Bowen Island-based journalist and stay-at- home dad James Glave is on a mission to reduce his environmental footprint and inspire others to do the same. So he embarked on the construction of a 260-square-foot writing studio designed to be environmentally sound in every way possible.
    This is not a how-to book in the classic sense. Those hoping to build their own eco-sheds will have to look elsewhere for their structural blueprints. However, Glave, a former editor for Outside and Wired, has done a lot of research and legwork that could prove invaluable for those hoping to follow his example. He outlines the many frustrating pitfalls along the way with wicked humour.
    Secondary to the eco-shed’s construction are Glave’s attempts to unload his luxury SUV, a sensitive issue because the Lexus was a gift from his father-in-law. To Glave’s credit, he acknowledges the ludicrousness of driving a gas guzzler, but his frequent complaints of being unable to finance a more green vehicle wear a bit thin, given the money he spent on the writing studio.
    Indeed, why Glave couldn’t simply set up an office in the corner of his home’s living room, like countless other writers, rather than spending more than $90,000 to build the eco-shed, is the nagging issue that may plague many readers. After all, even if the shed is built to be a “showcase of sustainable building practices, theoretically accessible to the middle class,” one wonders how building something new altogether is necessarily more environmentally savvy than using what’s already in place.