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

288 pages. cover creased, spine fadedBill McKibben meets Bill Bryson in this seriously engaging look at one man's decision to put his money where his mouth is and go off the grid for one year--w hile still living in New York City--to see if it's possible to make no net impac t on the environment.In No Impact Man, a guilty liberal finally snaps, sw ears off plastic, goes organic, becomes a bicycle nut, turns off his power, and generally becomes a tree-hugging lunatic who tries to save the polar bears and t he rest of the planet from environmental catastrophe while dragging his baby dau ghter and Prada-wearing, Four Seasons-loving wife along for the ride. And that's just the beginning. In other words, no trash, no toxins in the water, no elevat ors, no subway, no products in packaging, no air-conditioning, no television . . .What would it be like to try to live a no-impact lifestyle? Is it possi ble? Could it catch on? Is living this way more satisfying or less satisfying? H arder or easier? Is it worthwhile or senseless? Are we all doomed or can our cul ture reduce the barriers to sustainable living so it becomes as easy as falling off a log? These are the questions at the heart of this whole mad endeavor, via which Colin Beavan hopes to explain to the rest of us how we can realistically l ive a more eco-effective and by turns more content life in an age of inconveni ent truths.…