No Impact Man On The Colbert Report (VIDEO)

Colin Beavan was on the Colbert Report Thursday night to talk about his year-long experiment with living with no environmental impact in New York City. When Stephen asked him about what environmental difference he alone could make with his experiment, Beavan mentioned HuffPost's No Impact Week and the thousands of people who've already signed up to take part on October 18th. We're partnering with Beavan's non-profit, The No Impact Project to bring our readers a week-long eco-activism/citizen journalism experience where people can take a shot at no impact living. (Side note -- no one has to be as extreme as No Impact Man, you can pick the goals that are right for you.) click here to find out more about the week.

To sign up, click here.

Watch how Colbert responds when Beavan invites him to do No Impact Week with us:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Colin Beavan
www.colbertnation.com
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To Sign Up For HuffPost's No Impact Week, Click Here!

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Comments

[rgbutterfly]

Wow Colbert is a real jerk. So not funny.

[jsgaetano]

I wish I could participate... but I work on the 30th floor. There's no way I can go up that many stairs... to say nothing of getting back down.

[wernerholm]

No impact? How exactly does that work? If you were born in America, or live here now, you have had an "impact" made on your behalf. This guy lives inside? right? He walks on a sidewalk, doesn't he? Well that building and that sidewalk were made by people who weren't having a 'zero' impact. http://www.suburbanempire.com has some interesting view on what you can do today that doesn't involve oil..... nothing at all.
All the lights in Stephen's studio are lit, and they arn't running on moonbeams and goat farts. That that took a picture of him is made in a factory, and has an impact. You don't get to sit on a plastic chair, in a plastic studio, talking to plastic, people, wearing lots of makeup (oil) and say you are Zero Impact Man......h­orsepatoot­ies!

[jsgaetano]

Typical conservative mentality. "Oh, I can't do anything... so I'll do nothing! Waaah waah waah!"

Nothing will ever change if we listen to conservatives... which is exactly what they want. It really seems, more and more, like conservative ideology is a death cult.

[mamacat]

The old expression, "Waste not, want not," comes to mind, in reference to the idea of lowering our individual consumption and pollution levels. However, I keep thinking of how the Earth's human population has gone from fewer than 3 billion to nearly 7 billion in just my own lifetime.

If one accepts that within the time-frame of my lifetime the number of humans living on this planet has increased two and one-half fold, then, doing the math, one can see how each human living today would have to reduce their pollution by roughly 60% just to bring our level of pollution for humanity as a whole back down to what it was when I was born. Bringing our level of pollution and resource consumption back down to what it was mid 20th century will not reverse global warming, since we now know that it started about a hundred years ago, but these numbers do illustrate the problem facing humanity.

Since the idea that we can each consume nothing and pollute not-at-all seems a bit impractical, are we not then left with the conclusion that the only other way to save this biosphere for future generations is to reverse the population explosion?

[amber15]

never did like this Colbert guy and this just confirmed by dislike for him.........just whitewashed the issues and left the interview as kind of a joke.........I hope he'll be laughing when the floods take him away.......
Now I see why Jon Stewart always wins the emmy....

[ResidualSelfImage]

Make an impact get hemp legalized!
Get the corn and soy subsidies canceled!

[mioffe]

Stupid ideas, that ghg are main players in nature, bring smart educated person to mind set of cave man.
It is properties of water, stupid, not carbon dioxide reduction, which couls save planet from global warming.

[Abi Wright]

HuffPost's Pick

I can't wait for No Impact Week-- it's going to be a testament of wills for many, and a call to action for the entire nation!

[voteblue4evr]

Remind me to never shake 'No Impact Man's' hand. "Never going to use toilet paper." Stephen Colbert asked the best question "What did you add to the economy?"

[condor101]

HuffPost's Pick

A "No impact" lifestyle scares the corporate machine and their media friends. Through shows like this they try to illegitimize Colins' book and his message.

Not everyone has to live a no impact lifestyle. But definitely it's great to consume less, freeing up time for relationships and many other wonderful things.
I stopped watching T.V. 8 years ago. I cancelled my cable and only watch movies on dvd or at the theatre. T.V. is full of advertisements and ridiculous and wasteful programming. I feel very good not to see advertisements and have more time for myself and the things that really matter, like reading books.

[Ethan Nichtern - Huffpost Blogger]

I am not sure what I think of No Impact Man, but I am definitely looking forward to interviewing him on our Interdependence Project Podcast.

Here's a good blog post about him:

http://bit.ly/2W21RO

[Angie Cordeiro - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks!

Yes, it's all about learning how to "Live simply so that others may simply live."

[Henk]

Colbert is great, its very easy to see how humorless people (Republicans) could mistake him for one of their own.

[NickConrad]

Also make sure to buy the book, because frankly that's what this is all about. Being green is fantastic, don't get me wrong. Newsflash, though: No Impact Man was a bad documentary about a bad idea executed badly in the hopes of selling a book. The man himself doesn't realize that he's invited on morning shows as a joke, and is more than smug and derisive during Q&A sessions after screenings. Support being green, not the gimmick this man is trying to sell you.

[Abi Wright]

The movie isn't even out-- how do you know it's a bad documentary? And as far as being invited on shows as a joke-- I seriously doubt The Morning Show is mocking a non-profit group-- that's bad publicity for them as well as just plain stupid. Why is it that when people try to do things completely outside of the box, others like yourself chastise them as persons who are masters of deception. Tell me, do you know Colin Beaven? Do you know anything at all about his non-profit? Were you part of the taping for the documentary? I seriously doubt it-- and your support for the cause.

[NickConrad]

The movie has been touring film festivals for some time now hence the access to a Q&A session after the screening is over. I've made my opinion based on the documentary itself as well as his smug dismissal of genuine questioning as to what he was up to. As I said before, I support the cause just not this man or his take on the cause. Once you see the documentary perhaps my view will make more sense to you, but then again to each his/her own and maybe it won't.