Green Children's Literature: The Barefoot Book of Earth Tales
Children deserve to be read to and sharing literature is a great way to learn appreciation for our Earth. The Barefoot Book of Earth Tales (One World, One Planet) is a collection of stories and activities to inspire your family to become a "thoughtful caretaker of our planet":
In this beautiful anthology of folktales, young readers learn how different cultures around the world live in harmony with the rhythms and patterns of nature. Discover how to tread lightly on our precious Earth by following the easy eco-tips and trying out some of the fun and creative activities that accompany each story. The perfect gift for any eco-conscious child!
I love the story from Kazakhstan called "The Magic Garden". When finding a magic pot of gold buried in the land, two friend decide to buy seeds with the money and plant a garden after consulting a wise man and his students. Instead, when he reaches the market to buy the seeds, he uses the gold to pay for the release of caged birds meant for the Khan. Upset that there will be no garden and feeling like a fool, Arman notices the birds are planting a magic garden because he saved their lives. "Such is the story of the magic garden, which grew from the generosity of two old friends and the dream of a young boy."
When reading Earth Tales families explore Australia, Nigeria, USA, Bali, Kazakhstan, India, and Wales. Before each story, a little background on the part of that part of the world is given. Each story's moral teaches children to respect the Earth and the cultures of the world.
Clean Body: The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing Yourself is an amazing little book about green beauty care. According to author Michael Dejong, you only need five ingredients to take care of you body needs. From cuticle conditioning to toothpaste, everything is contained in this highly organized book.
As with the first book, this is not merely about washing away the dirt: it embodies a mindset, a philosophy, an alternative to mass consumerism. DeJong draws from Eastern belief systems--especially the element theory in Chinese medicine and Asian cooking--and harmoniously balances five pure essentials in his recipes, using baking soda, lemon, olive oil, salt, and white vinegar as the basis for his all-natural concoctions.
Personal hygiene without expensive products: This book will save you money while keeping your body green and clean. Zen philosophy enters the process in drawing our thoughts and actions into all chores, including non-toxic body care. Cleansing with natural ingredients while focusing our minds and senses on how we are one with the universe takes personal care to a Zen level.
Written by Douglas W. Tallamy, Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants, Updated and Expanded explains how you can bring more wildlife into your backyard by planting native plants. Even just a few native plants can help you become a backyard ecologist. This book contains extensive lists of native plants for regional habitats, as well as incredible photographs.
But now, for the first time in its history, gardening has taken on a role that transcends the needs of the gardener. Like it or not, gardeners have become important players in the management of our nation's wildlife. It is now with-in the power of individual gardeners to do something that we all dream of doing: to make a difference. In this case, the "difference" will be to the future of biodiversity, to the native plants and animals of North America and the ecosystems that sustain them.
The Bringing Nature Home website has a lot of information like "What should I plant where I live?", including an interactive map, and "The vital role of native plants." From suburbia to rural america, we can help promote biodiversity by planting native plants in our yards.
Revolution in a Bottle is a rollicking tale of entrepreneurial adventure and an essential guide to creating a company that's good for people, good for profits, and good for the planet. Szaky offers an array of insights into how to (and how not to) work with major companies, media, consumers and even investors. He also shares the key to TerraCycle's success and the paradigm for any eco-friendly company: making mainstream green products without charging a premium.
TerraCycle's growth has been rapid but perilous, filled with seemingly insurmountable challenges, several near-failures, and a whole lot of worm poop.
TerraCycle has seen its ups and downs, including being sued by Scott's Miracle-Gro. This is my favorite chapter in the book, as it is honest recollection of a make or break situation for this unique startup. The basis of the lawsuit was over packaging. If you are not familiar with TerraCycle, their signature fertilizer is packaged in repurposed soda bottles. Scott's eventually pulled out of the lawsuit, but ironically, the lawsuit gave TerraCycle extra exposure and publicity that helped the business grow. It is how I first heard about the company and took notice of its products and mission.
The Complete Idiot's Guide has gone green with a whole set of books on eco-friendly living. Here are few excerpts from each book to give you a flavor of the information they contain:
Conventionally grown coffee spends its life in the sun and is doused with a bunch of pesticides. However, processing beans does away with most of the residues. But the people who grown the beans have to deal with those pesticides on a daily basis. It you buy organic coffee, you can help lessen their body burden-and perhaps spare your own.
As you can see, many insects are beneficial to your garden, and unless you have studied them, you might have difficulty telling a good bug from a bad one. That's why it's just not a good idea to use insecticides and pesticides indiscriminately. If you just go out and spray like crazy, you'll end up killing every insect out there.
Old but clean 100 percent cotton T-shirts, clean white cotton tube socks, or 100 percent cotton baby diapers make the best dusters. They are lint free and easily laundered. Everyone has cotton T-shirts and tube socks that have worn out their welcome, so no further manufacturing is necessary. Use what you have at home helping to save our Mother Earth. Then use them as rags when they wear out their welcome dusting.
