Finish this quote: The man who does not read good books has ...

I've read a lot of books about being green, going green, sustainability, environmentalism, organic & natural food and our broken food system in the past couple of years. And there is still a pile of them waiting to be read. A new one just arrived in the mail yesterday.

I haven't written about all of them, but I have written about quite a few. While I'm gearing up for my 500th post that will happen sometime next week, I'm looking back at some of the posts I've written over the past two years. Today, I've got links to some of my book reviews or book recommendations.

Dr. Seuss was a Tree Hugger - One of my very first posts, short and sweet, about one of my all time favorite books, The Lorax.

Reusing and Recycling: A Lesson from Grandma Prisbrey - My youngest son and I learned about this amazing woman, Tressa Prisbrey from a book we grabbed from the library one day. Bottle Houses is a beautifully illustrated biography that tells about the village of houses she built out of bottles and other things found at the dump.

Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic - Our desire to consume causes problems socially, emotionally and environmentally. Affluenza is inspiring, and despite its serious message, an entertaining read.

Serve God, Save the Planet - This short post leads you to a review I did on Sustainablog for this book that I believe Christians and non-Christians can take inspiration from.

Green Reading for Read Across America Day - A list of books that I recommended for anyone looking for something to sink their teeth into.

Simply Green Parties - For some clever ideas on how to green up any celebration, I recommended this book by Danny Seo.

The Green Teen - This recently published book by one of my fellow MNN bloggers Jenn Savedge is a practical and well organized resource for teens who want to get a little (or a lot greener).

And finally a few links to books I've reviewed elsewhere:

Sarah Snow's Fresh Living
Food Matters
The Unhealthy Truth
When Santa Turned Green (I'm not kidding - it's a book)
David Suzuki's Green Guide

National Geographic's true green home

I was sent a copy to review of true green home: 100 inspirational ideas for creating a green environment at home by Kim McKay and Jenny Bonnin. It's a beautifully photographed book of quick ideas that those who are new to going green can implement in their home.

What I liked most about the book is that it was set up one idea at a time - making it easy to pick and choose which ideas you might like to implement. In a very un-overwhelming way, the book allows its readers to flip through and grab onto ideas that are doable for them.

I also like that the authors didn't just write about the how-to's; they wrote about the why's, too. For example. idea #69 is "the paperless home." They explain ways to go paperless: saving documents electronically, banking online, etc, but they also give statistics. 

Research has shown that by switching to electronic bills, statements and payments, the average household can save 6.6 pounds of paper, avoid the use of 4.5 gallons of gasoline, and prevent the production of 171 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions every year.

It's information that is concrete and more likely to leave an impression on a reader than a simple "you'll save trees."

There is also a list of websites in the back of the book that give more information on a lot of the green ideas they give in the book, and a helpful glossary of terms.

If you are well entrenched in being green, this book probably won't have much in it that you don't already know, but if you're new to trying to create a greener home, this book has some practical starting points. It would also be a helpful gift book.

Book Review: Simply Green Parties

I wrote this book review for a writing gig that went south so I thought I'd post it here. With the holiday's coming up, I'm sure people are looking for ideas to make their festivities a little more eco-friendly. This book has some good ideas. Here's the review:

It’s easy to go overboard when planning a special event in your home, and going overboard can often lead to a party that is not environmentally friendly. Simply Green Parties by Danny Seo has “simple and resourceful ideas for throwing the perfect celebration, event, or get together.” The ideas in this book can help any host add eco-friendly elements to a party.

The book is divided into 6 party themes: Dining Under the Stars; A Twist on a Birthday Party; A Spring Baby Shower; Sizzling Summer Party; Your Housewarming Party; and Winter Warm Up. Seo gives ideas for environmentally friendly foods, décor, table settings, gifts and more. The ideas for each party can be interchanged easily, however, and used for any type of party being thrown.

In the Housewarming Party chapter, for instance, Seo suggests using discarded champagne corks as place card holders. To make the place card holder, run a sharp knife through the top third of the cork and place the card in incision. Or, use the same idea to identify foods in a buffet or on a cheese tray. Of course, this idea doesn’t need to be for a housewarming party only. It can be used anytime you need place cards or a way to identify foods at a party.

Other party ideas that caught my attention in this book are scooping the leftover hot coals from a grill into fireproof bowls and allowing guests to make s’mores with organic chocolates, creating birdbath wine coolers, and making eco-friendly wineglass ID tags that reuse paint chip cards.

There are also hints and tips on organic wines, making or choosing eco-friendly candles, helping your caterer go a bit more organic, and saving money when buying organic.

Like any book on party planning, readers can take the ideas that work for their party and that fit their style and leave the ideas that they don’t like. There were some ideas that I found unappealing – such as using Twizzlers as a replacement for drinking straws. But there were many ideas that I’ve already used a few times at gatherings in my home.

Each idea is accompanied by detailed instructions. There are full color photographs of finished items, projects, and dishes. Seo notes in “A Special Note to the Reader” that all of the props and materials used in the photographs were created with recycled, thrift shopped, and/or organic materials.

Simply Green Parties is published by Collins and retails for $19.95, and as should be with any book that encourages greenness, it’s printed on recycled paper.