A Guide to Living Lightly
E's Encyclopedic Green Living
Apr 18, 2007 Shirley Siluk Gregory
The book "Green living" (2005, Plume) is subtitled, "The E Magazine Handbook for Living Lightly on the Earth," but it could more accurately be described as a one-volume encyclopedia on all things green. It's that comprehensive.
Compiled by the editors of E/The Environmental Magazine, this is a book you can read cover-to-cover to gain an in-depth, soup-to-nuts understanding of natural foods, cleaners and other consumer products; environmentally responsible investing and travel; energy conservation; recycling and more. Or you can use it as a handy, desktop reference whenever you need to find an online resource, retailer or organization for anything organic, natural, renewable or green.
"Green Living" evolved out of E's magazine section of the same name, which launched in 1996 to tackle the real-life, day-to-day issues of environmentalism:
"Rather than the big issues of climate change, rainforest deforestation, and overpopulation, it's about the carpet on your floor, the car in your driveway, and the food on your table," writes editor Jim Motavalli in the book's preface. "(W)hile this is a consumer guide, it's also a manual for getting involved in the environmental movement."
The book succeeds on both fronts, offering readers a solid education in such topics as smart food choices (Chapter One), natural health care (Chapter Two), personal care (Chapter Three), the healthy home (Chapter Seven), kids' stuff (Chapter Nine), organic gardening (Chapter Ten) and environmentally friendly transportation options (Chapter Thirteen).
Each chapter features short, informative sidebars on sub-topics ranging from the pros and cons of homemade pet foods and instructions on how to make your own cosmetics and household cleaners to an interview with Hollywood environmentalists Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall and a history of Alice Waters' Edible Schoolyard program (in which children help grow their own produce for school meals on a schoolyard or nearby property). And every section ends with a comprehensive directory of resources, online and off, for the particular subject covered.
Anyone who's serious about adopting an environmentally responsible, sustainable lifestyle is likely to consider "Green Living" a near-bible on the topic. (In fact, E even provides some supplemental material to the book on its Website, with two bonus chapters on "Prescriptions for the Sick Office" and "Words on Paper: Tree-Free or Recycled?") The only way in which the book could be more informative would be if E could issue an annual update on CD-ROM to keep up with the ongoing changes in Internet resources as well as with our understanding of all things green.
(For some tips and insights from "Green Living," see the sidebar here.)
What do you think about this article?
More in Home & Style
Latest Articles