Simple Acts to Save Our Planet shows you how to be more active in saving our planet every day by performing some “Simple Acts of Kindness”—for the Earth.
Treat the environment with kindness with these easy, manageable activities that range from simple home updates, to gardening basics, to supporting the local community. You’ll learn simple techniques to help protect the planet every day, like starting a compost pile to reduce food waste, utilizing travel mugs and reusable containers, and choosing eco-friendly products. By working to implement these simple strategies into your everyday life, you can take an active stand to protect the environment now— and make a real difference for the future.
Pro: Michelle Neff compiled a great source of easy things to do - and it will take some active practicing to establish the habit - some of which not even I thought of after being in animal rescue and conservation for seven years.
Con: (minor) sometimes all the exclamation points and the quick, concise explanations come off a touch condescending. Enthusiastic, sure, but still a touch condescending. Con #1: (major) A great deal of her points fit into umbrella categories and are subsets of major ideas, like PUT IT IN THE RECYCLING BIN. NO, REALLY, UNLESS IT'S BIO MATERIAL OR HAZARDOUS, PUT IT IN THE RECYCLING BIN. (And just say no to single use plastics.) There are tons of alternatives for those who "don't think they can totally eliminate x," but they're not grouped together with any sort of order, so that Really Great Idea you just read five pages ago has two new alternatives by the time you remember you read something like that five pages ago. Quite a few more are nitpicks with better alternative solutions ( "invest in an eco-friendly sponge" - or instead of using a natural or plastic sponge, use a cloth and a bit of elbow grease ) and quite a few more are limited to only areas where the funding, resources and community make it feasible - while /I/ can certainly go out and ask the mayor of my town personally if we might turn an empty lot into a community garden, sister neighborhoods to me (in South Chicago) may not be able to do so. Unfortunately, with conservation materials, the prime question has to be "how can this conservation plan be individualized to suit community needs on a case-by-case basis?" rather than "but this is the conservation plan and it must be adhered to." (It's not only Michelle Neff's issue, it's also an issue best illustrated in the documentary Racing Extinction - you mean well, but you can't just overhaul a community without being certain the safety net is in place to help the most vulnerable with the change. There will always be accessibility issues, and conservation planning has to plan for that as well.) The major categories to follow for this book are: ABUSE YOUR RECYCLING BIN, PLEASE. NO, REALLY, PLEASE. YOU CAN PUT IT ALL IN THE RECYCLING BIN, OR YOU CAN CONTACT SOMEONE WHO CAN RECYCLE IT. THE THINGS YOU THROW OUT REALLY DON'T BELONG IN THE TRASH. -LOGICAL FALLACIES (I MEAN WELL BUT IT'S A MISCONCEPTION)* -WAYS TO GO OUTDOORS AND APPRECIATE NATURE (yes, this is a whole category.) -CONSUMERS TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR CORPORATE AND INDUSTRIAL ISSUES (you're really better off putting pressure on legislators and companies considering the average citizen does not have the financial flexibility to eliminate all waste from their lives) and -ACTUAL LIFEHACKS YOU SHOULD KNOW
I don't hate this book by any means. This book is a great checklist even for someone like me to make sure that I'm doing the most I can to be a responsible citizen of the earth. But for the average reader, especially the newcomer who may pick this book up and think they'll find conservation to be easy, they may be a bit put off. There's so much you /can/ do that what you /should/ do gets lost in the shuffle of possibilities. It's so easy for someone to say "well, I'd love to, but I just can't do that. I just can't manage that. Because of X reason, this is not something I can accomplish," and for that reason, we have to be willing as a community to embolden the key points, eliminate accessibility issues - and frankly, address willful ignorance head-on, because plenty of points seemed geared toward convincing set-in-their-ways suburban mothers to be mindful of their habits when you know set-in-their-ways suburban mothers are often offended when it seems like they're being criticized. Even when they deserve to be. It's a vain hope to have, but I hope that every community finds someone to reach out to for help and clarification to make ideas like this a reality rather than a possibility.
Con #2: (Major) This book is riddled with misinformation and logical fallacies. I get it, I've been there, idealism is addicting - but aside from the not-so-subtle implication that anybody can do this and if you can't do this you're just not trying hard enough, whoever was responsible for fact-checking her points didn't fact check them well enough. Especially two MAJOR ones that, as a conservationist, she should know has a FAR greater potential for harm than benefit!
