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My first business outing with No Impact Man: we’re at the counter of a noisy café, ordering steaming cups of local apple cider. A moment so practiced it was almost choreographed transpires: Colin waits, just a breath, while the barista reaches for a disposable cup, then interjects – “Could you put it in this, please?” all serious eyes and tousled hair, his trademark Mason jar extended.  The barista flashes an enthusiastic smile and takes the jar which, I notice, could use a good scrub.

I climb on the coattails, eager to make a good impression. “Mine, too,” I proudly announce, ceramic vessel proffered; it’s a mug, not so grassrootsy-looking as a jar, nor as capacious. I reassure myself by noting that at least it’s clean.

Colin Beavan, the self-described “guilty liberal who attempted to save the world” with a year-long, high-profile foray into extreme green living, begins to extol the myriad virtues of the screwcap jar – it’s light, it seals tightly and doesn’t leak, it’s more conspicuous than a coffee mug, you can see what’s inside it, it’s attractive in a sort of homegrown way, it can also serve as Tupperware. I begin to regret my lowly mug, and make a mental note that next time, I will bring the gnarliest, most salvaged-looking jar I can find.

Since that fragmented moment in the No Impact journey wedged between blog posts, deadlines and press appearances, Colin and his No Impact family have metamorphosed while the world watched – on the Colbert Report, Good Morning America, in The New York Times (and the Green Fork!). And since his book, titled No Impact Man, debuted on September 1st, their lives have fallen under even greater scrutiny – magnified by this coming Friday’s theatrical release of the No Impact Man documentary. And have they ever risen to the occasion! With nation-wide appearances and book signings on the docket, Colin Beavan and Michelle Conlin (and little Isabella and four-footed Frankie, of course) have carried the mantle of sustainability with enthusiasm, inspiration and grace. Together they create a compelling vision of good green living – and all the quirks and hiccups along the road to getting there.

Want to get a look inside their year of No Impact? Find a screening of the No Impact movie near you (or host one!)! New Yorkers – join Kerry Trueman and me at the Angelika theater on September 15th at 5:00, where we’ll field your questions about sustainable food and how it fits into a low-impact lifestyle.

To keep current with Colin, follow his No Impact blog; to find out how you can change the world and even yourself, check out www.noimpactproject.org, a new nonprofit project aimed at enabling a sustainable way of life that makes us happier, healthier and more balanced citizens of the planet.

And now, I’m off to refill my gnarly pickled herring jar, which previously held lingonberry jam made by my friend’s grandmother in Poland, and which has a fish on the lid. Take that, No Impact Man!