For the next few posts, KissMyCountry will focus on Ben Jervey – journalist, author and Planet Ambassador for the Pepsi Refresh Project. Today, enjoy this review of The Big Green Apple – Ben’s book about eco-friendly living in New York City. On Monday we’ll post an interview with Ben as he talks about the Pepsi Refresh Project, Copenhagen and SXSW Interactive, and the places he loves. Enjoy!

I invite you to peruse these pages, considering their ideas and strategies, so that you can develop your own personal program for bringing a greener shade to life here in this wonderful city.” – Ben Jervey, The Big Green Apple

The Big Green Apple – Your Guide to Eco-Friendly Living in New York City is written for New Yorkers who want to live a Green – or Greener – lifestyle. It’s great for that – full of information, advice and suggestions and helpful to the ‘core’. But anyone – New Yorker or not – will enjoy this book. The Big Green Apple is a great book for anyone visiting, planning a visit, or just a fan of New York who likes to read about The City. Ben is someone who clearly loves New York, and really enjoys, knows and appreciates what The City has to offer; Ben just wants to do it Greener. His love of New York comes through and comes through strong, and that’s what makes The Big Green Apple more than a guide to living Green. It’s a look at New York through Green eyes, and a testament to what New Yorkers are doing, have been doing, and want to do to make their city Greener.

Ben’s a journalist, and I must say that in reading this book I wished that more journalists would write guides about where they live. Or maybe Ben should write more guides about Green living in other cities. You decide when you read the book. Ben’s writing has a personal tone that most city guides do not. You are walking and traveling with him when you read this book. It’s a day together going around New York – seeing the sights, riding the bike trails, stopping at restaurants – a walk on the Green side with Ben. You feel what it’s like to live in a New York apartment and figure out how to reduce energy consumption when your energy is controlled by a landlord, how to bike around The City, how to enjoy the parks and parts of New York preserved through the years and still ready for everyone.

Ben also praises and acknowledges those who’ve worked hard in the past to make New York City Greener – the Straphangers and Greenmarkets started in the late 1970s and the Parks System’s beginnings in the 1700’s and 1800’s. Ben highlights new efforts like The Lower  East Side Ecology Center and the Five Borough Bike Tour. And Ben’s Green Pages is a great resource for Greening your way around New York City today. You learn something on every page.

The Big Green Apple was published in 2006, and it might be time for an update. We suggest that Ben seriously consider a mobile application of The Big Green Apple. That would be great and make it an easy reference for living in or visiting New York City. But for now the book itself is fine – divided into sections on Home, Food, Transportation, and Work and Play. Enjoy and use it to take a Green bite out of the Big Apple! You’ll be glad you did.