Printed Misconception #1 - "Boycott Zoos, Zoos don't actually help anything, they're for people." Wrong. I've been involved in conservation education for almost as long as I've been in animal rescue, and this is as close to blatantly ignorant as one can get without citing PETA. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums - the institution that accredits major zoos and aquariums - has a RIGOROUS system of accreditation that cannot be passed any sooner than six months after the first application. Animal welfare is the top priority, including but not limited to proper diet, proper medical care resources, proper enrichment, the option for animals to go off-exhibit, an exhibit that replicates their natural environment and extensive safety precautions for the animals. Looking into their website will tell you that. Practicing zoo /discretion/ should have been the point made, because "roadside zoos" with tigers in small cages and - especially - the option to photograph yourself in front of / with the animals without significant safety barrier in place (often meaning the animals are heavily sedated) are the "zoos" in need of addressing, and those really aren't zoos, they're illegally obtained wildlife trafficked for profit as tourist traps, and they should be reported to the state Department of Natural Resources through the police as a wildlife trafficking incident immediately upon sight. This /also/ applies to any old animal sanctuary that can crop up, where anybody can buy an illegally trafficked wild animal and claim to have "rescued" them and ask for money while giving people the opportunity to view them, interact with them, and - a dead giveaway - the animals have no option to withdraw from interaction. When the human is placed before the animal, it's proof that the "zoo" or the "sanctuary" is not a legitimate organization - any legitimate organization exists for public education and conservation. How /dare/ she say zoos don't contribute to conservation when black rhinos are extinct in the wild, elephants and giraffes are critically endangered, and amur leopards and tigers are considered nuisance animals with urban expansion into their natural habitat.
Printed Misconception #2 - "Studies have shown GMOs are actually bad for your health and the environment." I have studied under and worked with botanists and horticulturalists, and this is false. Domestic sheep are a GMO. Orange carrots and European corn that the human body cannot digest are GMOs. /You/ are a GMO. GMO crops are, yes, pest-resistant, disease-resistant, and virus-resistant, do you know why? So the application of pesticides and other known environmental toxins is no longer necessary, first of all. So the plant has decreased water demands and is therefore famine resistant and extra drought hardy, thereby eliminating the kinds of famines that seasonally wreak havoc in parts of Libya and Sudan every year, preventing unnecessary human and animal fatalities. Human meddling in DNA is understandably met with concern, but to equate GMOs with some miracle bio-weapon is uneducated at best, willfully ignorant at worst. There is literature on the subject, and citing the fact that "there's plenty of conflicting literature" while you're about to claim that GMOs are bad for you and the environment and you should only buy non-GMO /while/ the elimination of GMOs and furthering of anti-GMO rhetoric /clearly/ has a discriminatory basis (major corporations still can't be bothered to protect the air quality, waterways or give their workers a suitable living wage, but they're SO ON BOARD TO ELIMINATE GMOS IMMEDIATELY DESPITE HOLDING A MARKET MONOPOLY that you /need/ to wonder why they did it) is the exact brand of short-sighted ignorance that encourages industry to cut corners, pollute, and abuse our natural resources.
I was going to give this a 4/5 for being repetitive and pretty blatantly classist, but now it gets a 2/5 for following the same kind of anti-critical thinking pattern as anti-vaxxers and anti-gluten/paleo suburban mothers. Dihydrogen monoxide is water, Brenda. Everything has a chemical name.
If you get this book, follow her advice about social media - follow some legitimate scientific outlets, like the Yale Climate institute, Air and Water Watch, and Josh Fox of the Gasland documentaries - and get better info for yourself.
What do we think of this new eco-friendly book? Honestly, I think it is a great collection of advice, especially for adults first going out on their own. This book is full of ways to not only help the environment, but save you time, money, and help you feel like a better person. While some of the advice is for seriously people who want to be eco-friendly (such as petitioning local government to change bulbs used in street lights), there is quite a bit of advice that is perfect for anyone. You can be commuted as you like to helping the environment. The author seems to understand that many people need to take it in baby steps, allowing you to be eco-friendly and save the Earth no matter what your current life circumstances. To me, this is the beauty of the book and why I think Simple Acts to Save Our Planet: 500 Ways to Make A Difference is the perfect gift for just about anyone!
It's pretty okay! I mostly skimmed the book, since a lot of the options were things I already did, out of my reach, or really small (like reusing bread clips. That's good! But, I don't feel like I need to read carefully about it). This book is filled with 500 short (1-3 sentences) things to do to make the world a better place. I gained some ideas from it, to be sure. It might be worth a skim, if you're interested. You could probably read it fully in an hour. It's quick. It's also a good reminder that there are other issues besides climate change facing the world. Even if climate change impacts everything, there are things to do besides reducing carbon emissions that will help mitigate some effects of our life on the planet.
Pretty good, really helpful! I've always loved the idea of a collection of simple, straightforward ways to help.
There were a few concepts that were repeated with such slight differences that I think they should have been just listed as one "act," such as carpooling.
Also, too many exclamation marks. We're passionate enough about helping without the encouragement of an exclamation mark after all the sentences.
some really amazing ideas in here, and its just changed my way of thinking. I loved it and i would recommend to anyone thinking about making some changes to their lives.
The title Simple Acts to Save Our Planet is a good summation of why I recommend you read this book.
