BDS Book Festival – Go Green, Spend Less, Live Better + Interview with Crissy Trask

Today I share the next author interview and giveaway in the current Backdoor Survival Book Festival.  Crissy Trask, the author of Go Green, Spend Less, Live Better, is joining us for an interview and is also providing one lucky reader with a free copy of her book.

Before we start, let me tell you about the book.

First of all the subtitle is: The Ultimate Guide to Saving Money, and Protecting Your Health.  While I would like to say that describes the book perfectly, doing so would be an injustice.  After reading it, I consider this to be more of a bible for saving money in practical and useful ways.  What I like is that each topic is well described and accompanied by a table that shows the pay-back period as well as the first, five and ten year savings.  There are not a lot of books that go to that effort.

Saving money on the little things means there is extra left over
for Valentine roses from the Survival Hubby

I will give you an example that is near and dear to my heart.  I have been using homemade cloth napkins since 1971 when I made them myself. (And yes, I am still using the same napkins!)  According to Crissy, a family of four using cloth napkins and cloth towels (instead of paper towels) will save a total of $941 over a five year period.  That may not seem like a lot but as far as I am concerned, it is free money.

The book includes chapters on energy usage, appliances, automobiles, food, water and just about everything else you can think of.  There are charts, notes citing original sources for documented facts, and an excellent index.  Can you tell I like this book?

Enjoy the interview and be sure to check out the details of the giveaway below.

An Interview with Crissy Trask

Tell me about your book, GO GREEN, SPEND LESS, LIVE BETTER: The Ultimate Guide to Saving the Planet, Saving Money and Protecting Your Health? What is it about?

GO GREEN, SPEND LESS, LIVE BETTER: The Ultimate Guide to Saving the Planet, Saving Money and Protecting Your Health details the money saving side of greener, healthier and simpler living. It shows us how we can be thousands of dollars richer when living an eco-conscious life.

The book begins with an overview of why green living is such a sensible lifestyle choice for anyone trying to spend less, then gets specific, with expert advice and analysis that empowers readers to confidently pursue change, knowing their bank accounts will grow as a result.

What type of research did you have to do while writing your book?

Writing a fact-based book such as this required many hours finding credible, timely and relevant facts and data that would support the book’s many premises. Throughout the research and writing process I would work on locating multiple sources and reports and confirming their credibility and authenticity, respectively.

Sources for this book include research institutes, U.S and foreign government agencies, medical institutes, science academies and news reports.

How long did it take to write?

About 1 year to complete the research and first draft and another 6 to 8 months of rewrites and edits.

Every book, fiction and non-fiction, includes a message. What message do you hope my readers will take with them after reading GO GREEN, SPEND LESS, LIVE BETTER?

The book’s fundamental message is that a greener living is accessible to anyone and when pursued as a lifestyle– not just as a handful of acts—it is a path to rich rewards, both financial and personal.

Can you tell us a little bit more about yourself?

My journey to becoming a green author and green living specialist started about twenty years ago. My early experiences with green living—which included everything from making my own natural cleaning concoctions to riding my bike to work (rain or shine) to eyebrow-raising examples of reuse (that’s a whole other story!) —were gratifying, but I was definitely in a tiny minority.

Reducing, reusing and recycling back in the 1990s was looked upon as more hippy-dippy-trippy than ecologically imperative! By 1998, unawareness and misconceptions about greener living prompted me to start sharing information on the wisdom and accessibility of living green, and I’ve been helping people learn how to create greener spaces and adopt greener practices ever since.

In my free time I enjoy windsurfing, skiing, yoga, hiking, gardening and making things with reclaimed wood.

Do you have plans for another book?

I have several ideas! Stay tuned.

Is there anything else you would like to share with my readers?

Given the state of the environment, I consider eco-conscious living to be an ecological imperative. So I encourage everyone to start somewhere–anywhere. No one will ever be as green as they can be and probably not even as green as they want to be. There will always be something else you could do, so do what you can—as long as you are doing something and building on those somethings, you’ll make a difference over your life.

