I admit to skimming some of this book. Though I have vague notions that virtually all of the products that are manufactured and consumed leave a trail of waste and pollution in their wake, I didn't realize the true extent of it. Makes me want to built a hut in the woods and carve our furniture by hand, weave my own fabric and grow my own food just to avoid the guilt!
I can't say that I feel empowered by this book. It offered little in terms of solutions other than buying second hand and avoid buying at all when possible. Now even recycling isn't a "good" thing since it consumes huge amounts of fossil fuels and much of what is "recycled" is actually downcycled (maded into products of lesser quality and limited use (especially the case with plastics).
With every book I read like this, I kind of feel like there's little hope for humankind unless something killed off huge numbers of our population and those remaining started living like the pioneers.