“A nice array of statistics, which is both a blessing (good reference book when you're, say, writing a short essay or paper; helps put things in perspective) and a curse (a touch boring to dig through).
Categorised and compartmentalised, you can choose a specific topic to read on, and it will all be covered in one chapter.
Repetitive, though: If you decide to read this book in one go, like I did, be prepared to read the same information, sometimes word for word, over and over.
USA-focussed. Which is not a bad thing, but doesn't really do anything for me.
Only mentions meat consumption and emissions related to livestock in passing. Whereas taking meat off your plate makes a huge difference.
If you've been on the green bandwagon for a while, you can skip this one, unless you want a stats reference on your bookshelf. There were only a few points in this book that were genuinely new to me. If, however, you are new, then this is a nice starting point, I suppose.
The biggest problem I've had with this book, though, is that it doesn't really deal with "civilised" humanity's greatest problem -- consumption. Epic amounts of it. It even encourages it, I suppose, but in the areas that are "organic" and "green" and "eco-minded". And while global climate change is a complex thing and reversing the process is certainly not an overnight venture, a lot of it boils down to a rather short mantra "Reduce, reuse, recycle" and the WWII slogan "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without." ”
Yukino B. wrote this review Tuesday, August 17, 2010.
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