Gorgeously Green

[library_mama]

Gorgeously Green by Sophie Uliano Going green is increasingly fashionable, with books aimed at every possible demographic. This book is aimed at the shopping fashionista who isn’t sure that regular products are really all that bad and certainly isn’t going to risk looking dowdy to benefit the earth. I myself am pretty fashion challenged, passionate about being environmental, and have neither the money or the patience for a lot of shopping. But hey, the cover was cute, so I thought I’d give it a try. Uliano, a yoga instructor, is really trying to make being green easier, spiritual, and more fun. The tone is chatty, talking about her own successes and shortcomings, and the book includes frequent references to fun quizzes and prizes available on the associated website. Her advice includes thoughts on the usual yucky chemicals and processes, along with which warrant throwing away the product and which are safe enough to finish before being replaced; chatty product advice; some easy yoga and meditations, as well as recipes for beauty products and fast but tasty food. Each chapter focuses on a different area of life, and concludes with a menu of five action steps, from which you are supposed to choose one. I am getting sick of people saying that G Diapers, where you dump the gel in the toilet, stir with considerable force and several flushes, and wash the cloth cover, are so much easier than cloth diapers that modern cloth diaper options don’t even need to be mentioned. Everyone I’ve talked to that’s tried both says that cloth is a lot easier, yet every book I read on the subject lately assumes without trying that the opposite is true. Anyway, mini-rant aside, this is a fine book for those just getting started being green, especially those to whom the term “Gorgeously Green Girl” sounds appealing.