Green Mama by Tracey Bianchi
Do you ever feel guilty about not being green enough? That the disposable diapers or Styrofoam plates are not eco friendly? That you’d love to grow organic vegetables, but can’t even keep you house plant alive?
While I’m not a tree hugger and I’d rather save a baby from abortion than the whales, I do think that an ordinary mom can do things to help the environment, so those babies can grow up to live in a beautiful world. That’s why I chose to review the the book Green Mama by Tracey Bianchi.
The subtitle really caught my attention. The Guilt-Free guide to Helping You and Your Kids Save the Planet. It’s a small, unintimidating book that breaks down this green living in small bites. Just right for someone suffering from green guilt and too busy to do anything about it, but really wants to teach her kids about caring for the planet.
But what does “green” really mean? Bianchi defines it as “one that emphasizes caring for the earth’s people and resources.” When you think about it that way, it’s not so scary and intimidating. If you’d like to be more green savvy, I’d suggest picking up this book. Here are some highlights from the book to help you take baby steps toward a greener tomorrow!
- Stop unwanted junk mail, catalogs, and phone books (www.dmachoice.org, www.yellowpagesgoesgreen.org)
- Teach your kids the basics: Reduce, reuse, recycle
- Send out invitations, cards, and thank you electronically (evite)
- Use reusable sacks instead of the paper and plastic at the store
I have to admit, going green goes against my personal convenience, though we’ve been using eco friendly cleaning products for years. Every time I see those reusable grocery sacks I think “when I don’t have so many groceries to buy.” If I used reusable sacks I need about 20 of them per shopping trip, and I’d inevitably forget to bring them. Instead, we recycle them in our own way, as trash cans. And my teens wouldn’t be caught dead using a plastic lunchbox, but a walmart sack, now that’s cool! Baby steps…
While I’m not totally “there” with going green, this book gives dozens of websites to make the process less painful and move us toward being greener. While I probably will never have a flourishing urban garden, I can help my kids learn about going green and hopefully reap from their vegetable patch one day.
