BMusing

This review is part of the Green Books campaign. Today 100 bloggers are reviewing 100 great books printed in an environmentally friendly way. Our goal is to encourage publishers to get greener and readers to take the environment into consideration when purchasing books. This campaign is organized by Eco-Libris, a green company working to green up the book industry by promoting the adoption of green practices, balancing out books by planting trees, and supporting green books. A full list of participating blogs and links to their reviews is available on Eco-Libris website.

500 New Ways to See the World – a Rough Guide by Richard Hammond and Jeremy Smith.

A 392-page treasure with gorgeous full-colour photographs and maps, printed on FSC-certified paper.

Publishers Description:
Clean Breaks unearths 500 unique experiences and new ways to travel that make a real difference to the lives of local people and the planet. Discover a wealth of new adventures from sleeping in houseboats in Kerala and witnessing the zebra migration in Botswana to taking the train-hotel from Paris to Madrid. Whether you fancy living like a local in a tipi with Native American Indians, riding with cowboys in Venezuela or staying in a bunkhouse barn in the Brecon Beacons, this guide is packed with the how, where and when to plan your next extraordinary experience.

Authors Richard Hammond, Green Travel Correspondent for The Guardian, and Jeremy Smith, former Editor of The Ecologist Magazine, combine cultural sensitivity with practical advice, hand-picking the best hotels, resorts, and tours run by earth-friendly people who are passionate about what they do, assuring a spectacular choice of inspirational travel ideas without compromising on the quality of your holiday. Whether you wish to experience a climate-friendly home-stay or simply want to see the world in a new light; make your next trip a Clean Break.

My thoughts:
Wherever in the world you want to enjoy your holiday – close to home or in the far reaches of the world – there are plenty of ideas and suggestions. I defy anyone to not find something that entices them to a “clean” break – and that’s the beauty of the book – not only are the suggestions great fun, adventurous and of such variety that I defy you not to find something you’d love todo, but they are also considerate of our planet.

In true “Rough Guide” form, Clean Breaks includes plenty of detail and an impressive selection of ideas for every taste and budget, plus there’s the wonderful photography.

So no more excuses – within this one book, we can explore travelling the world without taking anything from Earth. This book is a real pleasure – something you’ll pick up and daydream over time and again. We all deserve this book and there are real adventures for all of us to enjoy – I will certainly be exploring several with my children, and will blog further on the ideas – testing out some of the suggestions that we can do from home.

And I’m not saying nice things just because I was sent a copy to review – I did warn Raz over at Eco Libris that my review would offer my authentic opinion, and it’s been easier than expected, as I genuinely enjoy this book. It’s certainly opened my eyes to the potential for holidays that we can enjoy without feeling guilty about the cost to the planet. And I’ll be ordering a few copies as Christmas presents – the book is that good!

Thank you to Eco-Libris for the opportunity to review this book and to do my part in highlighting green publishing practices. And to Susan Newman who designed the campaign logo.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 10:11 pm and is filed under Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.