Colin Beavan Explains Why He Became No-Impact Man

By Michael Edward Miller

Colin Beavan Explains Why He Became No-Impact Man

Michael Edward Miller

Chattanooga, TN – Colin Beavan, a New York writer, is known as No-Impact Man. He earned that nickname because he and his family spent a year trying to make no negative environmental impact of any kind. He says the average American creates 16,000 pounds of trash a year-with that in mind, he tried to reduce his trash output to nothing. To keep his garbage can empty, he cut back on shopping, he quit buying pre-packaged food, and he even quit buying-and quit using-toilet paper.

It's been three years since he did all that. How much did his experiment help the environment? It's controversial. Some people say he did it more as a publicity stunt than to save the earth. Today, we ask Beavan about his motivations for doing the experiment, and we find out how much it's really helping the earth.