I Love Cynics!

The best parts of this book are the last 18 pages. No, that’s not really a slam on the book… well… you’ll see.

LiViNG GREEN: A practical guide to simple sustainability is exactly what the subtitle suggests; a guide to improving sustainability in your daily life. Everything, from what you eat to what you drive, has an impact on not only your quality of life but also on the global ecology. This book lays out simple, and some not-so-simple, steps you can take that will improve your quality of life.

Three sections cover your health, your home and finally, the future of green living. Within these sections are chapters that provide useful tips related to the section. Tips include removing harmful chemicals from the home, buying from local producers to reduce transportation pollution, and ways to reduce home energy needs.

For the most part, the book is a collection of common sense information, a bit of a rehash of information that’s been available for a long time. It’s coupled with an often zealous tone, the kind that annoys people who are sitting on the fence on the issues. It’s aggravating, since you know the author is passionate about the subject, which is good, but he uses a tone, throwing hard to comprehend numbers and statistics at you while shouting “OH GOD! WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE UNLESS YOU CHANGE NOW NOW NOW!” It turns those fence sitters right away, reducing the effectiveness of an otherwise excellent book.

Which brings me back to those wonderful final pages. The last 18 pages before the index are loaded with the resources used in the book. Web links galore, it’s a great jumping-off point for the curious, green-newbies, fence-sitters and even the already committed looking for more information. Since this book is barely a year old, all the information is still available and up-to-date. The book is worth the price just for the resources it provides.