book club

After embarking on our ‘plastic bag reduction’ journey, I wanted to dig deeper on plastics. After a quick search of the Google, Beth Terry’s “Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and You Can Too” landed on my Kindle. Terry has a very challenging mission: She wants to live plastic-free. At first, it sounds simple – stop buying water bottles, disposable crap, DIY or find natural versions. But then you realize that EVERYTHING is plastic. I didn’t think of my shiny Macbook Laptop as 'plastic' (it's a miracle!), nor the Pyrex lids on my containers. Not clothes I wear, seats I sit in, airplanes I fly in…  Plastic is EVERYWHERE. Terry does a great job at (Find out more, after the jump!)

What makes you happy? How much square footage does one really need to be content? For Tammy Strobel and her husband, Logan, happiness is found within their 128-square-foot home. Strobel's book You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap) chronicles her transition from a standard middle-class lifestyle which included credit card debt, a long commute and living a beyond her means to a significantly downsized or "smartsized" existence. (Find out more about her book & check out the Q & A, after the jump!)

The Skinny Bitch franchise is no joke. Over the past few years Kim Barnouin, Rory Freedman (who co-authored the original Skinny Bitch) and their team have built a recognizable brand with a no-nonsense; tell it like it is approach to the vegan lifestyle. This time around Kim is back with a book of vegan swaps for almost any craving - be it sweet or salty, bottled or packaged.

Congratulations to Gladys P, the winner of our “What’s So Bad About Gasoline” book giveaway. Gladys commented: this would be a great addition to incorporate lesson plans for my art and ecology art lessons start ‘em up young… feed those...

As a thank you to our readers we’re giving away a copy of the educational and entertaining children’s book, “What’s So Bad About Gasoline? Fossil Fuels and What They Do ” What’s the occasion? Nada… we just like you! “What’s So Bad About Gasoline?” written by Anne Rockwell and illustrated by Paul Meisel is a worth-it read for kids with straight forward answers to the question’s title. Click through to read on!

Researchers took samples of umbilical-cord blood of ten babies and found 285 industrial chemicals present. Scary, right? Common food we ingest, cleaning products we use, and personal care products such as shampoo, toothpaste, and lotion we use on a daily basis ALL contain potentially dangerous chemicals. Lucky for us, Greening Your Family is a concise reference guide that gives us safer alternatives to everyday products. Author Lindsey Carmichael, MPH, outlines what chemicals are dangerous (and how they’re listed on labels) and specific brands that are safe. Easy to read, this book has tables, product lists, and additional references if you need more info. Whether you're starting your green journey or already have most of your house green, it's convenient and easy to sort your green product needs. Thanks to Lindsey, I made the switch to Tom's of Maine toothpaste & cut the Parabens from my shampoo & conditioner. We asked Lindsey a few questions about her book: (Read the full interview & ONE lucky commenter can download the app for free after the jump!)

Books from childhood (some read by teachers) have the power to stay etched in our memories forever. For me it's books like Where the Wild Things Are, the Amelia Bedelia series and Little Women to name a few that I can still quote lines from to this day. The Greenzys by the reputable children's author Danielle Mentzer just hit shelves on Earth day 2010 and is a story with a message worth remembering. Greenzys is an "eco-friendly, literary-based brand" that parents and teachers alike should be happy to promote. When GreenPhillyBlog was given an advanced copy of Greenzys to review I was pretty stoked. I love reading - kids book included! My take on the Greenzys book?

When I spotted "Confessions of an Eco-Sinner" at the local library, I was wary of a green-washing book However, I skimmed the brief summary and gave this book a read - I'm quite glad I did! Although my friends & family may be sick of me continuously spouting things I learned, I can't get enough. Fred Pearce is a British author who decided to track down where various items he uses originate, how they're created and what the impact is on both the local inhabits & environment. For example, he follows the birth of his wedding band into the gold mines of Witwatersrand, Africa (by Johannesburg). He checks to see if his 'Fair Trade" Coffee and cotton are actually "fair trade" - (which is quite complex). Here are just a few fascinating takeaways I learned:

The Skinny Bitch herself came to Philly to talk about the "V" word. Kim Barnouin, author of Skinny Bitch, discussed Veganism and her popular best-seller last evening at the Free Library of Philadelphia. She brought up some interesting topics including: the often controversial tone of Skinny Bitch (She & co-author Rory talk like that in 'real life'. Plus, America's in a food crisis: we need "Tough Love", not babying); the increased awareness of Veganism (the book came out 4 years ago and we're now seeing veganism popularized by Kind Diet and more); organic foods and protein to name a few. Kim also brought up the environmental impact of animal-based food. The carbon footprint is huge: