Sleeping Naked Is Green: How an Eco-Cynic Unplugged Her Fridge, Sold Her Car, and Found Love in 366 Days

by Vanessa Farquharson

Book Overview

No one likes listening to smug hippies bragging about how they don't use toilet paper, or worse yet, lecturing about the evils of plastic bags and SUVs. But most of us do want to lessen our ecological... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0547073283
• Release Date: June 2009
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.6" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

Personal and helpful look at how to navigate the (murky) green waters

If you are drawn to this book you are probably looking for ways to 'go green' or 'go greener' and/or for some inspiration that yes there are a lot of other people trying as well. If so, then you will appreciate the book. The author ties in the 'greening' changes with her life for the year. I enjoyed this as it made the changes she was making very relatable, very real as opposed to an instruction booklet. We not only get a list of changes but for some of them a how to and a how it worked out, good and bad, and how it affected other aspects of her life. It also showed how and to what extent her going green did or did not change family members 'greenness'. For each month there is a list of changes for each day. Then some of these (not all) are woven through the narrative of more or less a diary of her life going green. The changes as a whole are really impressive and far more then most people will do. I found this ok as what I really wanted were ideas for going green and some green resources. Obviously there is no one size fits all. But some of the natural alternatives to everyday household items I want to try as well as some of the household changes. However some of the changes clearly will only work or could only work for a small selection of readers. The author is a single 20 something working and living in an urban area. Some of the biggest changes she makes, no fridge, no air conditoning, no car, only a select sub-set of people can do. However what these changes brought to me is to be mindful. Mindful of what you do and do not need and for alternatives. The author has a cool website from which the book got its start and also lists websites she found helpful during her journey. To find her website google green as a thistle. There is not a lot of science explanation going on but that is really not the point of the book. The book does succeed in showing being green and being 'hip' can go together and being green and not being too serious is not only ok but perhaps the best way of all to actually get going and keep being 'green'.

Adventure, Eco-politics, Romance: The Perfect Summer Beach Book

Hate irony and the foibles of human nature? Sleeping Naked Is Green is probably NOT the book for you! Like a little entertainment with your education, or vice versa? Then read it and be entertained, educated, even a little enlightened. Yes, it reads (and was written) like a diary --- and who doesn't like a vicarious semi-daily peek into the inner and outer lives of others? Does that mean it lacks a cohesive storyline? Not really; it's the story of the year in the life of a young journalist who decides to make 365 changes, small and large, shallow and profound, involving her impact on Mother Earth. Lots of us are a little bit shallow at times, and at times, one hopes, more profound. We all make decisions and find some work out and some don't. It's fun to read about the whys and wherefores of the author's decisions, and their sometimes successful, not always practical, frequently mixed consequences. As to the complaint of another reader about the constant search for a cute guy theme running through many (not all) entries, I think that's kinda realistic. Lots of us, when not partnered up, are pretty much looking for love 24/7. Summing up: if you want a fun read with plenty of food for thought that can be consumed in one sitting or quick takes, and don't roll your eyes at all things people try, then this book is perfect. If you have the outlook of an Eeyore and can't remember the last time you cracked a smile at the ironies and humor of living on earth, you may want to sink your teeth into any of a number of Russian writers of a century or two ago instead.

Humerous venture into the world of "Green"

This author has a wonderful sense of humor! Her challenge (to herself) to "go green" for a year doing one new "green" thing a day and blog about it. Not all her choices are all that green. Some are intensely green. And she isn't being green 100% of the time. She cheats frequently & her friends say, "Don't worry. I wont tell." The pitfalls and benefits of some of her green choices can be pretty hilarious! I love reading her newbie opinion on all the various options for saving the planet. Many preach about how to be better to Mother Earth, but who is actually doing it & enjoying it for that matter? I guess part of what makes her adventure in green all that more entertaining to me is that we are already big time into living self sufficiently aka as close to the land as possible. Now I thought that this would be a day by day break down of what she does. Close, but no. The book is sectioned into months. The beginning of each months section lists on the first page what new green thing she did on each day. Then you dive into that months adventures broken down by the day. Sometimes skipping several days. Therefore you don't get to read about every single green experience she had. I can only guess that those experiences weren't particularly entertaining, so she spared us. I'm not sure that someone who isn't interested in the "save the earth" train of thought would like this book. However, if you are considering going green, are already working at it, maybe need a nudge, or some new ideas you will probably enjoy this book as much as I did!

