Best sustainable living books according to redditors
We found 73 Reddit comments discussing the best sustainable living books. We ranked the 31 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
15. The Eco-nomical Baby Guide: Down-to-Earth Ways for Parents to Save Money and the Planet
1 mention
Which is why you should start to prepare for climate change.
Read "Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet" by Bill McKibben.
He's an actual climate scientist, environmentalist, protester and activist.
Glad you had a good hunt - the damned things are all over where I live. I compete with wolves, bears, and big cats, though, so maybe next year's numbers will be lower.
You can totally do ethical chicken/poultry if you have at least a half acre of land (house included). It might be a stretch to get a meat poultry operation going, but you can definitely end up drowning in eggs with six or ten birds - remember that each lays an egg a day. If you're interested in a healthy, ethical source of protein, you'd be very hard pressed to do better than home-raised eggs.
There are some great books about this that can help:
The Backyard Homestead
The Backyard Homestead Guide to Raising Farm Animals
Back to Basics
The first book is kind of "general backyard gardens and farms", the second one focuses on animals in particular, and the third is an older book that has information about gardens and livestock, but also loads of cool information on how to preserve foods, build traditional crafts/furniture/construction, etc. - way broader scope than the first two. I definitely recommend all three, though.
Read a book, read a book, read a motherfucking book.
Three books that all suggest ways that our modern way of life can continue into a greatly carbon reduced future complete with arguments that address nuclear power, wind and solar in realistic and fact based ways. When you say "we simply have no other way of maintaining our civilization" it's almost as if you believe your own failure to imagine and research ways to do it is evidence that it can't be done. But it can, and many scientists and authors have considered many options. Some far fetched and others very realistic.
Plan B 4.0 by Lester Brown, the last link there, is even free on the internet. It's a profoundly powerful and well researched read. The people who are idly calling for "reduced carbon emissions" may not know what they're talking about most of the time, obviously big changes have to be done, but it doesn't mean that smart people haven't worked on and solved a lot of the problem. It's just finding a political will to do what has to be done.
If you have the time, Robert Gorden's book, "The Rise and Fall of American Growth" is pretty eye-opening. [1] He also talks about inequality as a major headwind to growth, and makes a compelling argument that the data show that biggest transformation – unmatched even by the personal computer and IT revolution – was bringing electricity and plumbing into the home.
Then there's the Princeton study that shows money can make people happier, but that the effect levels off at around $75k a year.
I think it was while reading Bill McKibben's book "Eaarth" [3] that I was surprised to discover that back in the 1970s, polling showed that Americans were actually pretty open to a different economic model – one more about sustainability and well-being than growth.
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1: https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Fall-American-Growth-Princeton/dp/153661825X
2: https://www.princeton.edu/~deaton/downloads/deaton_kahneman_high_income_improves_evaluation_August2010.pdf
3: https://www.amazon.com/Eaarth-Making-Life-Tough-Planet/dp/0312541198
You shouldn't be surprised to discover that you aren't the first to think of this. It also shouldn't surprise you to discover that not everyone likes this idea.
The fundamental problem you will face is that the credo of the United States, of Japan, of China, of Korea, and of many other economies is "work hard, get ahead." Whenever you see the word "individualism" substitute the phrase "me against the world." In a "me against the world" society, creating an infrastructure in which "work hard, get ahead" is actively thwarted is fundamentally impossible. Nick Reding argues compellingly in Methland that speed is the most uniquely American drug because only amphetamines actually make you work harder rather than chilling out and enjoying the high. He further argues that the rise of methamphetamine and consolidation of the drug market parallels the rise of agribusiness and consolidation of food production - in both cases, wealth is concentrated at the top.
Robert Reich lists several studies in Aftershock that demonstrate that taxing production and taxing the rich buoys the economy exactly as you suggest. He also points out that taxing the upper brackets is always met with fierce resistance, and with wealth concentrated at the top in ways unseen since the Gilded Age, reversing trends at this point is going to take some doing.
But, fundamentally, you're talking about lowering productivity. "Productivity" is the one metric that has gone up through the recession, through 911, through pretty much every economic hiccup since the invention of automation. Voluntarily choosing lower productivity would represent a fundamental shift in society and unfortunately, society seldom does such things smoothly and without protest. This transitional period, its impetus, and possible outcomes are well-explored in Bill McKibben's book Eaarth which, based on your questions and hypotheses, is likely to be something you'd enjoy reading. I only caution you to slug it out through the first half; for some reason, Mr. McKibben felt the need to establish the case for anthropocentric global warming beyond a reasonable doubt, despite the fact that 99.9% of his audience is likely to take anthropocentric global warming as a given.
