I finished reading No Impact Man by Colin Beavan. I am sobbing. I’m talking full on body shaking, convulsing, cathartic sobbing.

When I was looking through the reviews for this book on Goodreads, I was surprised. While it received many more positive reviews, there were a surprising number of one star ratings, complete with negative reviews. There seems to be a lot of criticism of the author himself for not initially knowing seemingly simple solutions to eco problems (like diapers or tissues) and writing about his personal revelations during the project.

I do not agree. The point of the project, of the book itself, was for Colin, a regular dude and his family to reduce the negative impact his family is having on the environment as much as possible. The point was to figure it out as the project progressed and write about the impact that had on him and his wife and daughter. To me, it seems, mission accomplished.

Regardless of whether or not you liked the book or the author himself, it does highlight things we should all be concerned with. Is the life you’re currently living, the life that you truly want to be living? Do all of the things you do and buy and consume and support really make your life better? Is this way of life that we are living worth our health…our happiness…our fucking planet?

For me, the answer is no. I need to start to do things differently.