an exception...

and we‘re gonna go up to the farm where they grow all our food.

We walked to Penn Station with our luggage.

This is when the slip started.

I go to Dunkin‘ Donuts. There‘s this huge line.

I give the lady this huge tip, and I‘m like, “Could you refill this glass twice?“

I get two huge decafs, and I knock them back at Dunkin‘ Donuts.

— Hooking you up. — And there‘s 10 people behind me.

But I gave her such a good tip that she wasjust my girl for a while.

But I was like—

I don‘t wanna be putting our energy into the pot in the pot.

I wanna be having another kid.

I don‘t wanna spend my vacation on a farm.

When we got married, I was like, “Look, Colin, I‘ll marryyou.

But there‘s one thing. I don‘t like camping.

I‘m never going camping with you.“

But now our whole house has turned into a campground.

And also I don‘t really like nature.

And now for our vacation, we‘re going into nature.

We‘re gonna see and work with all the food that we eat from the farmers‘ market.

This is the farm where it comes from.

Hi. A cow. Cow.

— You can put your hand out and touch him. — Hi, cow.

Thankyou so much for having us.

— My pleasure. — We‘re having the best time already.

We‘ve only been here for an hour.

As you work to steward this land...

you are growing a very vital...

dynamic being...

that‘s in balance.

It‘s a closed—loop system.

The cows eat the grass.

They give you milk, but they also give you manure.

The manure‘s composted. It becomes the fertility.

We make about 400 tons ofcompost peryear.

And smell it.

Yeah, itjust smells like earth. It smells like my worm bin, actually.

You say though a lot that this kind ofis the realization ofhis values?

— Yeah. — Do you—

How do you feel about it now, six months into that?

— Do you still— — I feel like there‘s no going back.

There‘s no going back. Right? Right?

This is for ourfamily. It‘s notjust about the project.

— Where are you from? — I live in the city.

I hope to be more ofa help than a hindrance.

Let‘s go!

That‘s Henry. That‘s the Bull. Come on, Henry. Let‘s go.

It‘s good to escort Henry into the barn.

The night before we left, the farmer and Colin were having a conversation.

They were talking about how the valley once was populated with sheep.

And they were also talking about how people could devolve into animals.

And Ijust felt so transported by this conversation.

And we went to bed that night with the beautiful farm air...

and the beautiful farmhouse with the beautiful people...

who treated us like we were family...

and I dreamt that I was one ofthe sheep.

It‘s weird, ‘cause my grandparents were farmers.

They were homesteaders.

And I started feeling like— I feel like my family...

left something back there.

And I was like, “I feel like I‘m going back to get it.“

When / /istened to the farmer ta/king about the herd..

and how sometimes that something wi// happen to one of the catt/e but the herd goes on...

/ just te/t /ike / woke up.

/ te/t /ike / got to reconnect with something

A company /oaned me this so/arpane/ for the project.

/ can ‘t change the way that e/ectricity is de/ivered to m yhouse.

— You got it? — Yeah.

7'he so/arpane/ wi// provide just enough e/ectricity..

so that / can power my computer and write m yb/og

But what ‘s rea//y in teres ting about this phase...

is that it’s the first time that / ‘ve rea/ized..

that it’s not about using as /itt/e as we can possib/y use...

but finding a way to get what / need in a sus tainab/e way

And that’s what we need to do with my e/ectricity, with the so/arpanei.

But that’s a/so what we need to do with our s ys tems.

We just need to figure out how to get peop/e what theyneed..

in a way that doesn ‘t harm the planet.

Tell that guy to get out ofthe bike lane.

Do you wanna know what / gave her for her 4 0th birthday?

No birth contro/. You know what im saying?

We ca// it Russian Rou/ette.

Now the ques tion is, is it c/ick—c/ick or bang—bang?

ifit’s bang—bang / die, she /ives.

Watch out on your right for a lunatic.

My b/og post today was about opportunities in the crisis.

imagine if we made the city nicer to five in.

So the two comments on the post so farare.’

