Natural Living Des Moines

The Green Guide

Of course, this book is available at your local branch of the Des Moines Public Library.

This book was fairly thorough, but shallow, and had a distinct lack of directing readers to resources for further reading.

This book gets bonus points for pointing out the omissions of the German dishwashing study – you know, the one that said that washing in a dishwasher uses so much fewer resources than washing in a sink? (Namely, they didn’t take into account the process of making the dishwasher, plus they didn’t encourage the hand washers to conserve resources, only to get the dishes clean.) Also, for pointing out that front load washing machines are not always the better way to go, environmentally speaking. Those two things won me over to the book.

Now, for a series of my random thoughts while I was reading.

The authors sometimes give good alternatives to traditional, not so great for the environment products. But too often, the suggestion was just “buy organic,” as if organic is automatically awesome. Sometimes, the authors didn’t suggest any alternatives, leaving the reader ready to change their ways, but uncertain of how to do that. Frustrating.

I of course read the diapering section with keen interest, and was disappointed. The authors overestimated the costs of doing laundry (and apparently didn’t actually do any research on the subject). They also didn’t bother to look up statistics on potty training, settling instead for saying that cloth diaper advocates “claim” that use of cloth diapers results in earlier potty training. And the book was written right after G diapers came out, but before they had much market use, and the authors were just in love with the Gdiaper concept. (and who isn’t? but the practical use seems to be where most parents I know have found difficulty.)

I also, of course, found it odd that the authors continually encouraged using reusable, washable items like rags, and of course clothes… but not diapers. Odd.

Moving on, the authors barely mentioned buying local or knowing your suppliers as a way to ensure not only that you’re buying good products that are good for you, but as a way of increasing your eco-friendliness. They mentioned farmer’s markets, but that’s the extent of local shopping they talked about.

All in all, while the authors mostly avoided hype, they also didn’t totally explore some topics (for example, there are apparently no downsides to hybrid cars). Obviously, completely discussing every topic in depth would make the book impossibly thick, but clearly some sections could have been a little more balanced.

That said, this has been my favorite Eco book that I’ve read so far.

I found this one to be difficult to read. There were just too many words on the page or something. Also, it’s kind of a lengthy ad for Shaklee.

That said, there is some good information in the book, particularly for those looking for easy ways to get started living Green. The book is divided into pratical sections, like “Clean Body,” “Clean Baby,” and “Clean Food.” She talks about the surprising number of nasties in soap, laundry detergent, makeup, etc.

Many of the suggested solutions are just alternate things to buy. If you’re just looking for “instead of Ajax dish soap, buy a green brand instead” advice, you could probably get away without buying ANY books, and just go shopping at Campbell’s or New City instead. But she does suggest things such as just forgoing baby lotion (babies usually don’t need lotion if you avoid drying soap and too frequent baths), etc. (no mention of forgoing makeup, though!)

(I’ll note, she calls disposables “safer.” I’m not sure what she means by that. I have yet to see a cloth diaper explode or do anything that would make me think of them as “less safe.”)

Alright, I really didn’t care for this one. It’s too textbook-ish without giving any real information. Too much theory and “should” and “ought” with not enough practical steps. As with all of the Complete Idiot guides, there’s a lot of fancy formatting, lots of white space, and a serious dearth of good information.

I did, however, like the chapter on raising Green kids – none of that Scare The Pants Off Of Them stuff, and very focused on Teach Them To Appreciate Nature. A huge thumbs-up in my opinion.

So, though this is, like all the books I’m reviewing, available at the Des Moines library, it’s not particularly useful.

Another fine selection from the Des Moines Library.

This is not a particularly large book, but it’s jam-packed with bulleted lists. Almost overwhelmingly so. Some of the ideas are good ones, some are not so practical. Some make sense only when you consider that the book was published in Australia. Interestingly, it took me several times over the page talking about passive solar to figure this one out! (“Wait! Did they say to use north-facing windows to capture the sun?”)

I really liked this book. It’s basically written in a casual, conversational style, as though Ed was just chatting with you about all the things he thinks are important when choosing to live green. He includes things that are easy to do (like turning down your thermostat) and things that are more challenging (solar panels). There are some places I would have preferred more statistical evidence, but that’s not really what the book’s about.

