Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2011

Is your carbon footprint still too large despite recycling, etc.? Meet Colin Beavan, a preachy, self-congratulatory wonk who is especially irritating for being exasperatingly right. In an orgy of radical nonconsumption, Beavan and his (comically reluctant) family eschewed, for a year, such things as toilet paper, electricity, motorized transportation, and (gasp) coffee. Colin does not expect us to follow suit. We, after all, lack his motivations of celebrity, a book and a movie. His purpose was to raise our awareness of overconsumption, and this he does, compellingly and entertainingly so.