Customer Reviews

A Life Stripped Bare: My Year Trying to Live Ethically

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Emily, cool it!

Ok, the book may not be up there in the (now) ozone-free stratosphere of Bio/Eco/Ethical bibles, but it is quite good nonetheless.

For those of us who do eat chemical-laden apples and think nothing of buying our carrots from the local supermarket and fly halfway around the world for our holidays, it is a fun read. And reasonably light going. And therein lies its strength; Mr Hickman does not take himself too seriously and he has a sense of humour. This makes him readable and human - I am far from being a tree-hugging eco-warrior (as I'm sure you've guessed) but I found that his explanations were quite reasoned. He admits to failures (he is unwilling to wash his wife's reusable tampons) but he is willing, and gives most things a try.

He admits that his wormery is not a success and that giving up television is not easy and not fun at all. He does do an eco holiday though, and enjoys it.

Good on you, Leo! I like your failures. And I like your humanity.

This is a great introduction to ethical living. It is easy to read and very amusing. The information is simple and easy to understand (I think implementing it is the challenge!). If you've read other books on ethical living or magazines such as the ecologist, then this won't add anything new or shocking, but for those new to the subject I can't recommend it enough. Well worth a go.

Feel free to check out my blog which can be found on my profile page.

Calling this book "A Life Stripped Bare" is an insult to the hundreds of thousands of people who lost literally everything to natural disasters in 2005.

This is a pop media journalist's narration of his own bland foray into "living ethically." There is not a single suggestion in the book that any moderately environmentally-aware person has not heard a dozen times; buy organic, local food; try to get rid of your car; don't eat meat; avoid chemicals. It's somewhat funny at times, but it's really only revelatory if you think food is born in the back of a grocery store and you've never heard of recycling.

A far more useful read is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/060980281X/qid=1133830624/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-7014812-3547267?s=books&v=glance&n=283155">The Consumer's Guide to Effecive Environmental Choices</a>, which is a scientificly-derived explanation of the top environmental choices individuals can make to impact the environment.