Sara Snow's Fresh Living: The Essential Room-by-Room Guide to a Greener, Healthier Family and Home [Paperback]

Sara Snow (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 24, 2009

In this easy-to-follow guide, the green-living expert and host of the popular TV shows Living Fresh and Get Fresh with Sara Snow offers busy families simple, affordable ways to create a healthy, environmentally friendly home—room by room.

Every day, families make countless consumer choices, from which diapers to use to which apples to buy, to whether their next car should be a hybrid. For new parents concerned about the future of their children—and of the planet they will leave them—being informed feels especially urgent. But in the midst of a booming natural and organics industry, the many options can make easing into living green confusing. Now Sara Snow offers practical solutions for every aspect of family life, from laundry to recycling to decorating the nursery. Discover ways to green…

• your kitchen with healthier foods and safer cooking and storage options
• your bathroom with recycled toilet and tissue paper and nontoxic cleaning supplies
• your bedroom—and your love life—with chic eco-friendly bedding and sexy personal products
• your yard with a rain barrel attached to your gutter downspout to reduce runoff, prevent erosion, and capture clean water for your flowers, vegetables, and lawn

And there’s much more to inspire and encourage you, from advice on introducing children to healthy eating, to products and foods for your animal companions, to chemical-free gardening—plus sidebars offering insider secrets from green-living pioneers. Here is an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to do something positive for the well-being of their family, while leaving a lighter footprint on the world.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Writer, speaker and Discovery Channel television host Snow sweeps through each room of the house (and the yard) in this overview of effective green living strategies new and old-Snow grew up a sustainable lifestyle, so has deep roots in eating healthy, composting and recycling. In the kitchen, Snow reviews choices that protect health and the environment, from ingredients and labeling to water conservation and responsible shopping. In the living room, she advocates houseplants for clean air and energy conservation; outside, issues include green transportation options like bicycles, nontoxic lawn care and gardening. Snow tips off readers to products, like particleboard furniture, that release volatile organic compounds within the home, reviews an easy-to-assemble housecleaning tool kit and even touches on green funerals, but never gives readers specific brands to seek out or avoid-meaning they'll still need to research their own options (no websites are recommended either, aside from Snow's own). Though a thorough overview, Snow's guide offers little new, especially compared to similar offerings such as National Geographic's Green Guide; Neophytes may find this a good starting point, with plenty of easy-to-digest information, but a lack of specificity may frustrate.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“Raised by a family deeply committed to healthy values, Sara Snow is a passionate leader in the shift towards a sustainable future. Her book Sara Snow's Fresh Living provides a simple blueprint for personal and planetary well being going forward.”—Drake Sadler, founder of Traditional Medicinals

"Sara Snow's Fresh Living not only provides information on how to live green, but also why it is important to think about sustainability and lessening our impact on the environment—something we can do step by step in our everyday lives, in our homes, in our diets, and at work and play. All these small steps add up to contribute significantly to healthier families, healthier homes and a healthier planet—and a happier, more fulfilling life. After all, it’s not just what we put in our bodies, but also what we put our bodies in. And Sara’s book covers it all—inside and out."—Steven Hoffman, Managing Director, The Organic Center

“How did I live without Sara Snow's Fresh Living?! As a mother of four who has no time, a limited budget and picky eaters, Sara’s ‘Ideas to Grow On’ are easy tips that I can quickly implement in my not-so-green home! Sara’s practical and affordable advice helps parents protect the health of their kids in the kitchen and around the house. As a result, Sara Snow's Fresh Living has quickly become one of my most valuable resources, and I am extremely grateful to Sara for her work and dedication!”—Robyn O’Brien, mother of four, founder of AllergyKids

"What a fabulous book! Practical, affirming, and fresh, Sara provides great tips for either the green-curious or green-committed. Now I want a rain barrel!"—Alan Greene, MD, Author, Raising Baby Green and Clinical Professor, Stanford University School of Medicine

"In this critical time, Sara is a true mentor who offers first hand advice on how to live sustainably. A must read for every family searching for a greener footprint."—Emme, Supermodel and author of True Beauty

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; Original edition (March 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553385968
• ISBN-13: 978-0553385960
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #434,861 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My new favorite book, May 31, 2010

By 

A. MURDOCK "child 13" (USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sara Snow's Fresh Living: The Essential Room-by-Room Guide to a Greener, Healthier Family and Home (Paperback)

