Repeat after me: I am an Eco Chick/Guy
November 28, 2008
I don't like feeling scolded, so it is with trepidation that I open the book THE ECO CHICK GUIDE TO LIFE: HOW TO BE FABULOUSLY GREEN. The author Starre Vartan has a style of laying out a frightening statement, and I, as a reader, freak out, and she, as the author writes, "Now don't freak out." And then she has a wonderful somewhat painless suggestion for the reader.
The first bit of information that shocked me involved toilet paper. Did you know the softest TP is often created from trees in old growth forests? Makes me prefer that rough, brown small paper -- rougher than any paper towel -- that was provided at four star hotels I stayed in when I visited Khabarovsk Russia in the waning days of the Soviet Far East. Buy recycled TP.
And those expensive designer jeans! Nearly every step of the way, water is polluted and poorly-treated workers are severely underpaid. Options? Not sure if Vartan has one for jeans, but she does for the tops you wear with them. Choose organic cotton, she says, and silk, but not just any silk. Thousands of silkworms are killed in the making of just one shirt. Arghhh! Choose peace silk or vegan silk.
Into the kitchen. Skip the non-stick pots and pans, for the cast iron and ceramic. Pitch the plastic and grab the glass. She's got cleaning recipes in the book. Energy, growing herbs like lavendar, food -- follow the farmer's markets. She's got bedroom stuff, too, and info about pets, and transportation facts.
You know, for a book I thought would be scolding me, this is cute, and interesting, and I definitely feel like embracing as many ideas as I can. Vartan builds a gentle arc back to the grandmother who raised her, and it becomes obvious how we can live more simply, more purely, to have a healthier planet.
This little book is cool -- I can be an eco chick and not feel like I have to wear Birkenstocks. I can wear cute pumps made from naturally tanned leather.
I don't like feeling scolded, so it is with trepidation that I open the book THE ECO CHICK GUIDE TO LIFE: HOW TO BE FABULOUSLY GREEN. The author Starre Vartan has a style of laying out a frightening statement, and I, as a reader, freak out, and she, as the author writes, "Now don't freak out." And then she has a wonderful somewhat painless suggestion for the reader.
The first bit of information that shocked me involved toilet paper. Did you know the softest TP is often created from trees in old growth forests? Makes me prefer that rough, brown small paper -- rougher than any paper towel -- that was provided at four star hotels I stayed in when I visited Khabarovsk Russia in the waning days of the Soviet Far East. Buy recycled TP.
And those expensive designer jeans! Nearly every step of the way, water is polluted and poorly-treated workers are severely underpaid. Options? Not sure if Vartan has one for jeans, but she does for the tops you wear with them. Choose organic cotton, she says, and silk, but not just any silk. Thousands of silkworms are killed in the making of just one shirt. Arghhh! Choose peace silk or vegan silk.
Into the kitchen. Skip the non-stick pots and pans, for the cast iron and ceramic. Pitch the plastic and grab the glass. She's got cleaning recipes in the book. Energy, growing herbs like lavendar, food -- follow the farmer's markets. She's got bedroom stuff, too, and info about pets, and transportation facts.
You know, for a book I thought would be scolding me, this is cute, and interesting, and I definitely feel like embracing as many ideas as I can. Vartan builds a gentle arc back to the grandmother who raised her, and it becomes obvious how we can live more simply, more purely, to have a healthier planet.
This little book is cool -- I can be an eco chick and not feel like I have to wear Birkenstocks. I can wear cute pumps made from naturally tanned leather.
Labels: book review, ecology, Starre Vartan, THE ECO CHICK GUIDE TO LIFE HOW TO BE FABULOUSLY GREEN
posted by Diana Page Jordan @ 10:24 PM
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