No Impact Project empowers citizens to lower their environmental impact

The No Impact Project, founded by Colin Beavan aka No Impact Man, is a new nonprofit aiming to help citizens lower their environmental impact.

No Impact Man (now a book and recently released movie) was the year-long project of Colin Beavan, an NYC-based self-proclaimed "guilty liberal" writer who, along with his wife, daughter and dog, spent a year devoted to causing no net environmental impact.

The project, which began in November of 2007, involved a drastic lifestyle shift for the family--typical Americans in many ways, they drank coffee, watched TV and used electricity. They continued living in their 750 sq. foot Manhattan apartment, and for a full year they eschewed electricity, making garbage, toilet paper, elevators, air-conditioning and many other carbon-emitting modern conveniences for an eco-friendly, organic life in the city. Any environmental damage created just by living in society was offset through volunteer efforts, resulting in a net impact of zero.

During the course of the project No Impact Man started No Impact blog, which turned into No Impact book and No Impact movie, which opened September 11, 2009. Though some have criticized the project, saying it takes away from serious efforts to address climate change, the efforts of one small family to make the world a better place has spawned a book, a movie and a non-profit organization, all bringing loads of positive attention to the cause: lowering our individual impacts to save the planet collectively.

The launch of the No Impact Project, whose mission is "to empower citizens to make choices that better their lives and lower their environmental impact through lifestyle change, community action, and participation in environmental politics" will provide people interested in decreasing their impact with a 7-day No Impact Experiment, detailed on their web site, inviting people to improve their quality of life and reduce their footprint along the way.

For more information please visit the No Impact blog and the No Impact Project web site.