I give this book 9.5 out of 10 acorns. This book is truly fantastic! The author was a teacher in a previous life (although, I gotta say, as another teacher, one never stops being a teacher, even in you retire!). His skill as a teacher is evident in how neatly and understandably the information is laid out. This book is both easy to read as well as PACKED full of information. It's also really interesting. I've stayed up past my bedtime quite a few times to read a few more pages!
It's about a whole lot more than just "scrounging," too. Here's just some of the things you'll learn about:
money managementbuilding your own home,finding affordable structures to live in while you build your own homehow to approach people to ask about stuff they have lying aroundplaces and people to ask about free stuffwhat tools to take with you to take apart cars for parts at a pick-a-part yard (we'll be using this info in just a few days!) how to barterhow to gleaneasier ways to ram tires full of dirt for earthship homeswhy it's important to scrounge (save money, save the earth, be prepared for harder economic times due to peak oil)some of his creative uses for scrounged itemshow to raise your kids to be skilled, sustainable, and adults who can survivehow & why to well-insulate your homecheap/free vacation ideaswhere to get a free dinnerand a whole lot more!
Some of the scrounged items mentioned in the book are more...toxic than others, and there isn't a discussion about the downsides of scrounging and using more toxic oil-based paints or chemical solvents. And, there's some repetition in the book where things are said almost exactly the same in more than one place (though, this really isn't a bad thing, as it helps reinforce those ideas).
I have learned so much from this book, and will definitely be sharing it with my husband (who took me dumpster diving before we were even dating, and frequently brings home treasures he finds in dumpsters and road sides and the dump. Fencing saved from the dump is SO much better than flowers or candy!). I had not known that there were affordable handpumps that I could install on my electric well, or what tools we'd need to take apart cars a junkyard, or that I could make my own mozzarella in less than 30 minutes, or that an old propane fridge could be brought back to life by turning it upside down and taking it for a ride on a bumpy road.
James has packed this book full of a wealth of information, and the information is presented in a way that empowers you to think that, you too, can scrounge. The illustrations are fun and useful. There's a good-sized bibliography at the end with citations and further research. I think this is a book everyone can benefit from reading, and everyone will learn something from.
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