Journal Entry 1 by glade1 from McLeansville, North Carolina USA on Thursday, July 01, 2010

Picked up for a buck at Books A Million on Saturday. This one has been on my wish list for a while. Now it can be on Mt. TBR for a while. From the jacket:

Like many Americans, Doug Fine enjoys his creature comforts, but he also knows full well they keep him addicted to oil. So he wonders: Is it possible to keep his Netflix and his car, his Wi-Fi and his subwoofers, and still reduce his carbon footprint?

In an attempt to find out, Fine up and moves to a remote ranch in New Mexico, where he brazenly vows to grow his own food, use sunlight to power his world, and drive on restaurant grease. Never mind that he’s never raised so much as a chicken or a bean. Or that he has no mechanical or electrical skills.

Whether installing Japanese solar panels, defending the goats he found on Craigslist against coyotes, or co-opting waste oil from the local Chinese restaurant to try and fill the new “veggie oil” tank in his ROAT (short for Ridiculously Oversized American Truck), Fine’s extraordinary undertaking makes one thing clear: It ain’t easy being green. In fact, his journey uncovers a slew of surprising facts about alternative energy, organic and locally grown food, and climate change.

Both a hilarious romp and an inspiring call to action, Farewell, My Subaru makes a profound statement about trading today’s instant gratifications for a deeper, more enduring kind of satisfaction. 

Journal Entry 2 by glade1 at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro, North Carolina USA on Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Released 1 yr ago (7/20/2010 UTC) at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro, North Carolina USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

As entertainment, this book is highly enjoyable. As a call to action, it is less effective. I very much liked Fine's writing style and his accounts of the misadventures he experienced when moving to New Mexico and trying to go "off the grid." My favorite parts were the ones about the animals: the goats, the chickens, the coyote, the rattlesnake. Fine is a strange combination of practicality and what he terms the "whoo-whoo," New Agey, meditating, organic type. He knows how to laugh at himself and life.

Unfortunately, if I were reading this as an inspiration to go green, I would be put off. Fine had the advantages of an apparently very healthy bank account and a career that allows him to work from wherever he may be. He admitted to spending something like $40,000 on the solar panels for his home, after having already purchased the ranch. Then he bought a huge truck and had it converted to run on vegetable oil. Then he made tanks to heat his water. Not to mention the cost of housing and keeping livestock that would not earn their keep for at least a year, if not more. I'm sure he will gain back all those costs in savings eventually, but it's an imposing amount of outlay at the get-go. And the labor involved in caring for the animals, gardening, traveling over flooded rivers, etc., is a bit overwhelming. So, it's a fun story but it doesn't make me want to dash out and disconnect from the power company!

Left on our departmental book exchange shelf. Enjoy!