Writer and “accidental activist” Colin Beavan continues to build on the lifestyle revolution he began nearly a decade ago in Manhattan. Beavan, who calls himself No Impact Man, started a blog in 2007 chronicling his family’s year of zero-impact living: no trash, an apartment-sized worm compost system, limited and local consumption, no electricity, and famously, no paper products. The New York Times called it “The Year Without Toilet Paper.” He traveled to colleges talking about No Impact Man, the book he developed out of his blog. His follow-up, How to Be Alive: A Guide to the Kind of Happiness That Helps the World, grew out of the questions students asked him on that tour about what they could do in their own lives, leading him to collect “the wisdom of philosophers, activists, and scientists who care about the quality of life on the planet.” His new how-to guide centers on the blending of “the good life” with service to the world, goals he insists are in harmony, not opposition. Colin Beavan reads at 7 p.m. at Politics & Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Free. (202) 364-1919. politics-prose.com.