I know you're joking but Bill McKibben, a fellow Vermonter, is leading the charge against climate change with 350.org, the biggest such activist group on the planet.
And in his recent book, Eaarth, recommended by /u/Unidan, he describes how Vermont is gonna get even worse torrential downpours.
Don't listen to the haters, OP. You've got this. I suggest that you read a couple of books on RV and van living, though. It will give you a great perspective.
There are a lot of workarounds for modern convenience. Living in an RV is not an easy prospect, but it is very doable.
Here are a few practical guides, though many of them pertain to living in a 15 passenger or cargo van.
How to Live in a Car, Van or RV
The VanDweller's Guide
Van Living: The Freedom of the Road
The Tiniest Mansion
Live In a Van, Truck, Trailer, or Motorhome
Living in a Van Down By The River
My House Has Wheels
The Simple RV Life
So, You Want to Be an RVer?
Retire To an RV
Here's one just for fun, though you may glean something from it.
Walden On Wheels
I also suggest /r/vandwellers and /r/gorving for tips and tricks on living in a small mobile space.
A glass wine bottle is ~330 g CO2e (couldn't find info a glass milk bottles, but I'm assuming it'd be close).
A pint of milk is ~600 g CO2e (excluding the carbon footprint of refrigeration, transport, and packaging).
A plastic bottle is ~30 g CO2e.
Data is from "How Bad Are Bananas." Under the sections "A pint of milk" and "A bottle of wine."
Grab a book, then study said book, then buy some equipment and some bees.
Immediate disclaimer: There is a ton of stuff that can go catastrophically wrong within a beehive, and you have to be prepared to take action when you find those things. It is not easy or hands-off, contrary to what some people may think. You're gonna get stung. You're gonna lose hives. You're gonna be frustrated, sad, and sometimes just baffled at things that are completely out of your control.
That being said, I don't keep bees commercially and I only ever have 3-4 hives each year (1-2 of which are very small "contingency" hives) so it doesn't take up too much time - maybe an hour or two a weekend depending on if I am doing inspections with friends.
It's easy to get lazy with beekeeping though, and there is some seriously awful shit that can happen that should never be left unattended for any extended period of time (and you usually are required by law to burn the whole hive, equipment and all).
You use the smoker when you go into the hive to check it out. What the smoke does is it tells the bees that there's a fire (forest fire for example) and that they are in need of danger. Therefore, their goal is not to defend the hive (sting you, therefore they die) but to eat their honey and salvage what they can before the fire gets there. Don't worry - they won't actually run away from your hive ha! It's a distraction tool
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I'm a first year beekeeper so I feel like I can give you any advice you may have since sometimes veteran's advice is good but they can use words and processes that confuse a newbie like you and me. So, ask anything you need and keep in touch.
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The bee group/company you called should have everything you need. Definitely go to them for advice. Idk if they're into sales (most aren't) but you really don't need anything than this below FOR NOW:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BHKH29B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1
- the little plastic bottle thing is your feeder. make a 1:1 sugar (granulated pure cane) to water mix and boil it until it dissolves. Cool it down (time + ice) and then give it to your bees in a beer bottle flipped upside down into the plastic bottle feeder - it goes in the bottom of your hive area; the entrance. It will all make sense when you get your stuff and see it. Gloves, head gear, scraper, and feeder. You're good to start!
of course make sure you get frames and wax foundation - did that come in your kit? I assume so.
Idk what that yellow thing is but you don't need it for now.
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This is a good book. I LIKED it but didn't love it. It's informative but it didn't really get me ready for beekeeping honestly. I think it would be better if I read it 4 months in now than starting out.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1631593323/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=basics+of+beekeeping+
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIoaJFMUu4Q
Great post. I don't have the answers but I struggle with the same questions. Here are some books and links I've found to be helpful:
Buycott app - vote with your wallet and stop giving your money to TPTB
Radical Homemaker - " empowerment, transformation, happiness, and casting aside the pressures of a consumer culture to live in a world where money loses its power to relationships, independent thought, and creativity"
Mr Money Mustache - terrific blog written by a man who retired at 30, teaches others how to earn, save, and live with true freedom
The key is SELF-SUFFICIENCY. Understand that, the system is the way it is today because people have become dependent on food, dependent on materials, dependent on consumption, and dependent on jobs. The only way to free yourself is to drop the dependency and learn self-reliance in all areas of life.
