Friday, October 8, 2010
Colin Beavan: No Impact Man
I attended the Buckeye Book Community, An Evening with Colin Beavan, author of No Impact Man. I really enjoyed the book No Impact Man when I read it over the summer so I was very excited to see him speak in person. While originally reading the book it gave me many things that to think about. I began to try and implement small changes in my life. When he came up on stage and started talking I liked how he didn't immediately start right off into the content of the book. He first talked about how his daughter was and made a few jokes about the whole project. He didn't actually talk much about what changes he made in his project or what was in the book. He instead focused on why he started this project and what we can all do to make a difference. During his lecture he made many good points and I liked that he included many small stories that had very good lessons. One point he made was that if you are passionate about something you should find ways to incorporate it into your life even if it won't become your profession. I also like how he made that point that it doesn't matter who created a problem but we all need to work together to get it fixed, otherwise, it will hurt us all in the end. This made a very powerful point to me and I think many people overlook this fact. We all have to do our part to help change the world rather than looking to place blame on others and waiting for them to fix it. I greatly enjoyed listening to him speak and I loved how he brought insight and humor into his speech. I would definitely recommend reading his book and listening to him speak to other people because he brings such meaningful insight and light to such a large issue as the environment in today's world.
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I also attended this event. I agree with Cindy, it was overall a very positive experiences. I enjoyed Beavan's speech, which felt more like a small group discussion than a lecture with 500 plus people in attendance.
ReplyDeleteBeavan's intelligence and passion were just as present in his speech as it is in his book. His obvious intelligence served to further emphasis the advice Beavan openly gave the attending students.
He spoke to the audience with transparency, in his retailing of events that inspired the book and proceeded its publishing. For me this caused the book to feel more real. While I had previously seen the book as an apathetic liberals attempt at self-gratification by making others feel guilty, It became the true account of one mans inspirational attempt to better the world.
-Kayla Byler
I also attended this event. I will admit that, although I read the book, I did not agree with some of things he said. However, hearing him talk, I really agreed with how he said we should find something we are passionate about and make that part of your life. I also liked how when a student asked how he felt about the university advertised for the event by printing paper, which hurts the environment, Colin didn't defend it, he just said that we, as students, should start making changes.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed listening to Collin Beaven speak about his book. I am personally very interested in helping the earth stay healthy. I believe that everyone can do a little bit to help, and with each of us doing a little, we can all do a lot as a whole. Collin spoke a lot about the people that opposed him in his quest, and how he handled that. I was impressed with how well he handled criticism and didn't yell or demand that people agree with him. He made a very good impression on me and I hope that his message carries on.
ReplyDeleteI read No Impact Man cover to cover and formed multiple opinions of Colin Beavan's documentary. I attended the Night with Colin Beavan in hopes of understanding Beavan's perspective a little better. I was disappointed in Beavan's speaking quality. I felt like he "spoke down" to the audience and contradicted his own beliefs quite a bit. No Impact Man opened my eyes about doing my part to preserve our planet, but Colin's speech left me frustrated and disappointed.
ReplyDeleteI was really looking forward to listening to Collin Beaven speak because I loved reading No Impact Man; however, I have to say I was a little disappointed with how it went. He kept saying things hinting that no one here had actually read his book, which I find a little insulting. I wish he had just focused on the people that did read his book and did want to be there hearing him speak, instead of being consumed by the fact that someone, somewhere in the audience hadn't read it.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the advice he gave to everyone about how to live more environmentally, and about how we need to start making changes in our daily lives really stuck with me.
After attending the night with Colin Beaven I somewhat lost interest in the No Impact Man project. While reading the book in its entirety over the summer, I actually was very interested in his unique project. I even actually tried to implement minor changes into my own life in order to be more "No Impact". I anticipated his speech, but to my dislike his speech actually bored me. I feel like as if he only gave a summary of his book and then decided to rant on whatever subject was on his mind. He continually related to the fact that he refuses to tell people how he didn't use toilet paper. I feel like the audience, most attending to meet class requirements, would have rather heard about how they could implement minor changes in their lives while on campus. OSU offered a "No Impact" week, but I don't feel as if that was the most appealing solution to Mr. Beaven's written work.
ReplyDeleteI, as well, read "No Impact Man" over the summer, and though I thought parts of it were redundant and a bit boring, I actually found it as a whole to be interesting, and began implementing small changes in my life as an attempt to be more environmentally friendly. I looked forward to attending "A Night With Colin Beaven," and hoped that he'd be able to better clarify several aspects of his book and explain more about how students on campus could live without hurting the environment on such a detrimental level. I must say that much to my dismay, I ended up walking away from his speech disappointed and more confused than I was before. Though he did make some good points about utilizing our passions for worthwhile causes, his lack of speaking skills and obvious frustration towards having to speak to an audience of college kids was evident, and ultimately took away from his likability.
ReplyDeleteI found "No Impact Man" very interesting and filled with really good ideas to help the environment. Colin Beaven was very passionate about the issues he stated in the book, but I was hoping he would give more practical ways to help the environment as a college student. All of his ways in the book are geared towards someone living in the same situation as he was and I was hoping he would change directions a little bit when he spoke for us. I was glad he came, though, and I thought it was nice that he had a Question and Answer session at the end. He needed to loosen up, though! (and stop worrying about the toilet paper questions!!)
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