Wow this little book has a lot of information in it! A lot more than I bargained for, actually. I was interested in doing a little "urban farming" in the form of apartment-gardening and helping friends plant food on the unused hill behind their house, maybe starting a compost heap. But this book covers everything from constructing a homemade "wetland" for filtering household water, to recycling human waste (see the hilarious section on the Mobile Composting Toilet!), and so much more. It's not just about taking small steps to get yourself off the grid, it covers comprehensive ways to move communities off the grid entirely--which, the book explains, may become necessary in the not-so-distant future. Frank and crisp in style, and completely without condescension or hysteria, the book describes in clear terms what we can expect in the future if our current systems persist, and how to start making our homes and communities sustainable, equitable and autonomous. While I can't see myself putting all of it to use (there is a section on cultivating insects for chicken feed, making me relieved to retreat into vegetarianism), I felt vastly more aware when I'd finished it, in addition to learning a few things I will try.