Book list:
Nature and the Human Soul by Bill Plotkin. The author discusses this same theme of The Great Turning. Argues that people in modern western society are pathologically orientated towards adolescent things, and among our main problems is that few of us mature fully, and few of us can ever be considered elders who guide each other towards a wise way of life. He also argues that we historically have developed equally in both nature and culture, but modern people spend their lives solely in culture, and lack understanding of the natural world.
Future Primal by Louis Herman. The author lays out a big picture view of human history and how the solutions for the future we face can be found in the past among primitive cultures. He links his own personal struggles to the planetary struggles we face, and shows that it is true that the personal and planetary are linked.
The Ascent of Humanity by Charles Eisenstein. Lays out huamn history, and "how the illusion of a seperate self has led to our modern crisises".
Sacred Economics by Charles Eisenstein. Looks at how primitive economies differed from our own, and how we can come to a different understanding of economics and wealth in our own society.
The More Beautiful World our Hearts Know is Possible by Charles Eisenstein. Lays out a vision for what the world could be and how we could organize ourselves in a wiser way.
Limited Wants, Unlimited Means an analysis of the economics of hunter-gatherer societies by an actual Economist. Very in depth look at the different foundational beliefs and practices. This is the most scientific and in depth book I've ever come across on this subject.
Eaarth by Bill McKibben. Goes into great detail on the the stark reality of the effects that climate change have already had and will likely have over the next decades and century. Finsihes by making reccommendations for how to make a life on a rough new planet.
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. A look at the deep history of our species. This book presents an understanding about what humans are and where we've come from that I think is hard to get anywhere else, really great work.
Blessed Unrest by Paul Hawken. Very similar to the theme of my above post, the author explains how this new movement is much larger than you might think, and could soon become one of the largest cultural movements in all of human history.
Active Hope by Joanna Macy. On "how to deal with the mess we are in without going crazy".
Greening of the Self by Joanna Macy. An exploration into the idea that we are interdependent with the ecology around us.
Natural Capitalism by Paul Hawken and others. A look at how we can start a green industrial revolution.
The Green Collar Economy by Van Jones. Lays out the idea that one solution- work on constructing a sustainable infrastructure- can fix our two biggest problems: the ecological crisis, and the rampant poverty and inequality in our society.
Spiritual Ecology: the cry of the Earth by Thich Nhat Hanh, Joanna Macy, and others. Outlines a spiritual perspective of what is happening to the world, and how we can remedy it, rooted in Buddhist thought.
Changes in the Land by William Cronon. A look at how the ecology of New England has been altered since Europeans first set foot there.
A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold. This is one of the classics of nature writing by a great naturalist. I include it here because I think it fits, and shows how much of this in not new thinking. Leopold talks about his experiences in nature and from living off the land, and lays out his own 'land ethic' for how best to coexist in nature.
The Evolving Self: a psychology for the third millennium by Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi. Explains the authors view of psychology and how to find meaning in the modern world. Talks about playing an active role in the evolutionary processes of life, and linking that up with your own personal evolution.
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimerer. Brings together scientific understanding, indigenous wisdom, and respect for nature and for plants, in a very poetic book.
The Future of Life by E. O. Wilson. Wilson is one of the greatest biologists of our time, and gave us many of the foundational concepts that we use today, such as popularizing the idea of "biodiversity" and the desire to preserve it. Here he talks about the future of life and the challenges we face in preserving the Earths biodiversity.
Half Earth by E.O. Wilson. Here Wilson lays out his strategy for saving the biodiversity of the Earth and preserving it through the hard times it will face in the future, by devoting fully half of the surface of the Earth to wildlife habitats. This book just came out so you might not be able to order a copy yet.
If you know of any other books or media in this sort of genre feel free to post it.
Time out; Why are you so angry in each of your replies? There's zero reason to put the burden of proof on me, here. And you're not denying that disastrous climate change is happening, but you're clearly not on board with changing our habits to help mitigate the damage. You either have your head in the sand or you're selfishly too invested in your current, wasteful lifestyle and don't have loved ones or children you care about that this is even an issue to you.
