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jmbq_reads's review
2.0
Maybe I've read too many of these "Self-reliance" guidebooks recently, but this one just didn't grab me. Plenty of good information, but not as appealing to me. (It didn't help that the editing in the first chapter at least was pretty poor.)
megthegrand's review
3.0
A handy guide if you have space, but not particularly useful for this Chicago renter.
stenaros's review
3.0
A great book, not as friendly and chatty as "The Urban Homestead" but is required reading for anyone contemplating a grey water system. Also, good information about how to grow bugs, which your chickens (you do have chickens, don't you?) love to eat.
lencioni's review
3.0
Good overview and covers a wide variety of topics, but now that the Internet exists, it seems like Google could do just as good or a better job than this book does--if you know what you are looking for. Additionally, there were way too many typographical errors (I'm guessing due to conflicting character encodings, but that's neither here nor there) for a published book. Overall, good but not great.
eberico's review
3.0
There are a few things I could say about this book.
First, it provides a wealth of information that goes far and above most of the other books of this type that I've encountered. This is both good and bad. It's good because there are people out there who are willing to tap into their apartment building's plumbing to install a grey water system that requires lots of bathtubs or other water storage and cleaning containers. There are people who want to compost their own poop. I am not one of those people - which means that a lot of this book was irrelevant, if not overly self-righteous. But then I guess the things I do want to do - compost, collect rainwater, grow a more effective garden - might be seen as irrelevant and overly self-righteous, so I take my own critiques with a grain of salt.
Second, if you can deal with the information overload and the long discussion of 'humanure', I think this book is well worth checking out from the library. It would be a great reference piece for a coop or collective to have on hand, but I'm not sure your average person wanting to green up their lifestyle will find much of it of use.
Third, maybe it was just the edition that I had, but the book was rife with typographic errors, strange choices in font, and layout issues that made it difficult to read. Instead of putting the marginalia on the periphery of the pages, these materials run down the center of each page, often stretching over multiple pages. Some pages contained large-ish fonts and justified text; on others, the text was smaller and more readable. The introduction and first chapter could benefit from working with a copy editor and graphic designer to catch the places where what I assume are proprietary characters make the text difficult to read. Other sections refer to illustrations or charts that aren't included in the book. I don't mean to be a jerk about these things - but if you want your work to be taken seriously, edit edit edit!
First, it provides a wealth of information that goes far and above most of the other books of this type that I've encountered. This is both good and bad. It's good because there are people out there who are willing to tap into their apartment building's plumbing to install a grey water system that requires lots of bathtubs or other water storage and cleaning containers. There are people who want to compost their own poop. I am not one of those people - which means that a lot of this book was irrelevant, if not overly self-righteous. But then I guess the things I do want to do - compost, collect rainwater, grow a more effective garden - might be seen as irrelevant and overly self-righteous, so I take my own critiques with a grain of salt.
Second, if you can deal with the information overload and the long discussion of 'humanure', I think this book is well worth checking out from the library. It would be a great reference piece for a coop or collective to have on hand, but I'm not sure your average person wanting to green up their lifestyle will find much of it of use.
Third, maybe it was just the edition that I had, but the book was rife with typographic errors, strange choices in font, and layout issues that made it difficult to read. Instead of putting the marginalia on the periphery of the pages, these materials run down the center of each page, often stretching over multiple pages. Some pages contained large-ish fonts and justified text; on others, the text was smaller and more readable. The introduction and first chapter could benefit from working with a copy editor and graphic designer to catch the places where what I assume are proprietary characters make the text difficult to read. Other sections refer to illustrations or charts that aren't included in the book. I don't mean to be a jerk about these things - but if you want your work to be taken seriously, edit edit edit!
coldinaugust's review
You can build a chicken coop & grow a mushroom log in even a shady backyard in the city, and "depave" abandoned parking lots for gardening. Sweet.
p_tremuloides's review
3.0
While I can see the merits of this book, it isn't about sustainable CITY living -- it's more about sustainable living in the suburbs (as long as your homeowners association doesn't have a lot of strict rules, and then, well...)
Most of these suggestions require land -- and not rental land either, but land you own, or a really amazing landlord who would allow you to make MAJOR changes to the property. But, let's face it, that's now how a lot of people who live in cities live -- they live in high rises, or rentals (or both), or they have microyards surrounded by busy streets. They don't have the place for things like biofiltration pond systems, chicken coops, and the like.
