Greening Austin Daily

Book Review – The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget: Save Money. Save Time. Save the Planet

29th April, 2010 - Posted by katherine - No Comments

I recently finished reading The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget: Save Money. Save Time. Save the Planet. by Josh Dorfman.  I seem to remember seeing a positive review on NPR’s website for it, but now I can’t find that article so maybe I am imagining it.  The reviews on Amazon are mostly positive though, and I think I would give it 4 stars.

The book  was really informative especially if you are a new homeowner and need new appliances, or a new heater, for example, and was very thorough about describing available products.  It would be a great reference book to have on hand if you were looking to do some home repairs or updates.  And there were some good tips in Chapter 1 “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle” which included the links for websites where you can swap books, video games, and clothes (paperbackswap.com, goozex.com, and swapstyle.com), as well as interesting links for recycling old batteries, cell phones, and electronic gadgets (cellphonesforsoldiers.com, myboneyard.com, secondrotation.com).  I think he also did a good job of making environmental choices approachable to regular people and recognizing that people can make small changes to help the planet like changing their shower heads, looking for clothes made from eco-responsible fabric, or switching to nontoxic cleaning supplies and more earth-friendly personal care products.

My criticism of the book was that for me, there weren’t a lot of budget saving tips that were new to me.  I already have the water heater set low and keep the thermostat in the house low in the winter and higher in the summer. I bought used books in college or checked them out from the library.  And I realize that taking the bus can save money and is better for the environment than driving my car to work each day (although it doesn’t have as much money now that Capitol Metro has raised rates).  I guess there weren’t a lot of tips in the book that were new to me that I could implement, which was a little disappointing.  And some of the ideas, like putting in solar panels, were just way too expensive for most people to afford, including myself at this point in life.

What struck me most was that the majority of the tips were about more things you can buy to make the environment better.   But I know it’s more exciting to read about and imagine what kind of new car or refrigerator I can buy rather than reading about reusing things.  The whole book was a little too focused on the consumerism aspect of the green movement.  One tip Dorfman didn’t give was that you should get your books from the local library (or download it to a Kindle), because when you buy a book, there’s a chance you won’t like it enough to keep for more than 5 years, at which point it may end up in someone else’s home, or it may end up in the trash or recycling.  And in 5 years, The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget will be somewhat dated since all of the appliances/cars etc. Dorfman is describing will no longer be the most environmental choice on the market. At any rate, I recommend checking it out at the library for a quick and informative read.