Review of Almost Green: How I Saved 1/6th of a Billionth of the Planet by James Glave

Yesterday was Earth Day, and in keeping with the green spirit, I am offering another environmentally-minded post, a review of Almost Green: How I Saved 1/6th of a Billionth of the Planet, a very funny book written by James Glave, a man who really, really tried to save the planet, or at least himself.

In this book, the author relates the story of his and his wife's attempts to make their lives more eco-friendly, culminating in the building of the "Eco-Shed", his carbon-neutral writing studio. All the usual hijinks ensue when attempting to build from scratch--flaky architect, bureaucratic mazes, budget nightmares--along with plenty of new problems brought in by the scarcity of green materials and building methods on the author's small Canadian island community outside of Vancouver.

Despite the challenges marching steadily against him, Glave meets every one with moxie, even if he has to dredge it up from the depths of his weary, green soul. The book's cover illustration does an effectively cute job of conveying the cartoonish façade of cheerfulness and go-get-'em attitude Glave had to perfect to preserve his sanity throughout the mayhem, and the book itself is written with much wit and charm. I enjoyed it greatly, chuckling almost constantly and occasionally howling with laughter. Not only that, I learned loads of stuff about green construction and conservation methods without ever feeling like that's what I was there to do.


What makes this book particularly appealing is how well the typical reader can relate to Glave. He's not a green god; he's just like us, torn between wanting to do good for the planet and wanting a comfortable life, and worrying if those two things are perhaps mutually exclusive. After all, wouldn't everyone live the green life if we could just remember to recycle, had the time to hand-water the lawn, knew how to compost, could afford to shop organic and were in good enough shape to ride our bikes to work? Read this book, and besides getting a good laugh, you may even get some ideas about how to green up your little corner of the world!

Liked this review? Here's another: http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/04/review-of-kaiser-chiefs-cd-yours-truly.html

Image from Pixabay https://pixabay.com/en/val-di-fassa-mountain-dolomites-1331004/

Earth Day Resolutions: A New Tradition that Helps Everyone

Many people make New Year's resolutions. Every year, January 1st brings a desire to begin again, to wipe the slate clean; to improve our lives. Maybe this is brought on by embarrassment over our indulgences of the holiday season, or maybe it's simply because the first day of the new year seems like the right day for the first day of the new you. Very frequently, we start out with a list of promises (we'll eat healthier, drink less, exercise more, watch our language) that fizzle out after a few weeks or months.

I humbly suggest we start a new tradition. Earth Day is April 22nd, right in the middle of the renewal of nature that is Spring. It feels like a good time to make a fresh start, just as flowers rise from the earth and buds unfurl on the trees, so what say we make some Earth Day Resolutions? There isn't yet a set way to celebrate Earth Day, even though there are usually cool, environmental programs like stream clean-ups and tree-plantings, and TV specials that give green information and conservation tips. But why not have a tradition in which everyone can participate, one that might help keep the environmental awareness going all year long?

Enter the Earth Day Resolutions. What ways can you change for the better, both for you and the planet? Here are some good ones:

Resolve to eat less (or no) beef . Beef is a notorious resource-sucker; the energy needed to raise, house, feed, slaughter and process beef is many times greater than the energy to raise, harvest and process any plant-based foods, and hundreds of times greater than the energy that your body can get from it as food.

Resolve to buy more organic and/or locally-grown food . Maybe you can fit a once-a-month trip to the local farmer's market into your schedule; if not, try to buy at least one organic product every time you go to the grocery store. Just one! I'll bet you can keep that resolution all year. If you don't see a decent choice of organics, ask the manager if they can carry some. When I did this at my local grocery, the manager told me nobody had asked before, so ask if you want it; otherwise, they'll never know.

Resolve to save water , but don't make your resolution that general. Resolve to take specific steps or make new habits, such as always making sure the dishwasher or clothes washer is full before running, or never letting the water run while you brush your teeth.

