Member Reviews
In 2014, a French family of four decided to start living a “zero waste” lifestyle for a year, which made headlines and eventually led to a new career centered on their experience and approach: through downsizing, composting, recycling, eliminating, DIY, buying in bulk, resourcefulness, and rigorous self-discipline, they essentially managed to reduce their yearly household waste down to one small jar of miscellaneous items. This is their story, as told and drawn by the mother herself.
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As someone who is interested in reducing my waste I was very intrigued by this book unfortunately while I like it well enough and found the artwork amazing I just don't think graphic novels/comics are for me.
As someone interested in reducing the impressive amount of waste produced every day by my household I was interested in some practical solutions, but this is happening only halfway through the book.
This comic book is an illustrated memoir of the author´s family of four - 2 adults+2 children - about how they succeeded to live in 2014 12 months without waste. Well, actually, by reducing by 90% their contribution to the waste produced daily by the inhabitants of this tiny planet. They did it by producing their own cosmetics and cleaning products, avoiding any plastic bag purchase, buying fruits and vegetables from the market and carrying them in the basket, using the home mug for the coffee, decluttering the house...
In the end, they achieved a healthier and more sustainable way of life and this is important. I suppose everyone can find his or her way through such a way of life, you only need to be resilient and creative and believe that you are doing something good.
The illustrations are just fine, sometimes I´ve found them a bit messy but the author has a funny way to talk and talk and talk about serious things in a way that makes them less boring.
I wanted to like this, for being well-meaning, well-designed, personable and a decent way to pass an hour. It was only the first of those. Yeesh.
A graphic novel about a family struggles to become azero waste family.I really enjoyed reading about them their struggles a lovely family trying to do their best,#netgalley#europecomics
E-book provided by NetGalley in exchange for honest review.
People who care about the environment are often portrayed as humorless but this comic proves that stereotype wrong. A family of four,The Moret family, commits to a year of living 'zero-waste' and leaving a smaller footprint on the earth. This was a fun way to read and learn about ways to save our earth and live more simply. The art style was simply adorable and I really got along well with the author's humor. For people who are new to the idea of zero-waste and minimalism this is a great introduction to some of the things people don't think about when trying to be more environmentally friendly.
I wanted to like this book more than I did, unfortunately. Was intrigued by the idea but the author’s voice just didn’t pull me in. Appreciated the chance to read though.
I loved this graphic novel! Great illustrations, and such a fun look at what living zero waste looks like. I would have loved more than one recipe and a little more content,
Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC for an honest review.
I really wanted to love this book, I tried so hard. The premise is excellent and the explanation of how the family achieved their goals was interesting but I just couldn't get along with the style of writing.
A really interesting read with lovely, adorable illustrations following a family doing their best to be zero-waste, this book promotes a much more eco-friendly lifestyle for a family and younger children can be positively influenced by this.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is a graphic memoir about a French family recognising the dangers of a consumerist lifestyle and their decision to challenge themselves to reduce their waste. Moret breakdowns the reasons why her family of four chose this lifestyle, how they made substitutes for the everyday essentials with excessive packaging as well as the pitfalls and dilemmas that they encountered in their zero-waste journey.
Anyone who has attempted a more sustainable will find this book raw and highly relatable. On a personal level, I can relate to instances where zero-waste choices may be more harmful than helpful especially at the beginning of the minimizing decluttering phase. My only qualm with the book is the sparing use of strong language which might rub some people the wrong way which Moret addresses at the beginning of the book.
The book would be great for those who need that extra bump of literary courage in their sustainability route from people who have been "there".
A more visual on how this family become almost zero-waste and struggles that many may encounter when becoming more zero waste. Knowing it is not a perfect process.
This is a fascinating story about a family who embrace zero waste living. It is told in a humourous and entertaining way but still manages to convey the serious environmental challenges facing humanity today.
Over one year the family composted, recycled did DIY, bought in bulk and managed to reduce their household waste down to one small jar. I enjoyed this story especially the entertaining way in which it was told. I also thought it was challenging and thoughtful, as well as being educational. It left me thinking about things that I could do to cut down my own consumption.
One of the more radical choices the family made was to move from their house into a camping ground so that they could live in a holiday home. I honestly didn't see the point of that. Of course the story is about someone living in the global North in France and I do think that there are many people living in the global South who live zero waste lives because they don't consume like people in richer countries, especially those people in global south countries struggling in absolute poverty.
Nevertheless, this story calls us to think! We are so used to shopping and consuming. It is very much built into the fabric of our lives and we could each take small steps to living in ways that are less damaging to the environment but we need to be shown how and this is what this book does.
I really appreciated the way the book highlights the challenge of food packaging, using organic products and looking at ways to make our own products. I will not be traipsing through my city looking for ivy to make my own washing soap but I can switch to organic washing soap. Little adjustments can be made and those of us who can take bigger steps to zero waste living should. There are so many things we can live without.