I have to upfront admit that I am not a "green" minded person. It makes me think of tree huggers, environmental lawsuits, global warming arguments and part of me immediately wants to run the other way. That being said, this is still my new favorite book. I wanted to know about how to live healthier in our own home, and how to save money, and know what chemicals are out there that we could learn to avoid. Sara Snow did all of that in one book. We've started to look for health friendlier products, we've got the entire family recycling, and we are "living well" as she would say. I love that there are tips all through the book on how to make cleaners for your home that are safe for everyone, kids, parents, and in our home, puppies. It is an awesome and eyeopening trip when you start reading this book. It is good for your health, and I would buy it again in a heartbeat!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Realistic Approach to Green Living, March 27, 2009

By 

P. Dobbin - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sara Snow's Fresh Living: The Essential Room-by-Room Guide to a Greener, Healthier Family and Home (Paperback)

My husband & I's New Year's Resolution was to be more "green" in our day-to-day lifestyle. I picked up this book yesterday while browsing the Natural Living section of my Borders - and have already read it page-to-page! This book provides extremely practical and doable ways to implement green living into our everyday lives - I never knew green living could be so easy. Ms. Snow also has a very compelling story regarding her upbringing and she makes you feel like a friend and confidante in our efforts to live a greener and healthier lifestyle. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for an excellent resource for beginning a "fresher" life!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Innovative Concepts In Naturalist Living, March 25, 2009

By 

K. Jadon - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sara Snow's Fresh Living: The Essential Room-by-Room Guide to a Greener, Healthier Family and Home (Paperback)

A FirstLook Book Review

From: www.BasilAndSpice.com
Author & Book Views On A Healthy Life!

Sara Snow's Fresh Living: The Essential Room-by-Room Guide to a Greener, Healthier Family and Home (Bantam Books/ March 2009) by Sara Snow

Sara Snow, daughter of Eden Foods founder Tim Redmond and host of Discovery Network shows Living Fresh and Get Fresh with Sara Snow, has spent her life growing up and living as a naturalist among those who have strived in earnest to compel society to live a better, healthier, fresher life.

Sara Snow writes about sustainable change being lifestyle change, albeit not always easy, but definitely beneficial. Her new book on Fresh Living takes us into our homes and outdoors, providing the reader with innovative ideas which save us money and keep us well.

Saluting her heritage of naturalist living--on a family-type commune in lower Michigan, Sara Snow points to companies which are making a difference by providing the personal histories of their founders.

Interesting Concepts:

* Think before you flush--26 billion gallons of water is used each day in the United States. "In many parts of this world, families must survive on a daily ration of water equal to one flush of a standard American toilet."
* Eco fibers are in--"These range from natural or color-grown cotton to bamboo and soy fibers. Cotton crops account for nearly 25 percent of the world's insecticides and more than 10 percent of the pesticides." A section on vegan clothing is included.
* Green sex--Snow has researched issues related to chemical interference in the bedroom.
* Everything baby--PVC--polyvinyl chloride plastics often contain lead. Think 'rubber ducks' Snow writes. "Look for a number 3 on the bottom of a plastic toy as an indicator of whether it is a PVC plastic." The authors also covers clothes, bedding, furniture, formula, bottles, and diapers.
* Add plants to your decor--today we know that specific plants can neutralize in-home contaminants. For example, the peace lily and the potted geranium remove benzene. Snow lists the top 15.
* Know the VOC--it is an acronym for 'volatile organic compound, and are "gases emitted from solids or liquids." They have harmful side effects and are linked with many products, including: air fresheners, toilet cleaners, pesticides, paints, glues, fragrances, etc...
* Phantom energy wasters--rechargeable toothbrush, LCD computer monitor, cordless phone base, convection microwave, laptop, computer, plasma TV
* Green funerals are beautiful--reminiscing about her own grandfather's natural funeral, Sara explains that each year "we bury over eight hundred thousand gallons of embalming fluid...over a hundred tons of steel, almost three thousand tons of copper and bronze..."
* Pets need greening too--use natural shampoos, conditioners, and green toys; avoid litters which have silica in them--it's a carcinogen.

Besides explaining what the reader should avoid, Snow expands upon the concepts, offering novel viable alternatives for everyday uses and those which cover the occasional "touchy" subject.

The rear of the book includes a few healthy recipes, charts for the reader to record his own ideas, and 12 pages of bibliography.

What I found most fascinating about this book is the author's upbringing. Having grown up in rural Southern Michigan myself, I could relate to some of Sara Snow's feelings on natural living. Snow however, realizes that many of us live in a different type of society today, and she applies her knowledge and experience accordingly.

5 Stars