”Let’s be rea/istic. “

You can ‘t make a citynice, so forget it.

7'here ‘s such a /ack ofidea/ism.

But/ think rea/ism ‘s got us where we are. You know what im saying?

That helps.

You okay, Michelle?

— Watch out, honey. —I know. I know.

— It‘s so quiet. —I know.

— That‘s Fort Tilden over there? — Yeah.

Oh, my God. This is like the Hamptons.

— It‘s better than the Hamptons. — ‘Cause there‘s no one here.

Oh, my God. How radical is this?

And this is still New York City. We‘re in New York City.

Bug!

Will you go swimming with me?

To me, it‘s amazing how resilient nature is.

There‘s sandpipers on this beach, and everybody‘s trying to survive.

And there‘s these sand crabs, and they‘re in New York City.

— You see the two of‘em? — Yep, I see it.

Yep. I see.

People keep talking about, “What‘s the hardest thing?“

“Are you depriving yourself?“

As though all these aspects ofthe project are hard.

But it‘s not about deprivation.

It‘s not about not taking care ofyourself. It‘s the opposite.

It‘s about seeing is it possible to have a good life...

without wasting so much.

Co/in met this amazing woman at the farmers ‘market who /oaned us her tricyc/e.

We can ro//. / t tota//y changed our fire.

We have no TV, no //ghts, no e/ectricity, no air conditioning

These were a// the things that kept us inside.

We ‘re kind of forced out of the apartment a// the time now

The days tee/ /ike the y just /ast forever

— What are those? — They‘re firefiies.

They light.

—You playing gin rummy? — Playing gin rummy.

Now, I wanna show you something, okay?

This is what you call “kicking Dad‘s ass.“

Okay?

We‘re coming from vastly different spaces.

No one is ever gonna be as naive—

naively hopeful and naively optimistic as we were in the late ‘60s.

ButI thinkthere might be something kind ofsimilar...

but more muted that‘s happening now.

Not in the same way at all.

But I feel like there‘s a certain...

quiet beginning ofa rebellion happening.

The other thing is to point out is this on the garlic.

This is called a scape— S—C—A—P—E.

I would suggest you take home one or two ofthose.

— Okay. — These are the beans.

You can see how they‘re grabbing the pole.

— And see this? —Yeah.

It‘s starting to make tomatoes.

Are you overall optimistic about humankind, or skeptical?

I‘m ofthe beliefthat it‘s always 50/50.

Right.

— That, in fact, some things are getting better. — Right.

Some things are getting worse.

Yeah.

Every time you try to do something right, no matter what level you‘re on—

— Right. — there are unforeseen results.

My hesitation about your work...

is that it enables people to fool themselves—

that all they have to do is change the Iightbulb—

and recycle their plastic bag.

Well, as long as they feel that way, no politician will pick it up.

And I feel that it‘s completely true, that it‘s both.

You need to have—

I think that there‘s a tremendous—

Ifyou have a political stance...

then there‘s a tremendous integrity to living in a way that reflects that political stance.

— At the risk of being too personal, but— — Right.

It‘s not. It‘sjust the facts.

— Michelle writes for Business Week — Yes.

Millions oftrees are cut down on a regular basis...

in order to promote the thoroughly fallacious propaganda...

that American corporate capitalism...

is good for the people— good foryou and me.

Now, ifit‘s your contention...

that she makes up for it, that evens out...

because she doesn‘t take the elevator in your Fifth Avenue co—op...

I have to say you‘re either dishonest or delusional.

There‘s definitely an irony...

or a paradox involved in that, but—

Where did all this crap come from?

American corporate capitalism did all ofit.

Ifanybody really thought...

that you were gonna have an impact there...

you wouldn‘t be getting the attention you‘re getting.

And here‘s our No Impact Man, Colin Beavan in the No Impact S.U.V.

Wait a minute. I got to check this out.

You may be on my show, but I‘m not here to spread your particular gospel.

‘Cause I think what you‘re doing is extremely dangerous, okay?

Oh, there we go. That‘s good.

