Customer Reviews

It's Easy Being Green: A Handbook for Earth-Friendly Living

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you need to have almost all the ideas for ways YOU can reduce your ecological damage of your lifestyle all in one easy to read place -- or know someone who you think is open to being greener but unaware of all the big and little changes one can fairly easily make, this might be a book for you.
If you've been paying attention to ecological, green, and sustainability issues for years there's not much point in this book. All the info in it is widely available on the 'net and other sources free.

What a great little book! It's chock full of information and even created out of recycled paper! As someone who wants to "go green," but doesn't want a lot of long explanations and hard to understand terms, this book was perfect for me!

The author starts out by crushing the "green living myths," which is helpful, because I'm constantly explaining to others that it's not as hard as you think!

There are hundreds of tips with 3 boxes by each one so you can check of what you want to work on, or number your success with it. The tips range from the ones I was already familiar with (such as buying organic, or letting fruit sit in a bowl of cold water rather than letting the water run) to those I wasn't familiar with (take used motor oil to your local service station for recycling. Motor oil never wears out; it can be recycled, re-refined, and used again and again).

The author really did her homework because there are not only many ways to "get involved" in the back of the book, but lots of "green shopping" pages as well!

I hope to find more books like this!

Ms. Trask's book was my first book about how to live green. I've wanted to learn more but have always felt overwhelmed by the information in other books.

This book is easy to read and to understand. Ms. Trask does not preach to you and she is not radical. The book is fun to read and has a great section of checklists: she lists pages of green ideas and you can check off what you are interested in working on. I really enjoy this book and plan to buy copies for my friends.

I'm very impressed with this book. Trask has provided a lot of information in a small package. There are lots of tips for how to be a better consumer, including how-tos for around the house as well as websites and company/product names for a more eco-friendly environment.

For example, I always feel too busy to research what the best cleaning products are to use, but now it's all in one handy place, including ideas for making my own at home as well as names of environmentally friendly products I can purchase.

I think this is a particularly good book for people who want to "do the right thing" but are intimidated or overwhelmed by both determining and doing what is best for our environment in our day-to-day lives. Trask's extensive resources and ideas give you lots to choose from - even if we all use only a few of her tips, the world will be a better place for it.

The cover of this book intrigued me. What made me take it home was that upon glancing through it, I found that it wasn't a breathy manifesto but rather a compilation of tips.

This book is a really quick read and offers a lot of great advice on how you can help the planet... but one thing this book points out is that by helping the planet, you can save a lot of money.

After reading through this book, I have to come to the conclusion that changing the way I live to help the earth wouldn't be as hard as I thought. The author wasn't critical but instead she was encouraging.

I would definitely recommend this book to others who are seeking to make simple changes in their daily lives to help the environment.

This book is smaller than many, which makes it pallatable to those who might want to dip their toe into the eco-pool. It has straightforward language, resource pages, short chapters and simple (occasionally humorous) illustrations.
The easy method of tracking actions that you can take gives you a sense of satisfaction as you check through what you are already doing, and what you can consider adding to your daily/weekly/monthly routines. Throughout certain areas of the chapters, there are three boxes next to some action items. The box farthest to the right signifies that this is an action that you would like to try, target or experiment with. Checking the middle box signifies that you are in the process of working on implementing it in your lifestyle. The left most and final box allows you to rate your success with that action on a scale of 1 to 5. For those of us who like lists and to see what we're doing, filling up this book with checks and numbers gives a sense that I can see that I'm making a difference.
Great gift for a hard to shop for person who has everything...

This book was so wonderful!I recommend this book to someone who is just starting out and is curious about the world of reducing reusing recycling.(but its really great for everyone!) It even gives you plenty of websites to do your shopping. I found restaurants, grocery stores, and farms locally so I can start eating organically, and buying better products to live a greener life. Please purchase this book - it changed my life and I am certain it will change yours!

I like to think I'm a bit more informed than the average American in regards to the environment (I'm Canadian and moved here 4 yrs ago) but I must give kudos to this book and suggest that every household keep one on their kitchen counter or coffee table. I'd like to see a page-a-day calendar like this as well. Easy to use, realistic tips.

This little book is an easy and quick read. The best feature is the checklist items at the end, which gives you a lot to think about. It is also a great way to get started on the road to "living green". It has a lot of information and it isn't complicated at all. It actually has some cute drawings and it is so user friendly that my 12 year old niece read it as well. I would definitely recommend it.

PROS:
*Several pages of ideas for change and accompanying check boxes to monitor progress.
*Pages and pages of eco-friendly companies organized by category. (Such as home furnishings, health & beauty, clothing, etc...)
*Book is LOADED with technical definitions of terms such as biodegradable, grass-fed, natural, and dolphin-safe.
*Each page is topped with an motivational quote.
*Complete section filled with tips on how to get involved in the green movement.
*Cute little cartoons at the beginning of each chapter are pretty entertaining.
*Printed on recycled paper

CONS:
*As stated in a previous review, the bulk of the information is available from other resources.
*Some of the changes are pricey or difficult. (upgrading computer processors for efficiency, building a house out of reclaimed materials, walk anywhere within a three-mile radius of your home, etc...)
*Book has a slightly "uppity" tone.


Overall, I like it. It's good to have and I keep coming back to it over and over. I absolutely recommend this book.