The No Impact Man Documentary follows a family in New York City attempting to live with zero environmental impact. Their experiment—using bicycles, eliminating electricity, eating only local food, composting, avoiding new purchases, and removing TV—offers insights relevant to tiny house living.
The film shows the difficulty of releasing familiar comforts, but also reveals the benefits: more family time, outdoor activity, improved health, support for local farmers, and nearly zero waste.
Key Takeaways for Simple Living
- Start with Small Changes: Extreme changes can overwhelm; gradual steps are more sustainable
- Quality Time Replaces Consumption: Without screens and shopping, families interact more
- Local Food Connects You to Place: Eating locally builds relationships with farmers and seasons
- Less Stuff Means Less Waste: Avoiding new purchases eliminates packaging and disposal
- Physical Activity Improves Health: Bicycling instead of driving provides daily exercise
Lessons from the Documentary
- Perfect Sustainability Isn’t Required: Doing what you can matters more than achieving zero impact
- Urban Environments Add Difficulty: NYC apartments lack space for composting and food production
- Relationships May Be Tested: Major lifestyle changes affect everyone in the household
- Simple Living Has Unexpected Benefits: Health, finances, and relationships often improve alongside environmental impact
- Incremental Progress Adds Up: Small consistent changes over time create meaningful reduction in consumption
You can share this using the e-mail and social media re-share buttons below. Thanks!
If you enjoyed this you’ll LOVE our Free Daily Tiny House Newsletter with even more!
Also, try our Tiny Houses For Sale Newsletter!
More Like This: Tiny Houses | Tiny House Living
See The Latest: Go Back Home to See Our Latest Tiny Houses
This post may contain affiliate links and/or sponsored content.
Alex
Latest posts by Alex (see all)
- Custom Built 7×14 Cargo Trailer CAMPER Tour - May 20, 2026
- Living Full-Time in a Tesla Model X - May 20, 2026
- Tiny House Communities in Georgia: Where to Live Small in the Peach State - May 20, 2026
Long ago I’d realized that you shouldn’t let everything go that modern times provide. The “good old days” did have some good to them but sadly, this was offset by a lot of bad. Lately I’m seeing too much extremism in both directions and I hope that I’m settling somewhere in the middle. No need to live in 4500 square feet, that’s just too much, even for a family of 6. On the other hand, no need to live in a packing crate either. But hey, to each their own I suppose.
I watched a documentary on the Amish last night as well… That was really interesting as I didn’t know enough about their culture/values before. The way they do not allow modern technology/innovations corrupt their way of life. But many of them will still use technology to a certain extent. Maybe I’ll do a review on that one as well.
They are known to go to an outsider neighbor to use the telephone when needed. Also accept rides in cars and use public transportation. Also Texas Country Reporter did a story on an Amish family who did a timber frame rebuild on a Galveston beach house after a recent hurricane. Don’t recall that he went into how they got themselves to that location to do the work and they did use power tools. Go Figure.
And hey, ya gotta love Bob, If he finds it in Texas, he’ll stop and tell you about it.
Have you read the book yet? It’s really incredible. I haven’t seen the documentary yet. But it’s on my list. 🙂