A Life Stripped Bare

It is hardly news that a growing number of people want to step back from the brink of Western consumerism and find a way to live an all-round cleaner existence. So how do we go about it? Most people resist giving up their cars, their toxic household products, their cheap washing machines, or dodgy, unethical bank accounts in order to make the world a better place, but Leo Hickman, resident consumer expert of the Guardian, reckoned he should give it a try and report back on whether it is possible to live a life that is Western but aware. Leo's fumbling but hugely well-intentioned and increasingly successful efforts to do the right thing can't fail to involve, educate, inspire—and amuse—his readers.