As an environmentalist with degrees in science, arts and law, having spent over 30 years trying to help where I can with the environment and society, I’ve learnt to believe that simple things are a good place to start.
This book is full of them. Much like casting a vote in a national vote, your individual choices and actions are unlikely to determine what happens. You and others, together with their choices and actions, will do.
North American in application, the ideas are universal. You can choose the easy ones, feel good about those that you already do and be motivated about the ones you may choose to do in the future.
Our human capacity for culture is a great strength. Let’s use those gifts to maximise the choices and opportunities for as many people, animals and plants as we can. Picking up this book will help.
Good advice overall, but I kind of felt like I was reading things I think about on a daily. This book is probably meant for people who want to start engaging into an environmental mindset. Not a great book if you've already been proactive about making daily contributions for less plastic and reducing your waste.
Some of the ideas in this book conflict with each other or make little sense. Some 'simple acts' include having your own television show, or making your backyard into a public labelled nature tour for children. Then there is the advice to carry food in your pockets for birds, while another tip says not to feed wildlife. Live off the grid but live in the city close to everything. Take photos of nature but don't take photos of nature in case you disturb them. Look for jobs online... is there anyone in 2018 (the year this was published) who looks in a paper for jobs? This book is not particularly useful, much better books written on this subject would be Waste Not Everyday by Erin Rhodes or A Zero Waste Life by Anita Vandyke.
Some of the tips are good. There's a good range from tiny changes (carry a water bottle) to proper investments (install solar panels). I did learn new things and appreciated some of the advice. I like the design of the pages as well (colours-font, borders, etc). However: -There's no categorisation or organisation of the tips which I didn't like. A bit of categorisation would really help navigate. -There are a number of tips about going outside to appreciate nature, which I find to be sort of besides the point. It's like, I'm already here reading this book, clearly I care to some degree, this isn't really necessary. - I found the tone often a little patronising, preachy or condescending, and this really put me off.
One of the best and most concise books on the little things that can be done to save our planet. It is a must read for anyone who cares for their environment and definitely a must, if you don't care about your environment. Are you using plastic bags and not feeling guilty about it? Then, this is the book for you. Taking up and putting into practise all of these 500 different ways will be impossible. But as you read along, keep and nurture the "acts" that seem sensible and doable, then when you get the hang of it. Take on another "act".
The idea behind this book is correct and the author had the correct idea. But... 1.) A large portion of the advice can be summarised as "inform yourself better" 2.) Another large portion is on the theme of "inform others through your actions" (and some of the advice goes a bit overboard on the amount of nagging you should do) 3.) Some advice is quite (sorry to say) US specific and fails short when you live in a country where a lot of issues are already solved via decrees.
But the authors heart is in the right place, can't fault her for that.
I read this book in about an hour. There are maybe a dozen good pieces of advice in this book, with a few more interesting tidbits here and there. Otherwise, it’s a complete waste of time. Many acts were contradictory to one another or recommended doing things that will just annoy all of your nearest family and friends.
Simple book on very simple ways to start going green. Not all are very practical for your area. For example, I live in a tropical climate, so suggestions like turning off the heater isn't very viable. But overall a good simple read for a starters. Would be great for kids to gain exposure to possible environmental solutions
This book is just what it says, a list of simple ideas. 500 ideas assembled as if crowd sourced. There’s no information to help you act on these ideas that vary from learning to scuba dive to tying our hair with string rather than elastic bands. Really? This is neither interesting or inspiring.
I saw a review that said the tips should be organized in sections and I definitely agree with that. It seems like the tips are just thrown randomly.
There are some good tips I didn’t know about and will definitely try but also , there were a lot of repetitive messages with slight differences, and some of the advice was just stupid.
I am really disappointed in this book. It was written in 2018 but it feels really outdated and the tips weren't anything mind blowing. I'd seen most of them before. Honestly I stopped reading it about 20 pages in. There was no rhyme or reason at all and a lot of the tips were things that don't really apply to me. There are much better books out there.
This book is a very easy read, however it's very repetitive with some if it's ideas. I think it missed a bit of organisation. But all in all a neat book, with some really good ideas, I made a whole list of things I want to try.
Great resource if you're looking for new ways to live sustainable or just make small changes in your life. It surprised me how much Neff was focused on animals, as well as having your own food sources and gardening tips.
*Simple Acts to Save Our Planet* has a lot of good tips, while other suggestions could've been elaborated further. Some of Michelle Neff's ideas came off as good-intentioned but tone deaf to what actually helps the environment.
A whole bunch of easy to implement ideas for those looking to reduce their carbon footprint and to be kinder to the earth. Some are essentially the same idea served up with a slightly different focus so 500 may be a bit of a stretch. I hope there is a “next steps” out there for those of us not ready for the zero trash challenge but are ready for phase two.