I understand the authors' intention -- they would like us to revision how we live in cities. They want to see radical change, more than just gardens. But they aren't working within the realistic constraints of those of us who actually live in (most) cities -- I say this as someone who has lived, and currently lives, in a city. Growing up, I lived in a large metropolitan city, and now I live in a small one. These suggestions, by and large, wouldn't be things that most of the people I knew and know could act on unless they lived in the outskirts.
When I picked up this book, I was hoping for more suggestions how the radical changes that a person living in a rental house (or apartment) could realistically (or even somewhat ideally) make. I wanted to know more about kitchen & vermicomposting (which this covers, and which could be added to a community garden) and vertical gardening (this is kind of covered when talking about greywater -- but thinking about small spaces, I'd like to see more about vertical gardening on a small scale). I wanted to better understand re-using existing materials (like pallets, 5-gallon plastic buckets, and tires) to create furniture, gardens, and composting areas. There are so many things that could have been covered that would have been more realistic for CITY living.
That being said, if you do have land, there are awesome tips for raising animals, using grey water, biofilteration, and more.
Most of these suggestions require land -- and not rental land either, but land you own, or a really amazing landlord who would allow you to make MAJOR changes to the property. But, let's face it, that's now how a lot of people who live in cities live -- they live in high rises, or rentals (or both), or they have microyards surrounded by busy streets. They don't have the place for things like biofiltration pond systems, chicken coops, and the like.
I understand the authors' intention -- they would like us to revision how we live in cities. They want to see radical change, more than just gardens. But they aren't working within the realistic constraints of those of us who actually live in (most) cities -- I say this as someone who has lived, and currently lives, in a city. Growing up, I lived in a large metropolitan city, and now I live in a small one. These suggestions, by and large, wouldn't be things that most of the people I knew and know could act on unless they lived in the outskirts.
When I picked up this book, I was hoping for more suggestions how the radical changes that a person living in a rental house (or apartment) could realistically (or even somewhat ideally) make. I wanted to know more about kitchen & vermicomposting (which this covers, and which could be added to a community garden) and vertical gardening (this is kind of covered when talking about greywater -- but thinking about small spaces, I'd like to see more about vertical gardening on a small scale). I wanted to better understand re-using existing materials (like pallets, 5-gallon plastic buckets, and tires) to create furniture, gardens, and composting areas. There are so many things that could have been covered that would have been more realistic for CITY living.
That being said, if you do have land, there are awesome tips for raising animals, using grey water, biofilteration, and more.
iangreenleaf's review
3.0
Pretty good primer on a number of sustainable and alternative practices. Like others in this category, it gives you enough information to get you started but you'll probably need to dig into more complete references if you're tackling one of the bigger projects. The depth of the information provided here was a little inconsistent. Some project types get full treatment while others are passed over in a couple quick paragraphs. Those are pretty forgivable shortcomings, though, for a book that covers a lot of ground. The authors also inject an unapologetically political viewpoint into the book; their point being that sustainability cannot be effective if it is considered as agnostic pieces in isolation of a larger vision for rebuilding. I was fine with the tone and generally agree with their take, just be ready for that.
jenenglish's review
3.0
If, like me, you are tired of reading books about environmental issues that detail lots of problems but offer few solutions, this book is worth checking out. Except for a few small sections, most of it is filled with ideas for sustainable food, water and waste management, energy, and bioremediation in urban settings. The authors are good about noting both the pros and cons of the solutions they list. The other really nice thing about this book is its focus on projects that are more affordable; the authors do not even bring up hybrid vehicles or solar panels or the like, which are currently only possible for a small portion of the population.
Most of the problems with this book would have been resolved with a better editor. There were typos and typesetting problems, and the writing could have been tightened up a bit. Most of the ideas are just described, but a few DIY projects are included in the book. I would have left out the projects, as many are not quite detailed enough for anyone without strong technical know-how, and many are of the type (biogas/methane and plumbing) that could be dangerous or cause extensive damage if they failed (they do include some caveats, at least). It also made the book sort of uneven to have a mix of sections with different levels of detail.
Most of the problems with this book would have been resolved with a better editor. There were typos and typesetting problems, and the writing could have been tightened up a bit. Most of the ideas are just described, but a few DIY projects are included in the book. I would have left out the projects, as many are not quite detailed enough for anyone without strong technical know-how, and many are of the type (biogas/methane and plumbing) that could be dangerous or cause extensive damage if they failed (they do include some caveats, at least). It also made the book sort of uneven to have a mix of sections with different levels of detail.
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