It’s Not Easy Being Green – Dick Strawbridge

After all my list based reading lately I actually went off-list for the last book that I read. Ever since watching the TV series a few years ago and having a bit of a "green epiphany" I've been meaning to read the accompanying book, yet it was only last week when I finally spent an Amazon gift voucher on a copy of It's Not Easy Being Green: One Family's Journey Towards Eco-friendly Living.

The book follows the Strawbridge family as they move from Malvern to Cornwall to embrace a new green life. The book is written in a very chatty style and covers everything from setting up recycling bins in the corner of your kitchen to designing and building a waterwheel.

It's definitely inspirational, but also a tad depressing as you realise just how many people the Strawbridges had helping them achieve what they did. Big projects are much easier when you have a huge team of people to provide manual labour in return for dinner. Sadly, not all of us can accommodate that many people in our spare room. I struggle with even the smallest of practical jobs in my current condition but otherwise I'd definitely be out there digging the vegetable plot in an attempt to kick-start our grown your own campaign.

Many of the smaller things mentioned in the book are things we do already, but I'm not sure how many of the bigger projects are really adaptable to life in a three-bed semi! There is loads of information in the book though, including technical information behind some of the designs that Dick and Jim implemented, and hence the book is one that I definitely think I'll keep going back to as we work on our house over the years and try to improve our green rating.