> Reduce your standard of living to third world poverty levels and then I'll believe you.
This is 100% not necessary. I encourage you to read Bill McKibben's Eaarth where he describes societies today using sustainable practices to have fresh food, waste disposal, electricity, fresh water, transit, and more. Solar, wind, hydro and geothermal energy are a lot more powerful than people give credit for, and with advances like concentrated solar globes (they also come in mini-form for powering smaller things like smart phones), we can learn to harvest as much as we need and more, just like we continued to refine the internal combustion engine and car/factory/appliance designs over the years to be more efficient.
We put a gawd damned human being on the Moon, for fuck's sake. I refuse to accept that humanity is incapable of discovering how to harness the free energy of the sun (or water, or algae, or anything else) to do damned near anything. As always, monied interests are the primary thing holding us back.
> You want environmental regulations that will reduce economic growth and therefore keep people in poverty who would have otherwise been able to work themselves out of poverty.
I'd put the burden of proof on you for this one. To throw our hands up and just give up on trying to wean ourselves off oil doesn't solve this issue, either. Long-term, when enough drinking water has been contaminated and land has been torn up to frack or harvest tar sands from whatever economic growth occurred won't mean shit for whomever's left. But if that's too extreme a scenario for you, consider the fact that employment in the solar sector in the US, not just in Europe and elsewhere, is on the rise all over the country, and projects like coastal wind turbines would also generate jobs and provide other benefits to costal communities like lowering energy prices.
No one is saying it's easy or an overnight change, but it's beyond time to invest in clean energy and the technology behind it.
The Small-Scale Poultry Flock by Harvey Ussery is a great resource and has tons of practical advice about chicken-keeping. I of course use online forums to solve many of my problems but its nice to have this book to go to when I have a problem. This guy has kept chickens for a long time and really knows his stuff.
I enjoyed this guy who does top bar beekeeping
Video
and book.
These aren't under $5, but definitely worth getting and HAVING. I've been increasingly interested in surivalism (as a result of hanging out with my paranoid dad), so definitely get these books:
http://www.amazon.com/SAS-Survival-Handbook-Revised-Situation/dp/0061733199/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363171748&sr=1-1&keywords=wilderness+survival
http://www.amazon.com/98-6-Degrees-Keeping-Your-Alive/dp/1586852345/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363172088&sr=1-1&keywords=98.6+degrees+the+art+of+keeping+your+as+-+cody+lundin
http://www.amazon.com/Stay-Alive-John-D-McCann/dp/1440218307/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363172163&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=stayalive
http://www.amazon.com/Build-Perfect-Bug-Out-Bag/dp/1440318743/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363172312&sr=1-1&keywords=bug+out+bag
http://www.amazon.com/Preppers-Instruction-Manual-Disaster-ebook/dp/B008OXF0BY/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1
http://www.amazon.com/31-Days-Survival-Emergency-Preparedness/dp/161004648X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363172535&sr=1-1&keywords=31+days+to+survival
http://www.amazon.com/Surviving-Doomsday-Guide-Disaster-ebook/dp/B00B020FKC/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1
http://www.amazon.com/One-Second-After-William-Forstchen/dp/0765356864/ref=la_B000APZ9N8_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363173072&sr=1-1
Eh?
I got The Backyard Beekeeper when I started out and I thought it was very helpful and informative. One of my friends got Beekeeping For Dummies when she started and she really liked that one
Get this book, Insulate and Weatherize (my library has a copy, check if yours does too if you don't want to buy it) and read about air-sealing. It is a good book for beginners and gives tips on where to focus your efforts.
I am in the process of air-sealing leaks in the basement (closed-cell spray foam) and ductwork (with duct mastic) based on what I learned from the book and instructional videos on Youtube and it is making a huge difference. In the spring I will focus on the attic.
You'll love it! I actually need to get the companion book, Guide to Raising Farm Animals. I think it goes more in depth into butchering, processing, but I'm not sure.
Sorry about that. Try http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00Q94QF1O# or go to my disambiguation page for all markets.
I would just use knotty pine (cheapest). I sealed it with raw linseed oil. If you buy the plans it calls for a stupid thickness you would have to special order (7/8" thick) for a lot of the boards because of the 'weight' of a fully loaded hive, but 1/8" of thickness doesnt really make any significant difference and you'll have a much easier time finding 1" nominal thickness (3/4" actual thickness) boards rather than 1 1/8" thickness.
