No Impact Man, aka Colin Beavan, is writing a book. The concept? To live one year making as little impact on the environment as possible. Along for the experiment is his wife Michelle and toddler daughter. They start slow, cutting out all forms of transportation that pollute the earth, buying only locally grown products, using worms to make compost, and taking stairs up to their eighth-floor New York apartment versus the elevator. Eventually, they stop using toilet paper, store-bought toiletries, and cut off the electricity all together. During the experiment, Beavan must deal with a wife who does her best to abide by the rules of the experiment, but can’t help get a coffee now and then (coffee is a no-no because it is not locally grown), reporters who are either making fun of him or challenging his intentions, and critics who thing he and his family are absolutely nuts.
Forks Over Knives focuses on the benefits of a plant-based diet and “examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the so-called ‘diseases of affluence’ that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed food” (www.forksoverknives.com). In the late 1960’s, nutritional scientist Dr. T. Colin Campbell began researching this claim. Around the same time, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, a medical surgeon and head of the Breast Cancer Task Force in a Cleveland Clinic, found that many of the diseases he was treating were non-existent in countries that had plant-based diets. Both men researched the topic for years, sticking to plant-based diets themselves, and this film presents their findings over the years. It also follows the lives of three people, all suffering from health issues, who switch over to a plant-based diet in the hopes of solving their medical troubles.
The first of its kind for me – a double review. Both are documentaries and both center on topics I find extremely vital to the future of this planet and to our species. In No Impact Man, Beavan does not intend for people to live as he was. He states that several times throughout the film. What he wants is for people to watch the film and figure out what they can do in terms of creating less impact on the environment. To go without electricity was extremely difficult for the whole family, but to turn lights off in rooms we are no longer occupying is not as hard. It opened my eyes to the things I can do. When I go into Walgreens and get shampoo, I am the type who could care less about brand. I buy the cheapest stuff and move on. So why not make my own? I save the plastic from the bottle, hopefully save money in the end, and am one step closer to saving the planet. Same goes for my dish soap and laundry detergent. As long as my dishes come out spotless and my clothes don’t smell foul, I am one happy camper.
What can’t I do? I think about using rags for toilet paper, clean rags of course, and all I see is a big pile of dirty rags building up. Wouldn’t it smell funky? I do not have a washer/dryer accessible to me at all times, so I would have to let them pile for at least a week and I would not feel like they were clean if I washed them in the sink myself. Then there is my job, a job where I need to print many, many things on paper and have to throw out many, many sheets of paper. I do recycle them and I have to say this week I was much more conscious of my garbage versus recycle. Sometimes I get lazy and throw anything in the garbage. This week I recycled everything I could and I will say the only things in my garbage were staples and waste from my lunch. The film definitely made me more aware of my impact on Mother Earth and what I can do to stop making so many footprints on her.
Forks Over Knives was right up my alley. I walked out of the theater with gratitude. I am grateful that I have spent the last year of my life living a Vegan lifestyle and grateful I have over 7 months free of tobacco. I felt as if I was immune to cancer due to my diet. This also means my review is biased. Since the film is in favor of a plant-based diet, there was very little talk of the argument for a meat-based diet besides one woman who supported it and a man from the USDA. I would like to hear the other side and see the research from the other side because Dr. Campbell and Dr. Esselstyn presented very compelling evidence that health problems such as diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and cancers could be reversed through a plant-based diet alone. And for those who do not suffer from these problems, sticking to a plant-based diet would eliminate the possibility of ever acquiring them. I would liked to have seen the film with a meat-eater and gotten their opinion afterwards.
The world was supposed to end today, or so I heard. Obviously, it has not, but each day we are working towards that end. Throwing trash on the streets daily and shoveling trash into our mouths every minute. I honestly believe if we can each do little things, like drive less, use rags instead of paper towels, buy more whole foods versus processed foods that are bad for our bodies and bad for the environment with all the packaging, we can save our land and ourselves. I could not do it alone and have a lot of help and support to do both. Both movies gave me further ideas of how to work towards a healthy planet while being a healthy person and I highly recommend watching them. One thing at a time, one person at a time, the damage can be reversed. For today, I can’t fathom life without electricity and toilet paper, but will let you know if castile soap is able to make my dishes shine and bring out the natural body in my hair.
No Matter Where Life Takes Me 