This week’s post was written by Saulo DePaula, a rising junior at UMass Amherst who studies sociology and legal studies. Along with being a New Students Orientation counselor, he is also a resident assistant and a peer advisor in the sociology department.
Prior to beginning his No Impact project, Colin Beavan had spent most of his life pointing out the errors of others, trying to correct them and help them become better citizens of Earth. Criticisms against exorbitance were thrown around in an attempt to fix what he perceived as broken. With all his external reflection, however, Beavan never looked at his own faults; he had not questioned what he was doing wrong, what he could do more of, and what he needed to eliminate from his life altogether.
Within the first chapter of No Impact Man, Beavan details a revelatory interaction between his wife, Michelle, and himself. Michelle, who was raised in the upper middle class, had been used to a life of financial expenditure and elegance, in extreme contrast to Beavan, who grew up with only the bare necessities. The couple’s debate was whether or not Michelle should own a white-fox shawl, with Beavan firmly stating that she should not. Throughout the back and forth, Beavan made sure that his point was well established and eventually changed his wife’s attitude about owning fur. Despite his personal victory, however, Beavan came to the realization that he was making the “mistake of thinking that condemning other people’s misdeeds somehow made [him] virtuous” (5). That is, he was more than willing to correct others, while paying no attention to himself.
With this newly-acquired understanding in mind, Beavan set out to improve himself as an eco-friendly person, because “if [he] was the type of person who left his air conditioners on when no one was home, not only did [he] not have the professional authority to talk about the environment, [he] didn’t have the moral authority, either” (12). Talking about reducing his impact was one thing, and it could only accomplish so much, but actually acting upon those beliefs opens up a world of real opportunities. To Beavan, this began with how to blow his nose without causing an environmental impact. It may seem pretty silly, but from then on there was a variety of personal changes to be discovered, such as what kind of bag to use when grocery shopping and what method of transportation to take on the way to said shopping.
Changes that you make to your own life can serve as an influence to others; it could be the extra push they need to generate improvement of their own. While there is a chance that your changes may be dismissed by some as unnecessary or silly, others may admire it and try to follow and contribute. This influence is indirect; it doesn’t require telling people that what they’re doing is wrong. If you want to promote a healthier lifestyle, for example, all it takes is for you to set a positive example, and surely others will join you.
What change will you make?