At a minimum you need:
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The hardest part was making the top bars (cutting, drilling, etc.) and getting them straight and not warped. They are really expensive from backyardhive.com compared to the time and material required to do it yourself but, it's moderately advanced work getting that right or at least knowing how to fib things to make it work like I did.
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Like I said before, if I were to make them again, I would use 2" nominal thickness boards for the hive body because it would reduce some of the difficulty of making the top bars work because of the ridge that you make to rest the bars on makes the following board pretty difficult to fabricate if your cuts aren't 'just so'. This would also help with insulation (both in hot and cold climates). I would also not mess with an end entrance/landing board that are in the plans. It adds unnecessary complexity to the project. I would rather do a combined approach from the cathedral hive and what you will find in Les Crowder's book: Top-Bar Beekeeping: Organic Practices for Honeybee Health. He has found that the bees prefer and entrance on the side of the top bar hive, towards the bottom board, about half a foot back from the front of the hive that is about 3/8" tall by 6" long (these numbers are from memory so they could be inaccurate).
There are roughly two ways to go.
This book helped a lot.
tl;dr Remember, software is one of the more profitable fields so be prepared to lose money or, at the very least, make way less.
Permaculture: A Designer's Manual is considered the bible for permaculture because of how comprehensive it is and how much information is packed into that book. It won't explain all of the effective strategies for different climates that we've developed over the last 30 years but I would definitely start there for the foundation. Then move on to books on topics that are specific to a particular topic within permaculture design.
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My Recommendations:
There is a space under the top of the roof for ventilation, but the bottom part is solid and covers the bars. Also, unlike with frames in a Langstroth hive, the top bars sit flush against each other, forming a tight seal (Photo). The roof provides added protection from the sun and rain.
If you're interested in top-bar hives, I highly recommend "Top-Bar Beekeeping: Organic Practices for Honeybee Health" by Les Crowder and Heather Harrell, and "The Thinking Beekeeper: A Guide to Natural Beekeeping in Top Bar Hives" by Christy Hemenway. Backyardhive.com has a great DVD on top-bar hive management.
I personally like Barred Rocks better than any other heritage layer, but I wouldn't say they're exactly flashy. Really, to me, hens aren't that flashy in general. Flash is the rooster's realm of expertise. Might try grabbing a Silkie or a Polish if you want something more exotic, but they aren't the greatest layers in the world. If you're doing an urban flock and you want something docile that lays well, get a production breed (don't know any off the top of my head; anyone want to chime in on good production breeds?). I free range, so I like heritage breeds which are better at fending for themselves and running from predators.
To me, THE definitive resource to look at is The Small Scale Poultry Flock by Harvey Ussery.
> Before you do any of this you have to learn how to farm. Like actually farm, not Farming Simulator.
This is actually the hardest part. The rest is manageable and you don't actually need a lot of money. I know some people using the model in Radical Homemakers to do this kind of stuff on a skinflint budget.
Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:
amazon.co.uk
amazon.ca
amazon.com.au
amazon.in
amazon.com.mx
amazon.de
amazon.it
amazon.es
amazon.com.br
amazon.nl
Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.
I would strongly recommend you pick up a copy of Insulate and Weatherize by Bruce Harley. I got a copy from my local library.
I just finished reading through it, and even though I probably need to read it twice more, it's a great introduction to how insulation works and an awesome whole-house how-to guide on insulating and sealing.
Like other said, seal the attic before you insulate! Stopping airflow is more important than insulating, and insulation does not stop airflow.
Heres a book about raising a poultry flock for [22.99] (http://www.amazon.com/Small-Scale-Poultry-Flock-all-natural-approach-ebook/dp/B00AKJ0E9I/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1393705300&sr=8-8&keywords=Chickens)
/u/fuckmeblind, I just summoned your ass.
We found some good advice in this book - The Eco-nomical Baby Guide. Their blog is here.
