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New York Family Gives Up AC, TV, and Electricity -- for a Whole Year

by Warren Riddle on September 13, 2009 at 03:18 PM




In 2006, New York writer Colin Beavan decided that completely unplugging and living a green, eco-friendly Manhattan existence for an entire year could provide excellent inspiration for a book. Now that his 'No Impact Man' project has drawn to a close, Beavan and his wife, Michelle Conlin, are making the publicity rounds in order to promote the book, as well as a documentary that a film crew created about the ordeal.

Salon.com recently discussed the dramatic lifestyle change with Beavan and Conlin, a "reality-TV-addicted, espresso-guzzling" Business Week reporter, and the effect the green shift had on the couple's now 4-year-old daughter. According to Salon, the young family managed to somehow co-exist while living with "No air conditioning, no TV, no electricity, no gas or oil heat." The trio maintained a diet of only locally-produced food, and avoided air, car, and train travel.





Beavan and his wife have received criticism for supposedly orchestrating the event as a publicity stunt, but the book and movie could inspire others to adopt some of the family's green techniques. Some critics may doubt the validity of global warming while others may even dismiss the book as a tired yuppie-goes-hippie cliche. But, if it provides nothing else, 'No Impact Man' could at least teach us all how to survive, and avoid extinction, in the aftermath of an apocalyptic alien-zombie-robot attack. [From: Salon.com]

Tags: colin beavan, ColinBeavan, going green, GoingGreen, green living, GreenLiving, michelle conlin, MichelleConlin, top

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