No Impact Man

828 Words4 Pages
In today’s society we are controlled by various compulsions for materialistic things and often oversee more important things like family and health. Even now I seemed to have casually not mentioned that I’ve overseen the importance of environmental impact. This would encapsulate a key aspect of Colin Beaven’s argument in ‘No Impact Man’, of there being a fixed type of mind set that majority of us adopt. This mind set is usually selfish and negligent, focused solely on self-actualization. Most people fall into this category, and give little to no importance on environmental consequences of their actions. Colin Beaven’s decision to approach a new healthy, beneficial, environmentally friendly lifestyle was due to many various influences. Some were directly correlated to his concerns for the environment while others were due to his hunger and willingness for change in his and his family’s day to day life. However, if he did not have the mind-set or willingness to think differently than the environmentally absent minded majority of society, I doubt that he would not have made the decision that he did and reach the heights he has. We will be analysing how mind-set has influenced Colin Beaven and how it has evolved his experience in his yearlong ‘No Impact Man’. The beginning of the journey he embarked on was not easy, and had many obstacles. Simple trivial tasks like changing diapers and blowing noses required a bit more effort and upkeep. The limitation in his new lifestyle required him to make various sacrifices such as no toilet paper, no driving, and limited electricity usage. For most of us this would be one sacrifice too many. Our dependency on such seemingly indispensable things have hindered us and in a way, and have closed our minds off to greater possibilities. Far too often we take the recycle bin for granted and toss our refuse in the trash

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