consuming less

Like many of us, writer Colin Beavan was frustrated by the slow political response to the threat of climate change. (Can that pace still be referred to as “glacial”?) Unlike the rest of us, he decided to take matters into his own hands by becoming No Impact Man. No Impact Family, actually: “For one year, my wife, my 2-year-old daughter, my dog and I, while living in the middle of New York City, are attempting to live without making any net impact on the environment. In other words, no trash, no carbon emissions, no toxins in the water, no elevators, no subway, no products in packaging, no plastics, no air conditioning, no TV, no toilets. . . .” Not even caffeine. The experiment began in November, 2006, and you can find out how it went on Beavan’s No Impact Man blog. Or see the movie, which got a standing ovation at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Either way, you’ll be entertained and learn a lot — not just about genuinely effective ways to reduce our carbon footprint, but about the ripple effect that one person’s radical act can set into motion.

Since it first appeared online two and a half years ago, the Story of Stuff has garnered over six million views and made its way into classrooms across the United States. The kid-friendly, 20-minute video is an unflinching look at the pitfalls of our production and consumption patterns, super-sized American style in particular. Activist Annie Leonard produced it with money from numerous nonprofit groups.

A school board in Missoula County, Montana, declared the “Story of Stuff” to be biased, and the local parent who complained that it contained “not one positive thing about capitalism” is right. But the video's fundamental message about the ecological and human cost of our linear system — from extraction through manufacture through sales to use and disposal — is accurate and important. As a recent article in the New York Times reports, it's been embraced by teachers eager to supplement textbooks that lag behind scientific findings on climate change and pollution. Take a look and tell us what you think.

We’d like to second Fran’s suggestion that you take a look at the three finalists for the X Prize Foundation’s Energy and Environment Challenge, and vote for your favorite video. The stakes are $10 million+ in prize money for the competition most likely to “end our addiction to oil and stem the harmful effects of climate change.”

Much as we appreciated the proud-to-be-a-nerd spirit of the “Capacitor” and “Energy Independence” contenders, we agree with Fran: we think that a competition to “Reduce Home Energy Usage” would be great. The concept is that over a two-year period communities would compete to see which could reduce its home energy consumption the most. The videomakers point out that participants wouldn’t need to be technology experts, and that teams could consist of school districts or homes within a zip code. Could you come up with other kinds of communities that might mobilize around this challenge? What do you think about the approach of using the prize to tackle energy consumption instead of alternative energy production?