I recommend the book "How Bad are Bananas?" It's basically a list of everything's estimated carbon cost.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7230015-how-bad-are-bananas
https://www.amazon.com/How-Bad-Are-Bananas-Everything/dp/1553658310
https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=olm9BwAAQBAJ&source=productsearch&utm_source=HA_Desktop_US&utm_medium=SEM&utm_campaign=PLA&pcampaignid=MKTAD0930BO1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIndGzn7iO1gIVD5l-Ch1eZA2sEAQYASABEgIwnPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CPidiqK4jtYCFc77ZAoddnMCCA
Well, people do use a metric called the carbon footprint.
Instead of tracking the total energy expenditure they go one step further and try to find the net total carbon emissions over the course of production, transportation, etc.
Bananas, ironically, have a super low carbon footprint. Probably because they can be shipped ridiculously efficiently since they ripen so slowly and grow so prolifically.
In fact, bananas are even part of a title of a book on the subject, although I haven't read it so I cannot vouch for it.
It seems to me that the situation would be changing too quickly for the book to retain any lasting relevance...Such things need to be calculated dynamically.
This is a fun book to start with:
https://www.amazon.com/How-Bad-Are-Bananas-Everything/dp/1553658310
No, you know what I am saying: extreme environmentalists employed by NASA want to do that.
> How about some quotes from them,
Keith Farnish has it right: time has practically run out, and the 'system' is the problem. Governments are under the thumb of fossil fuel special interests - they will not look after our and the planet's well-being until we force them to do so, and that is going to require enormous effort. --Professor James Hansen, Columbia University
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Times-Up-Uncivilized-Solution-Global/dp/190032248X
The mechanics of it is quite simple, but there are a few seemingly minor steps that you need to take in order to avoid problems long-term. In the end, I bought this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Greywater-Green-Landscape-Water-Saving-Irrigation/dp/1612128394
And followed its step-by-step instructions for a laundry-to-landscape (L2L) system.
I did the installation myself, and I think anyone who can dig a trench and deal with roots along the way can assemble it. It's basically a plastic hose in the ground with 5-7 smaller hoses that branch off to irrigation boxes. Each of those boxes is in a ~10 foot trench I filled with mulch to provide more disbursement of the water. You could have the line outfall into the trench on the surface but 1) that doesn't look as cool and 2) for some reason that's illegal in my state.
I had the advantage of having my washing machine hookups on an exterior wall, and having the area I want to landscape slightly downhill from my washing machine. So this meant that I could rely on the pump in the washing machine to push the greywater through the system.
I set aside two weekends to do the job, but my mulch delivery had to be scheduled later, so it ended up heading into a third weekend. In retrospect, that was a gift. Trenching was the most effort and took the most time, but I did it by hand. I was trying to minimize distance and turns, so I ended up encountering quite a few roots that I needed to cut out or feed the line under. It's not a big deal but it's tiring and time consuming. I gave myself a day to do the indoor plumbing just in case I encountered problems, but it went rather smoothly.
One lesson learned is that you might be better off just buying the amount of coarse mulch that you need for your trenches. My local government offers free mulch delivery, so I ordered "half a truck" which was the smallest option. But "truck" means dump truck, so I ended up with a massive pile of mulch on my driveway. I filled my trenches, remulched every inch that wasn't lawn, and offered free mulch delivery to my neighbors just to get my driveway clean. A 30-minute job ended up taking all day. My kids did enjoy climbing mulch mountain and "helping" fill the wheelbarrow. But in retrospect, I could have just spent $100 on coarse mulch bags and been done in an hour.
Anyone else read Eaarth by Bill McKibben? This is not the best argument to use in saying the planet will still survive...
https://www.amazon.com/How-Bad-Are-Bananas-Everything/dp/1553658310
https://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2015/december/diet-and-environment.html
Link to the study: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10669-015-9577-y
http://www.sciencealert.com/vegetarian-and-healthy-diets-may-actually-be-worse-for-the-environment-study-finds
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_aviation
"Considering that about one-third of greenhouse gases (PDF) emitted from agriculture in the United States come from fertilizers and pesticides," - http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/the_green_lantern/2009/11/sustainable_salads.html - it also links to a study where it got that quote
http://www.pma.com/~/media/pma-files/research-and-development/usa.pdf?la=en
https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/us-food-imports/
And I'm not sure how you interpreted my comment as being defeatist. I prefaced with getting in touch with local representatives, joining organizations, getting your voice heard, etc. Virtue signaling that you eat less meat to save the environment is a small step away from saying you're ignoring the issue and trying to make yourself feel better rather than actually doing something about it. That's what Arnold is doing.