Thought I'd share with you the poster for the documentary of the No Impact Man project, which premieres at the Sundance Festival on Friday (click on the image to enlarge). In case you're interested, here's how the Sundance site pitches the film:
GLOBAL WARMING! The headlines scream it; the thermometer confirms it;
but few of us do much to address it. Author Colin Beavan and his family
are pictures of liberal complacency—sophisticated, takeout-addicted New
Yorkers who refuse to let moral qualms interfere with good
old-fashioned American consumerism. Then Colin turns things upside
down. For his next book, he announces he's becoming No Impact Man,
testing whether making zero environmental impact adversely affects
happiness. The hitch is he needs his wife, Michelle—an
espresso-guzzling, Prada-worshipping Business Week writer—and their
toddler to join the experiment.A year without electricity, cars, toilet
paper, and nonlocal food isn’t going to be a walk in the park. Or is
it? As Michelle contends with caffeine and shopping withdrawal, compost
worms, and defending her dreams in the face of Colin’s household
hegemony, she’s gradually transformed by this
life-without-wastefulness. Meanwhile, Colin’s numerous media
appearances unleash a viral rash of criticism among bloggers and
friends, raising doubts about the project’s integrity. Is it
ostentatious or altruistic? Hypocritical or visionary?Whatever the
conclusion, no one can deny we’re going to have to alter our habits
radically to achieve sustainability. Through the intimate prism of
conflict within a contemporary marriage, No Impact Man suggests that
individual change can be the first step in a quantum leap toward a
systemic, societal shift. And the temporary discomfort just might be
worth it.