— Now I‘ve got you all set up so I can see you. — / can see a /itt/e bit.

-A little bit. - A /itt/e bit.

I‘m gonna hold something up foryou to see more.

— /t’s disgusting — No, it‘s not.

/ t /ooks /ike shit from here.

Yeah, it is shit. It‘s worm shit.

I think that my only connection to food before the project was eating it.

I really ate all my food pretty much at restaurants...

or out of take—out containers.

I never cooked it. I never prepared it.

I never thought about it.

I never composted it. I never thought about the waste.

Now that I go to the farmers‘ market, I know all the people who grow our food.

I kind of have this little desire to take it to the next level.

I‘m seeing today asjust the first succession, the first lesson.

So we‘re gonnajust make some—

I‘mjust thinking ofa few things that we can make.

So start with the green beans.

Just snap offjust this end.

— So snap offthe kind of uglier end— this end. — Exactly.

See? Here are the dandelion greens. I‘m gonnajust snip the ends off.

— I‘m just gonna cut offthe end. Okay? — Okay.

— Great. — Nicely done.

Preheat it to 375, but honestly, I might turn it up a little towards the end.

I‘m gonna make coffee, but I know you don‘t want any, right?

Oh,yeah. I‘ll have a little. Yeah. I can havejust a little bit.

But there‘s a reason why I can only have a little bit.

I wonder ifyou guys can guess the reason.

—Just have a little bit ofcoffee. — Are you pregnant?

Oh, my God. You are?

— Oh, my God! That‘s so great! —I know.

Oh, my God.

I‘m so happy foryou.

— I wanna go out. — Dad‘s gonna take you out, love.

Dad‘s gonna take you out.

I‘m just gonna put them on.

I love tomatoes.

I‘m making dinner tonight, and I‘ve actually never made dinner for us.

Do you want me to show you how to get that oven to get to 350 or 375?

It‘s a little tricky.

— Why don‘t youjust do the oven to 350, 375? — Okay.

Yep. Yep. Okay. That‘s a good trick.

Okay, and then ifyou wanna be sure, there‘s a thermometer down there.

— Oh, that‘s nice. — It tells you what the temperature ofthe oven is.

— We really love our eggplant. — We really love our egg.

It might not work out, but you have to learn and grow.

Tonight, I‘m just focused on trying to learn how to roast the vegetables.

Bye! Bye.

I feel a little performance anxiety.

I wonder ifI should cut these offor—

I feel really nauseous.

I‘ve always been kind oflike looking for something.

I feel like we‘re looking for that thing together, and we‘re kind oflike finding some ofit.

I have to admit that there were times when I was this asshole.

I had a lot ofmoments.

Now I think what he‘s doing is so cool.

I get a big kick out ofhim. Ijust think he‘s, like—

Not quite done yet.

— Madame and monsieur — Oui.

— More cheese on my bread, please. — More cheese on your bread?

Just the idea that you can park with other things besides cars.

The idea is, why are we dedicating this land to cars instead of people?

Could you imagine ifthis extended all the way up to Seventh Avenue?

We started the positive impact stage ofthe project.

The idea is no net environmental impact.

So that‘s reduce our negative impact and increase our positive impact.

And it‘s not meant to be scientific.

It‘sjust meant to be philosophical.

Can I live on this planet doing more good than harm?

I‘ve been helping with a research project...

to do with putting oysters back in the Hudson River, which will filter the water.

I went cleaning out tree pits in the Bronx.

I was, like, “What a crock ofshit No Impact Man is as a project.“

Once you no longer live in the ignorance...

that when you throw something away, it actually goes away—

It‘sjust a really difficult thing...

because, yes, your piece oftrash comes to a community like this where it‘s processed.

Most people, as they consume...

don‘t understand what the real costs ofthose goods are.

The pollution that was created to make it.

The health effects that were associated with it.

We‘re the point sources for all the greenhouse gases...

that everybody‘s trying to curb right now.

I think that we should be spending more time...

recognizing that people‘s lives are being compromised every single day...

and have been for decades.

