Green Chic
I think I’m a pretty good recycler (glass, plastic, cardboard, magazines, etc.), and I’ve recently purchased a mini-selection of Target reusable bags to avoid the superfluous grocery sacking (meat in a bag, cleaner in a bag, milk in a bag, cantalope in a bag, etc.), but otherwise I wouldn’t have said I was very ‘green’.
How-ever…on a recent trip to Target, I was drawn in by a cute little book called Green Chic, Saving the Earth in Style. Well, imagining of course that this was precisely the sort of book I needed to tranform myself into a hip eco-friendly person, I snapped it up. (It’s a very cute, trim little grass green book, and the ‘i’ in chic is dotted with the recycling symbol. I’ve said it before: I’m a sucker for a good cover.) Any-way, I’ve been reading it (wading through the descriptions of all the chemicals and toxins we should be avoiding), and I’ve discovered that I am rather respectably ‘green’. We keep our air-conditioner set high-ish (at 78-79 in the summer), I’m a stickler for turning off lights and water and shorter showers, I only run full loads of laundry and dishes, we’re gradually switching to the compact fluorescent lightbulbs, etc. So I’m a little proud of myself.
But the book has me thinking (as it should, and as I expected and hoped) of new ways to get ‘greener’ and live healthier and more chemical-free, starting with shampoo, make-up, cleaners and other household necessities. It almost makes me feel like I need (and deserve) a spa-treatment…and a trip to a farmers’ market.
I’m taking it all with a grain of salt though–with a husband who’s an environmental consultant countering most everything the author says with a reality check of his own, I’m not likely to get carried away. Still, I’d recommend it to anyone interested in learning about the impact of their own eco-footprint.
08/29/2008 at 1:39 pm
Thanks for telling us about the book, sounds like something I need to pick up. I try to be green, but I know I don’t do near enough and I’m not talking the big stuff, just the day to day things that I sometimes forget.
08/29/2008 at 3:21 pm
I’ll have to look for this book when I’m in Target next. I do really well with the temp control(unless family is in visiting), turning off lights, and even shorter showers, but I need to keep by re-usable bags in my car. I have 3 or 4 for Target and keep forgetting to take them with me.
08/29/2008 at 11:39 pm
Going Green and purchasing organic items for laundry and personal items is a great idea.
I don’t know if you have “Burt’s Bees” products in Texas, but they are made in Durham, NC. Their website is: burtsbees.com. I started using the body wash, shampoo and conditioner a couple of months ago when I heard how bad sodium lauryl/laureth sulfate, paraben and phthalate was to humans. They use strictly natural products with no chemicals. It’s been a nice change for my skin and how I feel.
Yes, Alyssa, I’m doing a sell job which fits in with this book.
08/30/2008 at 1:00 am
I’ll have to check out that book as well. I too found a great book on a whim. I Love It! The Pink Forest, by Dana Dorfman. It’s all about bettering myself as a woman.
08/30/2008 at 4:58 am
I’m thinking I need to go greener. Especially after a trip to Canada where they’re definitely more environmentally aware than where I live. Thanks for the recommendation.
08/30/2008 at 8:08 pm
The book sounds fascinating. Thanks for the heads up!
09/02/2008 at 8:50 pm
i try to do little things here and there, but not nearly enough i’m sure.