The Eco-Chick Guide to Life by Starre Vartan
“Knowing your natural beauty means supporting it, with healthy choices about what you put in your body, on your skin, and what kind of environment you choose to live in every day. Your body is the link between you and the rest of the great green planet. That’s why 99 percent of the time the choice that’s better for the environment is a better choice for your health too. So start making your list. What do you love about yourself?”
(excerpt from Eco-Chick Guide)
Don't judge this book by, well, its cover. Starre Vartan's Eco-Chick blog may be a thinly veiled advertisement for her favorite online merchants and an occasional documentary preview, but the book has far more credibility. Vartan has a background in environmental science and so is not your standard-issue "lifestyle expert."
The Eco-Chick Guide to Life confirmed some things I'm already doing right—washing clothes in cold water, then hanging them up to dry; feeding my cats organic food and eating a mostly vegetarian diet; wrapping gifts in recyclable wrap, etc. It also offered me a nudge toward areas of improvement—driving less, defeating such power vampires as cell phone chargers, remembering to bring my own coffee mug wherever I can, to name a few. Most importantly, it educated me. Who knew surge protectors, besides being convenient, also help with energy conservation, as long as you remember to switch them off? Or that keeping your fridge full helps lower your electric bill and lessen your carbon footprint (assuming said fridge is full of local produce, organic milk, etc.)?
The last chapter discusses "spreading the green" without preaching or being a Debbie Downer/Bob Bummer. Read it several times—I did.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to unplug my cell phone charger.