He also got me all stirred up to get an electric bike to enable me to get further distances while towing both kids. (like the library, which is out of reach on the bike) I just don’t have that kind of scratch, though!!

My favorite part of the book was easily his discussion of transportation choices. Clearly, for Ed, his electric car is the best option – he recharges it with his solar panels. But his discussion of biofuels vs hyrids (hybrids win) and driving vs flying (driving wins) were interesting.

All in all, the book gets into several Green topics, all in a light conversational tone that conveys good information without sounding textbook-y.

This is a super fun book, and would make a good gift, as well.

This is a fun little book. It is basically an alphabetical listing of various items – toothbrushes, appliances, zippers – and ideas of how to reuse them, how to extend their useful lives, or how to recycle them. It’s an interesting read and a great reference.

The Des Moines Library has it, I highly recommend checking it out!

I’ve borrowed several Green-ish books from the library and will be sharing my thoughts on them on here. First up is Raising an Earth Friendly Child by Debbie Tillsworth.

I will say, I’m about halfway through and I’m very disappointed. The book seems to take the same tired approach of “Scare Your Kids To Death and then Encourage Them To Do Something.” I personally do not agree with this approach at all, so activities like having my kid make a Play-dough city and then drowning it in the sink while telling him that his relatives on the coasts will all die when the oceans rise unless we turn off the faucet when we brush our teeth is completely out for me.

If we rule out all of those types of activities, the ones that are left are an interesting assortment. Many of them would be great for families wanting to make a transition to being more earth friendly with their chidren ages 4-10ish. Establishing an ecology cop, able to write tickets for pre-established offences, for example.

Many of the other activities would really come up naturally if a family is already living green – having a child help with recycling, for example, and talking about why we recycle. Getting rid of toxic cleaners and other items. Using cloth diapers.

Some of the activities are good ideas for any family – volunteering with a group that cleans up highways or rivers, for example. (I didn’t see cleaning up trails or parks in the book, but those are good activities, too. I know of a family who combines geocacheing with garbage picking up.) One activity suggested ways to help children understand the difference between renewable and nonrenewable resources.

And there are some real gems in there, too. One is a diaper experiment where you take a disposable and a cloth diaper outside and bury them and mark their graves and then dig them up 6 months or a year later to compare. Wally will totally lose interest over the 6 months, but I think it’d be fun!

So, it’s really a mixed bag. Families just starting on their journey to being more green and wanting to get the kids involved would probably benefit the most from this book. Just, please, avoid tactics that make your child feel helpless or ridden with guilt – or fearful for his life.

Squeaky Green: The Method Guide to Detoxing Your Home

When this book arrived on my doorstep, I was completely prepared to hate it. I really detest the way advertising is creeping into our everyday lives – product placements on TV shows, informational brochures that are really just ads, etc. – and I thought this book would be more of that.

But as I read it, I really started to like it. Sure, it is published by Method, and it does mention Method products on occasion, but it’s not just a 157 page ad for Method. It’s actually informative.

The book is divided into sections – one for each room or area of your home – and then walks through the potential hazards in each area. For example, in your bedroom, there’s the flame retardants in the mattress, the pesticide residue in your sheets, dust mites on the floor and in your bed, etc. Then it gives you ideas on how to eliminate or reduce your exposure to these hazards.

It’s a great book for someone who is remodeling, redecorating, or building a new house – kind of an overview of the major areas of concern – and would also be good for just anyone who is wanting to reduce their exposure to unhealthy toxins in their home. Their suggestions are all achievable for normal, regular people.

Though I already was familiar with most of the concerns they raised in the book, one fact caught me by surprise – dryer sheets and fabric softeners. We don’t use them anyway, but the book claims that the secret ingredient that makes the clothes soft is beef fat (tallow). Uh, nasty.

It does have its drawbacks. It doesn’t back up anything it says with references. I happen to know that their assertions about the hazards of common household chemicals and residues of things found in every day items are based on fact and can be backed up by studies. But to not publish their references is a bit shady.

It also misses several obvious do-it-yourself ideas, in favor of urging you to buy a product. (For example, it discusses fabric softener and how gross it is, then encourages you to use vegetarian-friendly versions of dryer sheets instead, completely ignoring the fact that vinegar is nontoxic and makes a great fabric softener.)