Finding Your Treasure: Our Family's Mission to Recycle, Reuse, and Give Back Everything—and How You Can Too

Finding Your Treasure is an exuberant and fascinating look at one family's mission for re-use, upcycling, and recycling. Due out 1st Aug 2021 from Simon & Schuster on their Tiller Press imprint, it's 144 pages and will be available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately; it makes it so easy to find information with the search function. 

There don't seem to be many people in doubt about the unsustainability of our current obsession with consumption and reckless disregard for the finite resources of our planet. It's popular to re-use, recycle, upcycle, and be thrifty these days. Angel Williams is an icon in the thrifting and "dumpster diving" crowd. This book is a sort of how-to for thrifting, recycling, and dumpster diving, liberally interspersed with her pithy and philosophical thoughts about resources, life, faith, the meaning of everything, and living frugally and compassionately. 

Much of the book is anecdotal (but undoubtedly true - it's full of photographs). She lists some of her finds (and her followers' finds - one found a Hermes Birkin with $2300 in it 0.o) and talks about how to identify the best spots to dumpster dive (more of an art than science, and know your neighborhoods). She also spends a fair bit of time on personal safety and taking sensible precautions (be wary of retail dumpsters - some of them could be compactors and it's not worth risking your life jumping into those no matter what you might find). 

The book is also full of photos of Ms. Williams and some of her family.

I enjoyed reading this personal memoir and how-to and admire her spirit. Some readers might find her discussion of her faith surplus to requirements, but I found it salient, especially as it relates to her philanthropy (donating to those in need), her strength, and her resolve in adversity. 

Five stars. Even for readers who don't intend to don a face shield and heavy leather gloves, there are some good takeaways here on living frugally and responsibly on our overloaded planet with shrinking resources.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.