Colin Beavan is an American non-fiction writer and internet blogger noted for recording the attempts of his family to live a "zero impact" lifestyle in New York City for one year. The rules of the experiment included producing no trash save for compost, purchasing no goods except for food grown within a 250-mile radius, using no carbon-based transportation, and using no paper products, including toilet paper. He and his family are the subject of a documentary, The Documentary, directed by Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein. A book about the year-long experiment was released in September 2009.
Beavan was named one of MSN’s Ten Most Influential Men of 2007 and was named an Eco-Illuminator in Elle Magazine's 2008 Green Awards. His blog NoImpactMan.com was named one of the world’s top 15 environmentalwebsites by Time Magazine.
No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process (September 1, 2009) Farrar, Straus, and Giroux New York City ISBN 978-0374222888
Operation Jedburgh: D-Day and America's First Shadow War - 2006 ISBN 978-0670037629
Fingerprints: The Origins of Crime Detection and the Murder Case that Launched Forensic Science - 2001 ISBN 978-0786885282