Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home [Paperback]

Christopher Gavigan (Author), Meryl Streep (Foreword)

Book Description

Release date: April 7, 2009

Learn how to Create a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home ? from Christopher Gavigan and the trusted experts at Healthy Child Healthy World.

Healthy Child Healthy World is the essential guide for parents! All parents want a happy and healthy child in a safe home, but where do they start? It starts with the small steps to creating a healthier, less toxic, and more environmentally sound home ? and this is the definitive book to get you there.

Unfortunately, tens of millions of Americans, overwhelmingly children, now face chronic disease and illnesses including cancer, autism, asthma, allergies, birth defects, ADD/ADHD, obesity/diabetes, and learning and developmental disabilities. The number gets higher each year and more parents ask WHY? Scientific evidence increasingly finds chemicals in everyday products like cleaning supplies, beauty care and cosmetics, home furnishings, plastics, food, and even toys that are contributors to these ailments.

The good news is that you can something to protect your children with a few simple changes!

Inside, you?ll find practical, inexpensive, and easy lifestyle advice for every stage of parenting including:

* Advice on preparing a nontoxic nursery for a new baby
* What every expectant mom needs to do to have a safer pregnancy
* Clarifying which plastics and baby products to avoid and the healthier solutions
* Tips to take to the grocery store, including the most and least pesticide-laden fruits and vegetables and the best healthy kid-approved snacks
* Which beauty care / cosmetic products pose the biggest risk to health
* The best recipes for healthy snacks, low-cost and safe homemade cleaners, and non-toxic art supplies
* How to easily minimize allergens, dust, and lead
* A greener garden, yard, and outdoor spaces
* Tips to keep your pets healthy, and the unwanted pests out naturally
* Renovation ideas, naturally fresher indoor air, and safer sleeping options,
* An 27 page extensive shopper?s guide to most trusted and best products every home needs

Inside is also packed with over 40 featured contributions from renowned doctors, environmental scientists, and public-health experts like Dr. Harvey Karp, Dr Philip Landrigan, and William McDonough, as well as many celebrity parents like Gwyneth Paltrow, Tobey Maguire, Sheryl Crow, Erin Brockovich and Tom Hanks. A special featured contribution from First Lady Michelle Obama on her best ways of coping with her daughter?s asthma.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Less than four cents of every health-care dollar is spent on prevention and public health. Our health-care system has become a disease-care system, and the time for change is well overdue.”
— First Lady Michelle Obama

“Healthy Child Healthy World helps mothers and fathers connect the dots, to understand cause and effect….It tries to emphasize the healthful solutions, the positive, easy-to-follow steps you can take for your family, your home, yourself.”
—Meryl Streep

“This is a book that every single parent needs to read….before they read the What to Expect books or even Dr. Sears’ books.”
—Nature Moms

"The work that Healthy Child Healthy World does is of the utmost importance. They are actually saving lives and supporting them, and it is not only our duty but our privilege to protect future generations as well."
—Brooke Shields

“Healthy Child Healthy World is an excellent resource for any parent looking to keep their home healthy, safe and green for themselves, for their children, and for the planet.”
—John Adams, Founding Director, NRDC

“LOVE the book...you did an amazing job!! I am so very impressed. Classy, informative, warm...you really nailed it!”
— Rita Wilson

“I LOVE (this) book. I think it’s so important, so well done, and I've already bought it as a gift for several new moms. It’s a must have for any one who cares about the health of their children and the world that we are living in.”
—Jane Buckingham, Author of “Modern Girl's Guide to Motherhood”, columnist for the New York Times Syndicate, and President of The Intelligence Group

“The best book ever written to help parents detoxify and green their households is Healthy Child Healthy World by Christopher Gavigan.”
— Elle Magazine

“This excellent green living guide contains simple solutions and daily steps for changing the way we live.”
—Library Journal

“I can do something—quite a lot actually—about the products in my home. That requires my being as conscious about things as possible—what you put in and on your body.”
—Kate Hudson

“We have lots of reasons for being optimistic. Over just the past twenty years, we’ve removed tons of lead from paint and gasoline, started huge recycling programs, encouraged millions to stop smoking, banned asbestos, made organic food more widely available, designed cars that go 50 miles on a gallon of gas, and learned to prevent skin cancer with sunscreen and avoidance.”
—Dr. Harvey Karp

About the Author

For over a decade, Christopher Gavigan has been dedicated to improving the lives of children and families. Gavigan's academic efforts focused on environmental science and geography, and graduate work in both education and child psychology. He has worked as an ecology and sciences professor in the Bay Area and Los Angeles and a child and family holistic interventionist, as well as founding Pinnacle Expeditions—an outdoor leadership program.

