And this is why I don’t join challenges. The Eco Reading challenge was to read 5 books between May 1 and September 1 … and here’s it mid-August and this is the second one I’ve read. Go me? Obviously I’m not going to get finished, but there are a couple of other non-fiction green-related books that I’m hoping to read over the next 6-12 months…. but it may be longer.

Anyway! Wake Up and Smell the Planet was put together by the people who do the Grist online magazine (a website devoted to environmental news and commentary). It’s a snarky and yet practical way to look at green living, containing both tips and information about how and why to make changes to your life to make it more green.

I definitely enjoyed this more than the first book for the Eco Reading Challenge That I Won’t Finish. (Green Greener Greenest) They covered a lot of similar stuff, but this one did it in a manner that was a lot more enjoyable. There were quite a few parts that were both rather humorous and somewhat out there. For example:

Babies. So cutesy-wutesy, itty-bitty, eensy-weensy—and kinda helpless, really. Which means there are at least two things they’re no good at: bowling, and coping with toxic substances.

Bowling? Well, I thought that was a given, but it certainly got my attention there.

Then there were the little asides, sometimes in list format. We all know I’m a sucker for lists. At least I thought it was quite obvious as I’ve been making lists of stuff every week for the past couple of months. And the lists in here were definitely enjoyable:

If nothing else convinces you of the importance of water conservation, consider this: Hollywood has proven that aliens, mutants, and other evil-doers are notoriously vulnerable in the face of water. Plain old water! (Okay, sometimes it’s holy water or seawater, but you get the point.) Check out these movies where water saves the day:

• Signs (2002) Mel Gibson defeats aliens with H2O
• Alien Nation (1988) Salt water sizzles spotty-headed aliens
• The Lost Boys (1987) Teen vampires bitten by holy water
• The Day of the Triffids (1962) Alien plants are no match for water straight from the hose
• The Wizard of Oz (1939) Two words: “I’m melting!”

The moral? Save water: You never know when you might need it.

It also had a lot of information that really makes you consider which of your alternatives is better. For example – is it more environmentally friendly to toss food in the trash or down the garbage disposal if you can’t compost it? (The trash – garbage disposal is bad for septic tanks, use a lot of water and sewage systems aren’t always able to handle large capacity of food waste). Or, is it better to drink beer out of a can or a bottle? (Depends on how far the packaging materials would have been shipped – if you can get bottles that come from close by, that’s best, but if not then go for the aluminum cans.) Interesting, eh?

There were two things that drew away from my pleasure of this book. The first was that the images weren’t always the greatest quality. The other is that the at times the tracking was so tight that you could barely see the spaces between words – so it looked like one whole long giant word taking up a whole line.

The Bottom Line: Overall, this was definitely an interesting and informative read. I learned a lot from it, but it was also quite entertaining, which isn’t something I always find from non-fiction books.

Green Greener Greenest was written by a freelance journalist. This book is the result of Bongiorno becoming more concerned about the health of her family, and deciding to start looking into ways to make healthier choices for both her family and the planet. What Bongionrno discovered was that going “green” was a daunting experience. With this book, she hopes to help other people who may be also be deciding to live a more green lifestyle.

The book is divided into chapters that focus on different areas of life – everything from personal hygiene to home improvement to transportation, from food to children and of course the three R’s. It also includes chapters on beverages and pest control – areas that I wouldn’t have necessarily thought about when trying to live a greener lifestyle. Each chapter gives basic information about what you need to think about in relation to that subject, labels that you need to be aware of on products, tips on how to become more green in that area, and ways that you can become more active in advocating environmentally friendly products and practices.

Personally, I found that there wasn’t much new with a lot of the tips in most of the chapters. They’re either something I’ve applied to my life for reasons other than going “green” (such as washing cutting boards after using them to cut meat – that’s not green, that’s just sanitary), or (more likely) they are the same tips that any website or any other sort of media that promotes going green uses. However, if you haven’t been paying much attention to the idea of going green and want to pick up this book to help you get kick started, they could be helpful.

What was really useful about the book was all of the other information. It was so great that it explained what labels on products mean. For example, if a product claims that it is biodegradable, it doesn’t really mean anything as it probably doesn’t give you a timeline as to how long it takes for the product to break down completely. The book also provides names of designers, companies and stores that promote sustainability and provide green products, as well as giving ideas of exactly what you should be looking for when purchasing something new. For example – what questions you should ask when buying food from farmer’s markets.

What I really wish this book had provided more of was more recipes for home cleaners (something I’ve started making myself lately) but at least they did provide a couple of website URLs that apparently do contain recipes.

The Bottom Line: This would be a good reference book to have on the shelf, to go back to and look up specific labels, or in case you ever needed to find recommended websites relating to specific information. I borrowed this from the library, but I think I’ll be trying to get my own copy at some point in time just so I actually can go back to it when I have questions.

This was my first book for the Eco Reading Challenge.