12,000 trucks a day go through that neighborhood.

The diesel particulates in the air are causing asthma in kids...

causing brain damage in kids.

When I started this project, Ijust thought I wasjust gonna make less garbage...

not travel so much, and “wouldn‘t I be a hero“ sort ofthing.

And I—

I guess I wasn‘t so clear on how many issues itwas gonna open up.

I‘m not talking about the people in farawayisland communities...

who are gonna be hurt when the ocean levels rise.

I‘m talking about people who already are living with the effects...

ofour over—consumptive society.

Ifyou‘d asked me nine months ago...

would I ever have my baby be on a bike, and I would say no.

Absolutely not. That‘s insane.

And I remember going off on the bike messengers.

“Those fucking bike messengers. They‘re fucking insane.“

And “Anybody who would ride a bike in New York is fucking insane.“

And “They‘re making it really unsafe— the bikers— for us car people...

like SUV renters, they‘re making it really fucking unsafe for us.“

And that‘s my world view.

And now my world view has completely fiipped on its head.

The streets have totally been taken over, and they‘re not for people.

And then the rapacious consumption for consumption‘s sake...

and the coma that that induces.

I‘m just rethinking everything in terms ofwhat‘s important.

Do you feel that moving forward...

that you‘ll somehow—

You feel like there‘s some other way ofconsidering your decisions?

Yeah. I mean—

You know, well, now—

Fixing it so that we get the most...

sun that we can.

A big question at the center ofthe No Impact experiment...

was whether one person can make a difference.

One ofthe things that I really get worried about...

when people talk about the fact that individual action is not important...

is that the thing about individual action is that it causes people to be engaged.

Oursocietyis not set up to five sus tainab/y

We need more mass transit, higher—efficiency vehic/es. ..

no more coa/—burning power p/ants.

These are hard changes.

7'he internationa/ Rane/ on C /imate Change...

says that we need an 8096 cut in carbon emissions by2050.

That ‘s huge.

As your constituent, the first thing that I wanted to do...

was I wanted to thankyou for sponsoring the energy bill, because—

— You‘re welcome. — that gives us a good—

Good solid bill.

Using /ess is a start, but it’s not enough.

We need to demand that ours ystems become sus tainab/e.

You can rock here. Let me rockyou, okay?

Do you wanna rock while you look at Frankie?

We told Isabella...

we thought Michelle had a baby in her tummy, but we were wrong.

She didn‘t actually.

I guess it was the second time we went to the doctor.

The first time we went to the doctor, everything was fine.

And then the second time we went to the doctor—

— Well, it wasn‘t that every— — there was no heartbeat.

Yeah. The second— There wasn‘t one. There was no heartbeat.

Where are you going?

From the perspective ofthe story, it would have been the perfect ender ofthe story.

I finally kind ofcross over into No Impact...

and really embrace it, and that‘s what Colin really wanted.

And then I got pregnant, and that‘s what I would have really wanted.

And then the project winds down. It‘s all kind ofin this really great bow.

And it‘s not a bow.

It‘s a big loose end.

So it‘s a loose end.

It‘s a narrative loose end and a spiritual loose end.

Just a loose end.

A lot ofloose ends in life.

I think we‘ll probably try again.

They‘re like rainbows.

Is that like rainbows on your feet?

Rainbows on my feet.

The official swan song ofthe garden is when you turn the soil over in the fall.

That‘s the official end ofthe season.

It‘s kind ofinteresting, because we‘re coming back...

to the food that we were eating when the project started...

which is squash and root vegetables and stufflike that.

And, similarly, the garden is getting turned.

So you actually— You kind of—

It‘s not like you turn the calendar page, and you can tell that a year has passed.

You feel that a year has passed...

because you‘re recognizing something about the Earth.

We‘re so disconnected, I think, in the city from the natural rhythms.

I didn‘t know this before, but it‘s actually a great pleasure to be connected.

It‘s freezing in here.

It‘s November 7, and we‘re almost done, and I‘m cold.