Gavigan currently serves as the Chief Executive Office/Executive Director of Healthy Child Healthy World, the leading national non-profit dedicated to protecting the heath and well-being of children from harmful environmental exposures. Under his leadership, Gavigan has launched impactful public awareness campaigns reaching millions, has executed a new strategic vision for the organization and has successfully established values-based messaging and collaborative relationships with over 30 social and environmentally driven business partners. He lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife, Jessica Capshaw, and their young son.

Product Details

• Paperback: 321 pages
• Publisher: Plume (April 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452290198
• ISBN-13: 978-0452290198
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.7 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #30,536 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #89 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Children's Health

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

79 of 82 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good intentions, but too much "You Need to Buy to Be Safe!!" June 10, 2008

By cerise518

Format:Hardcover

I read this book and liked quite a bit, but felt it wasn't really geared towards the every day person. I have a decent income, yet it overwhelmed me on it's push to buy, buy, buy to keep my family safe. It wasn't until I was almost finished that I realized his Hollywood connection, but it had seemed incredulous up to that point how he'd attracted so many celebrities as just a non-profit green guy.

All that namedropping made it harder to see the book as aimed at everyday people (I wanted to see regular people talking about their changes and making it work, not people with millions to work with). Several of the shops mentioned in the resources section for places to buy from "just happened" to be owned by celebrities. A lot of the items mentioned as critical were really advertorial for specific brands and of course very expensive. There were a few homemade recipes & ideas, but just as many pushes for things that are a financial stretch for many people. A lot of cheap greener living items were barely touched on. Cloth diapers were a tiny paragraph and not given much kudos yet that is a huge item that is feasible for any income level. Only 1 of the 4 diaper brands listed in the resources was cloth.

The intention was there, but IMO there are other books by regular people that are more inspiring, more realistic in what you're able to do time-wise and financially and still be as green and safe as you can.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars What you CAN do....right Now! April 18, 2008

By Alissa Segersten

Format:Hardcover

Healthy Child Healthy World is an excellent, comprehensive resource for living a cleaner, greener life - not only for ourselves but for our children and grandchildren too!

It simply spells out what we CAN do right now to get the toxins out of our lives. For example, on page 159, the author gives alternatives to traditional mosquito repellents. Two actual brand names of natural repellents are given which have been found to be effective. Another tip he gives is to plant scented geraniums, lemon thyme, marigold, and basil next to our homes to repel the bugs.

There are many, many jewels of information in this book. Some examples include, a recipe for homemade soft scrub(ber), running your water on cold first thing in the morning flushes out lead from pipes (from older houses), a recipe for an all-natural pest killer for your garden, a list of safe and unsafe seafood to consume, and how to know if your produce is conventional, organic, or genetically modified by looking at the PLU#.

From the food we eat to choosing toys and clothes, even raising a green pet, everything is covered in this book. It is well-laid out, easy to read, with tips throughout to put you into action.

The chapters are as follows:

Introduction. Your (Kid's) Health is Your Wealth
Chapter 1. Doing the Bump: Preparing for Baby
Chapter 2. Cleanup Time: Safe Suds and a Greener Clean
Chapter 3. A Clean Plate: Choosing, Eating, and Storing Healthier Food
Chapter 4. The Beauty Part: Natural Body Care
Chapter 5. Child's Play: Safer Toys, Gear, and Clothing
Chapter 6. Splendor in the Grass: Greener Gardens, Yards, and Outdoor Spaces
Chapter 7. Every Sip-and Breath-You Take: Clean Water and Air Solutions
Chapter 8. BFF: Raising a Green Pet
Chapter 9. Safe House: Healthy Home Improvement
Chapter 10: It's All Good: How to Grow Your Impact

I highly recommend this book to every parent AND grandparent! Thank you Christopher Gavigan for putting together such a comprehensive resource and guidebook!

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Every Parent (and Grandparent) Should Own A Copy April 23, 2008

By J. Meegan VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I've been receiving e-newsletters from HealthyChild.org since the birth of my first child two years ago. So I was thrilled when I got word that they'd published a book. I immediately ordered three copies (one for myself, two for friends), sight unseen. Got the book yesterday, sat up most of the night pouring over it. The verdict? Excellent.

Seriously, this book is exactly what I've been looking for. I've been pretty disappointed with the majority of books targeted at parents that bill themselves as "green" or "eco." Many of them look gorgeous -- printed on recycled paper with lots of pretty, glossy photo spreads. Some of them take on a "holier than thou" tone that I find to be a big turn off. And most of them skimp on the concrete details and information we parents need to make the right choices for our families.

Healthy Child, Healthy World is filled with good, solid information to help any parent navigate the complexities of raising a child in a world over-burdened by chemicals. It provides helpful buyer and information resources in the back. And while it does include anecdotal celebrity cameos throughout, I didn't feel like I had to belong to an exclusive club (or be fabulously wealthy) in order to heed much of the advice in the book. Best of all, where most books of this sort leave me feeling wretched and panicked by the time I've finished reading them ("I've poisoned my child!"), this book left me feeling empowered.

Happy Reading!