Dude Making a Difference: Bamboo Bikes, Dumpster Dives, and Other Extreme Adventures Across North America

This book logs environmental activist Greenfield's efforts to inspire change through a 104-day cross-country bike tour from San Francisco to Waitsfield, Vt., where the organization One Percent for the Planet is headquartered. He wanted to prove that it's possible to live a far less consumerist and far more sustainable lifestyle than what is currently typical in North America. Calling the adventure "Off the Grid Across America," his goal was to live and travel leaving as small an environmental footprint as possible. Practically speaking, that meant crossing America using only human power and water straight from nature, not taps. He only ate local, organic, unpackaged foods, unless he managed to salvage discarded food. He generated as little waste as possible by implementing the three Rs: reducing, reusing, and recycling . Despite the extreme measures Greenfield took on his journey, he doesn't come across as an extreme or impractical person. His writing is fresh and conversational. The book challenges everyone living a typical Western lifestyle to make at least a few small changes to their lifestyle for the betterment of themselves, future generations, and the Earth. Photos. (Jan.)