The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget: Review (Giveaway Closed)

I'm not the most eco-conscious person you'll ever meet. Too many "green" initiatives are too expensive, too time-consuming, or simply illogical. (Is it worth using gallons of hot water to wash out a peanut butter jar for recycling?) But if there's a way to save time and money, I'm interested. If it happens to benefit the environment at the same time, that's a plus. That's why I wanted to read The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget by Josh Dorfman.

This book is as much a reference book as a reading book. It begins with the basics--Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle--and goes on to address eco-friendly ways to save money on clothing, transportation, energy, water, and other areas of everyday life. Each chapter closes with a list of resources and contacts for companies that provide the products and services that Dorfman has mentioned.

While I'd argue that some of the suggestions are out of my budget (I'm not fashion-conscious enough to wear Levi's jeans for $68 or Good Society jeans for around $100) and some won't work for my family (the Smart ForTwo car, a two-seater, is not a family car), the book contains many ideas that are easy and inexpensive to implement. I especially liked the tips on energy--I never knew that refrigerators account for 14 percent of all energy use for the average household, and current Energy Star models are at least 40 percent more energy-efficient than pre-2001 models--and water--did you know that a $7 aerator can reduce water flow from a faucet by 25 percent?

Some of the projects in this book are very ambitious, but many of the tips are very practical, easy, and frugal. I doubt that we'll be installing a wind turbine in the near future, but I plan to look into that faucet aerator. We won't be ditching our pre-2001 refrigerator until it breaks, but I'm going to do more reading about some of the organic gardening tips. I'd recommend The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget for those who are looking for easy, affordable ways to save money and use less energy, water, and landfill space.

Would you like to win a copy of this book? Courtesy of Josh Dorfman, Nalgene, and Author Marketing Experts, one lucky reader will win not only the book but also a reusable water bottle! (The water bottle will be one of these, chosen randomly for you.)

This giveaway is closed. Congratulations, spitfyr323!

Here's how to enter:

Visit Josh Dorfman's website, then come back and leave me a comment with one thing you learned. Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you. Limit 1 entry by this method. This must be done in order to qualify for extra entries.

Here's how you can earn up to three additional entries:

• Subscribe to my feed in a feed reader or by email. Leave an extra comment to let me know you've done this. If you already subscribe, leave a comment to let me know.
• Grab my button and add it to your sidebar. Leave a comment with a link to your blog.
• Blog about this giveaway with a link back to this post. Leave a comment with a link to your blog post.

More details: Open to residents of USA and Canada, age 18 or older. Giveaway ends Friday 7/24/09 at noon (Eastern time). Winner will be chosen by the random number generator at Random.org. Winner will be contacted by email and must claim the prize within 72 hours, or another winner will be chosen. Void where prohibited.

Good luck, and thanks for reading!