The Book Giveaway

A copy of Crissy’s book has been reserved for one lucky reader.  A few weeks ago I asked you to name your favorite survival fiction book.  Now it is time to come up with a list of non-fiction books. Today’s question is this:

What is your favorite non-fiction survival or preparedness book?

To enter the giveaway, you need to answer this question by responding in the comments area at the end of this article. The deadline is 6:00 PM Pacific next Wednesday with the winner notified by email and announced in the Sunday Survival Buzz.  He or she will have 48 hours to claim the winning books.

Note: If you are reading this article in your email client, you must go to the Backdoor Survival website to enter this giveaway in the comments area at the bottom of the article.

The Final Word

The scope of topics in the books in this latest book festival has been amazing.  With each one, I have learned something new and am reminded of how vast the cauldron of knowledge is out there just for those willing to step up an do a bit of reading.

With this book, the takeaway is that you really can live better by going green and spending less.  As we face hard times ahead, I know that I will continue to go back to Go Green, Spend Less, Live Better to solutions to find that will serve me well for the long term.

I hope you enter the giveaway to win your own copy of this great book!

Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation!
Gaye

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Spotlight Item: Go Green, Spend Less, Live Better: The Ultimate Guide to Saving the Planet, Saving Money, and Protecting Your Health

This is an authoritative, practical guide that details the money-saving side of greener, healthier, and simpler living. It is a prescriptive handbook for making better decisions about our homes, how we get around, what we eat, and how we behave as consumers, in order to simultaneously achieve two desirable and imperative goals—to be better off financially and to do what is good for the planet.

Bargain Bin:  Today is all about books.  Listed below are all of the books in the current Backdoor Survival Book Festival. There are both fiction and non-fiction titles and a bit of something for everyone.

If you covet an e-Book reader, consider the Kindle.  Prices start at $119 although a basic kindle is only $69.  And if not, at the very least pick up the free Kindle app so that you can read Kindle books on your PC or favorite electronic device.

THE BACKDOOR SURVIVAL BOOK FESTIVAL 4.0 – NON-FICTION

Backyard Cuisine: Bringing Foraged Food to Your Table
Home Remedies
Living on the Edge: A Family’s Journey to Self-Sufficiency
Make It Last: Prolonging + Preserving the Things We Love
Make Your Place: Affordable, Sustainable Nesting Skills
The Pocket Guide to Wild Mushrooms: Helpful Tips for Mushrooming in the Field
Good Clean Food
The Amazing 2000-Hour Flashlight
Recipes and Tips for Sustainable Living
The People’s Apocalypse
Go Green, Spend Less, Live Better

THE BACKDOOR SURVIVAL BOOK FESTIVAL 4.0 – FICTION

Going Home: A Novel of Survival (The Survivalist Series)
Surviving Home: A Novel (The Survivalist Series)
Expatriates: A Novel of the Coming Global Collapse
The Border Marches
Rivers: A Novel
After the Blackout
The End: A Postapocalyptic Novel (The New World Series)
The Long Road: A Postapocalyptic Novel (The New World Series)
Prepper Pete Prepares: An Introduction to Prepping for Kids

THE BACKDOOR SURVIVAL BOOK FESTIVAL 4.0 – LAST MINUTE ADDITIONS

The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
Escaping Home: A Novel (The Survivalist Series)
Living Ready Pocket Manual – First Aid: Fundamentals for Survival

Shop the Emergency Essentials Monthly Specials: The monthly specials at Emergency Essentials feature discounts of up to 35% off sometimes a bit more.

This month the big news is that all Mountain House tins are 25% off.  Of course my favorite is the Mountain House Chili Mac but I know the Beef Stroganoff is really popular as well.

A recent Mountain House Order

Other specials to consider are the Baking Mixes Combo and Butter Powder, both of which I use regularly.  The butter powder, especially, is good for baking in an automatic bread machine.

These are just a few of the items that are on sale.  Click on this link for more:  Shop the Emergency Essentials Monthly Specials.

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The Amazon Top Ten Most Wanted Survival and Outdoor Items
Emergency Preparedness Items from Amazon.com

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