Resolve to recycle . Use you city's, work's or school's recycling program. If there isn't one, read this post for help with that: http://bucketofuseful.blogspot.com/2016/02/how-to-recycle-if-you-dont-have.html

Think about the packaging when you buy groceries and other goods-is it recyclable? Is there too much packaging? You can save money shopping in bulk, and you can also cut down on the amount of packaging you have to deal with, as well!

Resolve to reuse . Shop thrift stores, yard sales, or make a toy-, book-, or clothing-swap with your friends or community group. There are so many things around your house that you have lost interest in that might prove useful to someone else, and that's likely to be true for every person you know. Get together and have a swapping party, or check out www.freecycle.org to see what people are giving away in your city!

So, let's celebrate Earth Day all year long with resolutions that keep the day going. You might make one big resolution, or several smaller ones. You might make one you are afraid you can't keep for an entire year, but you want to see how long you can take it. It's all valid, as long as you make a serious effort at it, because every time we are mindful of what we do, we can make a conscious choice to improve our lives and our world!

NASA image from Pixabay https://pixabay.com/en/nasa-map-day-ocean-earth-ice-140636/

Review of the Kaiser Chiefs' CD Yours Truly, Angry Mob

The Kaiser Chiefs first came to my attention some years ago when I saw their video for "Ruby", the lead single from their CD, Yours Truly, Angry Mob (Universal/Motown, 2007), on VH1. The video was delightfully clever and the song was one of the rare few that I loved on the very first hearing. I'd felt the same affinity for the Killers' first single, "Somebody Told Me", and I waited for the Kaiser Chiefs to blow up in a similar way.

I'm still waiting.

"Ruby" and the album it came from both went to 1 in the U.K. but caused barely a ripple stateside; Yours Truly, Angry Mob peaked at 45 on the Billboard Hot 200 Albums chart. So here I am, trying to start a rekindling of interest in the band with my itty bitty review. Who knows, it might start a whole grass-roots thing.

Since the band hasn't gotten the exposure they deserve, it's likely you haven't heard any of their stuff. Obviously, the internet can clear that problem up; I'm sure the clever video for "Ruby" is on YouTube, and you should be able to add this CD to your playlist on websites like Jango.com, Pandora, and YahooMusic.com, which is what I did to get more of a taste while I contemplated buying the CD (quite happy I did, thanks). Before you do any of that, though, you might just finish reading this review, so I'll try to do what a large number of music reviews fail to do: use the written word to effectively convey what the music sounds like.

Okay, first I'd categorize the style as British Alternative Rock. That tells you it's like Alt-Rock but the guys sing with an accent and use cool limey terms like "rubbish". The music ranges from the sheer exuberance of "Ruby" to the more contemplative "Love's Not a Competition (But I'm Winning)", and dips into a raucous, working-class sensibility on "Highroyds" and the title track. Besides the insanely catchy music (try listening to "Ruby" even once without singing along, possibly at the top of your lungs, to the anthemic and quickly-learned chorus), the lyrics are quite clever, as well. Here's a little social commentary on the crowd mentality from "Yours Truly, Angry Mob":

We are the angry mob
We read the papers every day
We like who we like, we hate who we hate
But we're also easily swayed


Okay, now back to the sound: Remember the music of the 80s that was not either Prince, the Dead Kennedys or composed almost entirely of synthesizer tracks? I'll give you a clue: The Alarm, The Church, Big Country. It was still rock music, with loud, happy guitars and singable, if not danceable, melodies. This is like that. As a matter of fact, the 'outer space' vibe underlying "Love's Not a Competition" owes much to the Church's "Under the Milky Way".

Those of you who are a bit young to have the 80s as a cultural touchstone can use as a comparison modern bands like The Bravery and, yes, the Killers, or possibly Maroon 5 in their less poppy moments. If you like any of these bands, you'll like The Kaiser Chiefs. So, don't let the UK keep this band all to themselves; Yours Truly, Angry Mob might become one of your favorite CDs. Now, don't you feel smart and European?

Image from Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Kaiser_Chiefs#/media/File:Kaiser_Chiefs.jpg