So a lot oftimes what I do is I—

See, I‘vejust got home from work. I‘m wearing a suit.

But I come in here, and I get in the covers.

I spend a lot oftime under the covers when it‘s cold.

We don‘t talk about it ending.

It‘s funny because we‘re gonna be separated when it ends.

Because when it ends, for me, I‘m getting on a plane to go see my parents...

who I haven‘t seen in a year.

And Colin will be here, and I‘m taking Isabella.

So we— It‘s funny.

We haven‘t really talked about it.

But everybody on the outside asks me about it.

— Hello? — What‘s up, sugar pop?

There‘s not any light in here.

I can‘t see.

I‘m looking forward to reading in bed with Isabella...

with ample illumination.

Ample illumination.

You‘re not tired, are you?

Next week, there‘s this school thing happening at NYU.

Something like 200 NYU students are gonna try and live No Impact for a week.

I think that‘s so cool.

So on Sunday, I go, and we have kind ofa workshop about how to do it.

And then the following Monday, I go and I give a big talk.

Room 206.

And this week, as you experiment, I think you‘re gonna see that it‘s not so bad.

My experiment only lasts two more weeks.

As I come out ofthe extreme, some ofthis stuffthat we‘ve given up, we‘ll take back.

But that fact is that the balance will be there.

We are gonna be substantially causing less environmental impact...

and without adversely affecting our happiness.

The fact ofthe matter is that ifonIyI change, it‘s not gonna make a difference.

But the hope is that ifeach of us as individuals change...

it‘s going to inspire everybody to change.

So I believe the most radical political act there is, is to be an optimist.

The most radical political act there is, is to believe that ifI change...

other people will follow suit.

The reason why I‘m here is because a first—grader called Olive...

wrote to me on my blog and asked me ifI would come.

People ask me, “IfI canjust do one thing, what should it be?

Not use plastic bags or not use plastic cups?“

I would say ifthere was only one thing to do...

it would be to volunteer with an environmental organization.

Part ofthe reason for that is because there‘s community.

I believe very strongly that a lot ofthe environmental problems in our planet...

have come because ofthe breakdown ofcommunity.

Because without community, none of us feel accountable to anybody else.

All of us are interconnected on many levels.

Ifyou‘re religious, then you understand that at a religious level.

But even ifyou‘rejust practical, you can see that we‘re interconnected.

IfI splash a puddle and you‘re standing next to it, it splashes you.

IfI make pollution, you have to breathe it in.

My mind wants to tell me that I‘m the only one that‘s important, you know?

So I have to keep teaching myselfover and over and over again that that‘s not true.

And then when you turn the light on, are all the lights gonna go on?

Most ofthem. I tried to set it up so most ofthe lights come on.

As soon as you do that, they‘re all gonna go on?

No. I have to do a few fiicks.

‘Cause there‘s more than one circuit breaker.

So you have to hit three circuit breakers, and then they all will be on?

—Yes. — So we should light this. Okay.

It‘s been—

Well, it hasn‘t really been a year...

because the electricity phase started around month six.

So it‘s been six months since we‘ve had electricity.

So it‘s gratitude for small pleasures.

There we go.

I have to say I was really skeptical about a lot ofthings in the beginning.

And I thought they were insane and really stupid.

And I hated and resented you, alternatively, for them.

But I really, really wanna keep the biking.

I wanna keep as much as we possibly can the no garbage.

And I really, really wanna keep the farmers‘ market.

I wanna be a vegetarian, but I wanna be—

I wanna have a hot dog now and then.

I would be a vege— a “vegehogian“ or a “vegedogian.“

I‘d like to not have TV in the house, but I can‘t wait to go to the movies.

And when we‘re on vacation, that thing is on.

— There are some things I have some issues with. — Yeah?

Why can‘t we take those worms back?

Because they do make “Lord ofthe Fleas“ in the kitchen.

And also there are some things that we‘re just not gonna be able to do maybe...

and that might be one ofthem.

‘Cause I get to make some decisions around here.