The author introduces the premise of his book—that he, his wife, and his baby daughter try to live for one year in New York City while creating a “net zero impact on the environment”(14). To do so, he tried not to create trash (so he had to give up takeout food), no carbon dioxide production (so no driving or flying), no toxic substances in the water such as from the use of laundry detergent, and no purchasing of produce from faraway places (more than 250 miles), in addition to all the other prohibitions, such as not using plastics, etc.

Beavan then goes into how he arrived at this idea. He and his wife, Michelle, are a study in contrasts. He describes her as “all Daddy’s gold AMEX and taxi company charge account and huge boats”(3), while he describes himself as a wannabe hippie who was raised to hate materialism. He reports that his friend even spoke to his own therapist about Colin’s differences with Michelle. In return for allowing his wife to watch reality TV, which he hates, she agrees not to wear fur. He has become more materialistic than he would like, but he also spends time registering voters and trying to be a good liberal.