5
This story of New Yorker Colin Beavan who goes for a year trying to leave no impact on the environment is NOT a tirade for the saving the environment. So don't worry you'll be preached to. Instead he sets a great example for the possibility of sustaining a low impact life by extreme example. And living in NYC where eating local and seasonal foods can relegate you to some nasty root veggies is tough. Even tougher is not using a washing machine, or LIGHTS! And he has a wife and three-year old, to boot. The baby serves as the audience’s eyes of naive wonder, and his intelligent charismatic wife Michelle becomes a chorus for inevitable skepticism the viewer will have towards this increasingly outrageous experiment. And he is not easy on himself either. The filmmakers cleverly and subtly acknowledge the 'stunt' elements of trying to pull off a year of uncompromised no impact urban living.
The result is a funny and very charming movie full of wonderful characters, as well as an inspiration about what really can be done on an individual basis to cut the costs to the planet in terms of waste, bad food, and excess. I think audiences will be won over by the idea, the people, and by a well-edited and constructed story. Follow up by checking out his very good blog.
