Consumption

By Heather Mattsongrosso

A huge topic in the eyes of many environmentalists is "consumption" and how we can reduce it.  There are some who consume more or less than others and then there are those who simply do not care.  Some have radical approaches, and some just do what they can.  

The film "No Impact Man" was about a project created by writer Collin Beavan, who made the decision to eliminate all of the consumptions that he and his family make for an entire year.  Collin, his wife Michelle, and their daughter Isabella transitioned from what Americans consider normal to completely depriving themselves from consuming materials, such as toilet paper and toxic cleaning products, transporting using cars and buses, using no electricity, and eating vegetarian as well as only locally grown produce.  Collin's motives for committing to a full year of no consumption was to see if it was truly possible to live a "no-impact" life.  The effort for no-impact actually created a giant impact on not only his family but as well as the general public.  While the film was presumed to show how the way every individual's consumption impacts the environment, the focus was more on how the project impacted his family as well as people as a whole.  I felt that the Beavan family was the perfect fit for this project because Collin and Michelle, although a couple, were at opposite ends of the spectrum in regards to the premise of this project.  While this was Collin's idea, his television and takeout loving wife was skeptical to the entire thing.  

There were also many skeptics on the outside looking in at this kooky family's 12-month plan to save the world.  Because the media was all over this project and Collin kept a blog, critics were able to keep up and vocalize their opinions on the project. Many critics claimed to "hate" the family, or at least Collin for coming up with the idea.  I felt that there were two reasons to why so many people hated the idea of the project.  First, the fact that the project would be the topic of Collin's next book led the public to believe that this was just a publicity stunt and his motives were insincere.  In a New York Times movie review of the film, "Portrait of a Marriage: Eco-Geeks Unplugged," A.O. Scott vocalizes that the film is merely just Collin trying to publicize that he is an eco-conscious American who will make sacrifices to be seen as a noble environmentalist. "It provides no new scientific insights or political arguments, and celebrates various behavioral changes without assessing their value or importance. 

Mr. Beavan's evangelical, self-congratulatory demeanor has the effect, especially early in the film, of playing to the unfortunate perception that what drives many environmentalists is, above all, the need to feel superior to their neighbors and fellow citizens." The discouragement of others brings me to the second reason why I believe many did not support Collins.  The project made people feel as if the only way to lessen their impact was to completely pull a 180 as the Beavan family did, and change their entire lifestyle.  This may leave a bad taste in the mouthes of most people and for that, they will resent even making small strides towards reducing consumption.

Ultimately, I felt that "No Impact Man" was less of an eco-documentary and more of a family-oriented project on how making complete lifestyle changes could affect the overall dynamic of a family.

Another environmentalist who is supportive of the elimination of unnecessary waste is recent NYU graduate, Laura Singer. Singer promotes living a sustainable lifestyle by not using any plastic waste.  The article, "23-year-old hasn't produced any trash in two years" shows how Singer was forced to make her own products like shampoo and beauty aids, since almost everything comes in a plastic container these days.  I felt that the article on Singer's lifestyle changes was much less intimidating than others, because it is made clear that rather than completely changing the way that she once lived, she simply just creates less trash.  Singer says, "You don't have to be a stereotype of anything to live a sustainable lifestyle.  My style is the same.  My taste is the same.  I enjoy the same things. I just don't make trash."  

I felt that the approach towards bringing attention to those who live sustainably was portrayed in a better way by the article on Laura Singer rather than the film "No Impact Man.” I thought this because the article was a less in-your-face way of saying that you can make minimal changes and still make a big impact.  You do not need to completely cut out everything that may or may not have negative affects on the environment to do something healthy for yourself and the planet.

Another piece based on production and consumption in the United States was a twenty minute video called "Story of Stuff.”  Within the first minute of this video, it was clear to me that this was going to be another educational video that could leave many of it's viewers disengaged.  The speaker in the video came off as if she were speaking to elementary aged students in front of a green screen, which was following along with stick figures and simple animations.  Although I do understand that there is something to be said about simplicity, this video seemed to lack any sort of hook to grab onto the viewer.  The speaker also made a, what I felt was very offensive comment about the military within the first three minutes of the video.  By the tone of her voice, anyone would be able to catch that the makers of this video were against funds being put into the United States Military. Everyone is entitled to voicing their opinion, but once you expose your beliefs, you are subject to losing a certain group of people.  This is why I personally was incapable of being engaged with the video and basically tuned it out within the first three minutes.

While trying to reduce consumption and live sustainably is beneficial to the environment, there are people that will be negatively affected by these efforts. In Morgan Spurlock's  "30 Days: Working in a Coal Mine," Suprlock spends the month in West Virginia joining the coal mining industry.  During this month Spurlock is not only exposed to these labor intensive and highly dangerous conditions, but works alongside the men who do this for a living and put their life on the line every day to make sure Americans have electricity.  Coal mining is so important to our country as Spurlock explains that fifty percent of our electricity comes from coal.  Although a very dangerous job, coal miners work these rigorous hours the same reason why all Americans get up and go to work in the morning, to provide for themselves and their families.  "30 Days: Working in a Coal Mine" puts things into perspective, providing a sort of "behind the scenes" look at a coal miner's life and the risks that they put themselves at such as black lung.  This piece forces people to question things like alternative energy. Although yes, it is beneficial for our planet, in eliminating energy created by coal, jobs are also eliminated for thousands of hard working Americans.  This just shows that there are pros and cons to everything.

Reducing consumption does not necessarily mean that you have to reduce the amount of granola bar wrappers you throw away or the amount of energy you use.  Upcycling could be considered another way to refurbish materials for other useful purposes. In a recent article: Upcycling, underground: Huge bike park opens former limestone mine, a Mega Underground BMX Park was opened in Louisville Kentucky.  This 320,00 square foot park lays about 100 feet beneath the Earth's surface.  The significance of this park is that it is an upcycled former limestone mine.  Utilizing mines for a parks are great ways to upcycle land and benefit a community.  Parks like this are at the forefront of bettering lives and putting a good use to things that we already have.

Ultimately, we are all capable of minimizing our consumption to certain extents.  It depends on a person's willingness and motives to how much they will "give up" in order to reduce consumption.  And if you do not chose to reduce how much you consume, you can always upcycle the materials that you have.