Who would have thought green could be this fun?

To read about, that is - Vanessa certainly seems to have had her ups and downs over her year of making a new green change in her life every day. This book chronicles her 'greening' year, episode by episode. Each chapter covers a month, with a list of what changes she made that month first, and then a few select changes are highlighted with some commentary. (One of the few disappointments I had with the book was that a lot of the changes I was interested in weren't the ones chosen for commentary, alas!! But of course the book would have had to be a thousand pages long to include everything...) Let's start with the lists at the beginning of each chapter - for one thing, if you are looking for some new ways to green up your own life, you are bound to find several things new to you here - Vanessa covers the gamut from, yes, selling her car and unplugging her fridge (which oddly enough she makes sound almost doable...) to tiny changes like 'eat ice cream only from a cone, not a cup' or 'shower in the dark' (she MUST have a window in her bathroom! I'd kill myself falling over something!!). The commentary is great - no super-pious, greener-than-thou here! Sometimes she'll talk about some of her many misadventures along the way (worms from her compost bin on the living room floor), sometimes she'll talk about how something that sounds hard wasn't, or something that sounds easy, wasn't. Sometimes she takes herself seriously, sometimes not - which all in all, makes for a better read than a book that just takes one side or the other. It almost reads like - dare I say this for a 'green' book? - chick lit. If you enjoyed Julie and Julia, you'll enjoy Vanessa's similar tone (but not quite so many disasters!). In keeping with the chick lit theme, yes, she does find love - I won't tell you who, but I will say I was surprised! It added a nice dimension to the litany of green episodes, gave it a 'hook'. I do wish she had spent a LITTLE more time telling us how they hooked up - one page she was beginning to think about him as a potential partner, a few pages later they are dating - aww, we missed the whole big 'he confesses his feelings' moment that any Jane Austen fan will tell you is by far the best part. But that's a minor quibble - it is, after all, a book about how she greened her life, not a romantic diary. And BOY did she green her life - well done, Vanessa!! I got a lot of ideas for my own life (although DANG I'm jealous of the green options she has available in Canada that are simply NOT available in the Midwestern USA!), and I really enjoyed the book. If you are looking for a green read that's not oppressively heavy and guilt-inducing, and yet actually has some practical and out of the ordinary ideas, give this a read. You won't regret it.

Wonderful Instructional Fun

Grew up 'green' and have always been a 'green' living person, so I admit from the get go that I was really skeptical when I got this book since I couldn't imagine anything new being in it. But sometimes you have to think outside the box and then ask yourself, if the book would appeal to anyone and if so whom? To be honest I think it will appeal to younger people, like college age, just starting out in life folk. Or someone who thinks they have done pretty much all they can, be it changing light bulbs or not eating fast food anymore. And I loved how at the beginning of each new chapter she writes down her goals for the month. Each day has something she will start doing. Imagine...after a month she has changed at least 28 things (February having 28 days). And over the months she fine tunes the changes so that where in one month she may have been using one item, by years end she isn't using any of the items. Have to disagree with her idea of giving up the vacuum cleaner since newer energy star vacuum cleaners also use extra filtering bags that not only help keep dust from flying (unlike a broom and dust pan), but in preventing dust and mite issues, the need for allergy meds is reduced so one actually can save money using a vacuum cleaner. Her November calendar had a couple things I disagreed with. As an example she stopped using her bathroom fan. But bathroom fans when used while and after showering removes moisture from the room, especially if there is no window to open, so that one doesn't get a mold issue, which if started can wreck havoc on a persons health. She also noted that she donated her magazines to doctors offices, which is a great suggestion. The best suggestion is stop magazine subscription to your home and instead, donate a subscription to magazines to the local library. But only if these are environmental, do it yourself type magazines that better peoples lives. And while I am 100% walk the talk when it comes to fair trade foods, I also think not buying foods that have to travel from other countries to here in the states is a better choice.