If you’re a regular reader, you know that I’ve been babbling on about the Transition initiative for several weeks now.  I finally slogged through the last section of the book (which yes, does get a little slow) and tapped out my review.  Then my computer exploded and ate it, so you all are stuck with Version 2 of my review of The Transition Handbook.

As you might imagine, Hopkins does an excellent job of presenting the dual issues of climate change and peak oil.  But The Transition Handbook is fundamentally a guide for building a Transition movement from the ground up.  Organized into three parts – The Head, The Heart, and The Hands – Hopkins walks you through the history and processes of the formative Transition Towns.  It is a thoughtful and well-researched examination of the birth of a movement combined with a thorough “how-to” on building your own.

People have criticized both the Transition movement and the Handbook itself for a variety of reasons.  While much of the criticism is valid, I still found this book to be an incredible resource.  Anyone who is interested in climate change, peak oil, survivalism, resilience, community organization or even the psychology of change will find much of interest in The Transition Handbook.  At the end of the book, Hopkins characterizes Transition as “one of the biggest and most important research projects underway in the world.”  I think he is correct, and the Handbook provides a foundation for the extensive documentation behind this social experiment.

I’ve noticed that short writings on Transition tend to give off a sense of impending doom.  I think this is also true of my posts over the last several weeks, in spite of the fact that I specifically tried to avoid it.  Somehow it still got away from me!

For this reason, if for no other, I would encourage you to read The Transition Handbook in full.  At the core of Transition is the idea that a post-oil world could, in fact, be preferable to our world today, and that the path forward is equally optimistic and positively engaging.  I don’t know why this doesn’t distill well into shorter pieces, but this is not a book that leaves you feeling hopeless.

The Giveaway, Woot!

On that note, I’ll tell you how you can enter to win my very lightly used (almost new, really) copy of The Transition Handbook.  It is actually twice used, so you’ll be at least owner #3.  Doesn’t that make you feel good?

There are a variety of ways to enter.  Some of them are self-promotional (sorry, that’s just how it goes), some are not.  Feel free to enter as many ways as you like.  Leave a comment for EACH entry.

1. Talk to someone about the Transition initiative.  Ask them what they think.  Start a dialogue.  If you feel so inclined, come back and let us know how it went.
2. Leave a comment of something you would like me to write about.  Anything goes, although I won’t guarantee that I’ll write about it if it’s completely off topic. (But you never know!)
3. Leave a comment and tell me what your favorite post of mine is, or your least favorite and why.  Love it, hate it?  Let me know what I’m doing well and/or how I could do better. (This is not an invitation for trolls.   I will remove your vowels and won’t count your entry.  Don’t even bother.)
4. Follow me on Twitter.
5. Become a fan of Openly Balanced on Facebook.
6. Share a favorite post (or this post) on Twitter or Facebook.
7. Subscribe to Openly Balanced via RSS or e-mail.

Entries will be closed at 8PM PST on Tuesday, March 2nd.  Winner will randomly selected from the comments and announced on Wednesday, March 3rd.

Note:  Entrants must be from the US or be willing to work with me on postage if it is out of control expensive.

Related Posts:

• Transition: Relocalization
• Transition: Resilience
• Transition: An Introduction

Related posts:

1. Hyperlocavore Book Club: The Transition Town Handbook
2. Transition: An Introduction
3. Transition: Resilience

What: The Hyperlocavore Book Club

Reading: The Transition Handbook

Where: Hyperlocavore.com

Why: Because intelligent discussion about books is great!

I was particularly pleased that The Transition Handbook (by Rob Hopkins) won the vote for the first round of the newly formed Hyperlocavore Book Club, because I was fascinated by the Bright Green vs. Transition Towns discussion that has been going on throughout the last month.  (The key posts are Transition Towns or Bright Green Cities? posted at Worldchanging, and the response written by Rob Hopkins himself: Responding to Alex Steffen’s Critique of Transition at Worldchanging.)

I recently purchased Alex Steffen’s Worldchanging: A User’s Guide for the 21st Century, which I have started to work my way through.  And now I’ll be joining in the discussion of The Transition Handbook with the cool people over at Hyperlocavore.  Good timing, huh?

It’s not too late to join up.  Discussion on Chapter 1 begins on December 7th.  Just go and sign up at Hyperlocavore.com and then join in on the Book Club discussion.  Look forward to seeing you there!

P.S. If you don’t know about Hyperlocavore,com, you can read my very long interview with founder Liz McLellan.  In short, Hyperlocavore.com is an online community dedicated to the formation of “yard sharing” groups around the world.  A brief excerpt from the interview explaining one of the many models of yard sharing:

Let’s say you live in an apartment, you have a green thumb and really miss digging in the dirt.  And your neighbor (friend or family member) Mrs. Jefferson has a nice big yard but has arthritis and a bum knee.  Another friend, Joe, also would like to lower his bills but still eat lots of organic fruit and vegetables.  The three of you form a yard share group.  You agree to grow for one season together as a test run.

Now what happens?  All three of you eat better food that has traveled zero miles to get to your plate.  It is in season, delicious and has a low-carbon impact.  Mrs. Jefferson has two younger people in her life, a shared meal now and then and fresh flowers every day, she not only is eating better, but is more connected to the community.  You and Joe are saving money, getting fit, eating better and diminishing your climate impact.  And I haven’t even gotten to how much your kids love the garden, how much they are learning about life and healthy eating, and how much they liked making that apple pie with Mrs. Jefferson.

Related posts:

1. Are You A Hyperlocavore?