This book is a great one for families too, because it also shows how the children adapted to Zero waste and how the whole family adjusted to a new way of living. At the same time the book is also helpful for adults and inspires everyone to live a more thoughtful life. We live such fast lives in the global North but we can be kinder to ourselves and our planet by slowing down and giving ourselves space to think about how we live, our impact on the planet and how to care for our world and each other.
The author is incredibly talented in the way she has changed the way she lives, and told her story through graphic format. Seeing the story through artwork is a really effective way of conveying a serious message.
It is a beautiful, challenging story that will inspire readers to find their own way. We might not be able to do everything this family did but this book leaves the reader empowered to make their own changes.
Copy provided by Europe Comics via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book is about a family's quest to be zero-waste as told by the mother. It chronicles their successes and challenges. I am not sure how accurate the facts actually are. That is not my field of expertise. The comics are funny and made me laugh. The script was hard to read on my screen most of the time. But the comics gave me the jist of the words that I could not make out. This book is not for everyone...sorry but I am not giving up meat permanently I only do that during Lent. :O) Kudos to this family for trying to make an impact on our Earth in a positive way.
I received an electronic ARC from Europe Comics through NetGalley.
Information about a family's quest to be zero-waste. They spent a year doing this together. Told by the mother. Honest look at the challenges and successes of reducing our carbon footprint. The script is difficult to read at times but the illustrations work.
Thanks NetGalley for the preview!
This comic was funny, factual and fantastic! I loved the humor filled perspective on something that many of us do not know about. I enjoyed the illustrations but found the text a little hard to read on my screen. I cannot speak to how accurate all of the facts are but they were explained in a way that was easy to understand. I'd would be interested in knowing how those numbers compare to numbers in the US. This family is a real inspiration!
Review to come on June 9 on blog/goodreads.
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.
I was on the one hand curious and on the other hand apprehensive when I saw the title of this book. I have met a couple of people like this one the internet and believe me... oh boy they can be a bit too much. So I was worried about the preachiness levels of this book. Still, I was in the mood for a graphic novel/comic and decided to heck with it and try it out.
Since my previous paragraph may seem a bit eh, I have nothing against trying to do zero waste, if you have the possibilities and want to stick your time in it, go for it. What I am against is people who preach and think EVERYONE should do it. No matter what. No excuses, just do it. So yeah, I was worried this book would be the preachy kind, thankfully, not that much.. still a bit though.
We learn all about the family at first, about the dad (who was just too much for me as he was also against tupperware/plastic containers and anything plastic), the mom (with a shoe obsession), the daughter (who had the big attitude), and their son (who loved to streak and run around to be one with nature). After that she talks on and on about climate change and why they wanted to try to go zero waste. I had a laugh at the if we all eat a little less meat and then only listing one day with meat. Great if that works for you. I am sorry, I have a body that needs meat. I cannot thrive on one day of meat. Believe me, I was a vegetarian for 5 years, but with allergies for nuts, peanuts, several other food stuff, and a intolerance for soy (meaning I can eat little bits of it, but I have to be careful as it can happen that my intolerance grows and that I cannot eat soy at all without getting sick which has happened twice now in my life). I was skinny as hell, my body got sick all the time, my eczema flared up, and I could go on. I don't mind eating no meat for a day, maybe two, but the other days need to have meat. I am sorry.
I have to say that I was just hoping for the family stuff to start. I heard all this stuff before, I know what will happen. I know what we as people have to do. And apparently recycling is bad as well. *sighs*
And then we finally get to seeing the family try to go zero-waste and I can honestly tell you. Not for me. Sorry environment. For many reasons, like I cannot visit the local cheese shop to get cheese because they also carry nuts/peanuts. Medicines are still needed in our lives or things will go bad. With my mental health and collapsing body it is just not viable for me to make everything from scratch like detergents and body stuff. I don't want to stop with Lego as that is one of the things that brings joy in my life. But like I said, I try. I keep an eye on what I buy. I recycle. I organise, I make my own cookies/cakes (at least for most, still need to try make cheesecake). I am already glad that supermarkets are doing all they can to make sure that plastic is getting less and less which helps me.
It was interesting to read about the family though and see how much they tried to do. How crazy they got at times, how hard it was to get everyone to help out, how people reacted (which I just found silly, just respect people), it was quite admirable to see them figure things out and work out between each other to see what worked best for them. I loved this family and I love to see that things are possible for people. I loved how enthusiastic the kids were and how eager they were to help and eventually even did some awesome things.
One thing I didn't like and that didn't really work on my screen was the font. The curly one, handwritten like. It just was barely readable and it didn't help if I upped my % because it only got more blurry then. :P
The art was really fun and energetic and I liked the style.
All in all though, I am glad I read this book, it wasn't always for me (some parts were just a bit preachy), but I loved seeing this family get together and try make an effort and do something awesome.