Free radicals, unstable oxygen molecules that harm healthy cells, are generated by activities in the body-in this case, the brain-and all the thinking you're doing. If we eat enough of the good stuff, there's a good chance we'll have enough antioxidants to scavenge these bad boys and put them in their place. If not, and the production of free radicals overwhelms our antioxidant defense, our delicate brain cells could be in for a bruising, resulting in plaque buildup and less-than-optimal brain function.
Toilets made before 1980 use approximately 5 gallons per flush (GPF). Toilets manufactured between the 1980s and 1992 use approximately 3.5 GPF. Today, more efficient toilets-called ultra-low flush toilets (ULFT)-use only 1.6 GPF.
These books are extremely user-friendly and easy to read. From light green to dark green, anyone can find useful and new information in the eco-friendly Complete Idiot's Guides.
Beauty By God: Natural and Eco-Friendly Beauty Recipes
Beauty by God: Inside Out Secrets for Every Woman is a Christian book. I want to be up front about that with our readers, and I also want our readers to note we do not promote or endorse any religion. This site is about natural living, which includes accepting your natural beauty. The merit in Beauty by God: Inside Out Secrets for Every Woman for our readers, regardless of their religious beliefs, is the natural homemade recipes and eco-friendly beauty advice included in the book (Just say no to Botox!). For example, how about a Brown Sugar Foot Scrub?
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons aloe vera gel
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons ground oatmeal (ground in a coffee grounder or food processor)
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon almond or olive oil
Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl until it resembles a paste. Use circular motion and massage gently into heels, arches, toes, and ankles. Rinse with warm water.
Oh, this sounds luxurious to my aching, tired feet that were crammed into ski boots all weekend!
The Green Year: 365 Small Things You Can do to Make a Big Difference
The Green Year: 365 Small Things You Can Do to Make a Big Difference uses the calendar year to organize simple activities anyone can do to help stop climate change. The bite size tips are assigned to each day of the year, so one is never at a loss as to what one can do that day for the earth. The book also features:
•The "why" behind each activity--what makes it good for the environment and the reader?
•A quick "how-to" for any activity that requires it
•Room for readers to write in their own creative Alternatives
•Helpful illustrations
Surprise your Valentine with a candlelight dinner.
Turning out the lights isn't just romantic, it saves energy. To make the evening more eco-friendly, opt for soy candles over candles made from paraffin. Soy candles are made from natural ingredients, last longer than paraffin candles, and reduce the amount of soot released into the air by 90 percent.
Playing on the title of Jon Krakauer's personal account of the disaster on Mt. Everest titled Into Thin Air, Jim Malusa has written Into Thick Air about cycling alone to the lowest points of six continents. Over six years, Malusa went on a series of "anti-expeditions" to the "anti-summits" with his bike and beer kept cold by swaddling it in his sleeping bag.
Malusa's writing style is easy to read and enjoyable, and he takes us to parts of the world we may never travel to. His botany background enables him to describe the landscape from Lake Eyre in Australia to Death Valley. In Africa, Malusa learns there are only 12 lawyers in all of Djibouti, where disputes are brought to elders rather than lawyers. One of my favorite writers Barbara Kingsolver said about Malusa, "I've followed all of Jim's amazing and hilarious journeys, and I am happy to claim him as one of my favorite writers." With an endorsement like that, you are sure to enjoy Into Thick Air.
Really natural comic book characters are hard to find, but then again there's always been The Swamp Thing. Yep - he's an eco-friendly fictional character created by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson for DC Comics and featured in a long-running horror-fantasy comic book series of the same name. The character is a humanoid mass of vegetable matter who fights to protect his swamp home, the environment in general, and humanity from various supernatural or terrorist threats.
Why are we featuring a eco-friendly comic book character? For one - we love The Swamp Thing, and next week it's Comic Con. We think the timing is perfect for a big Swamp Thing come back. We hear he's one of Del Toro's favorite characters , and maybe he'll make a Swamp Thing movie next instead of Hellboy III.
We hope to find some more really natural comic book characters as well this week at Comic Con. Do you know of more? Sound off in the comments and let us know
Eco Books for Kids: The Green Eaters: A Dream Comes True
The Green Eaters: A Dream Comes True is simple, rhyming book for children about organic farming by the founder of Chapter One Organics, Jennifer Murphy. This sweet book begins with unhappy farm animals on a conventional farm who soon move to an organic one. Once they move onto the healthier farm, the animals are better cared for, allowed to graze instead of eat bagged grain, and allowed to roam free.
Becoming The Green Eaters is their dream come true,
Never again will they be made to feel blue!
The Green Eaters live the organic, fresh and natural way,
They feel good, they look good, and YES they want to stay!
Big Green Purse, written by Diane MacEarchern, is a great resource for women wishing to shop greener. By changing our spending habits, Diane believes we can create a "cleaner, greener world", and I agree.
It's simple, but potentially revolutionary. When we buy green products, we encourage manufacturers to reduce pollution, save energy and water, use less packaging, and protect natural areas like rain forests. With this book, women everywhere can learn how to shop smart and change the world.
The book begins by recapping environmental problems and discusses principles for green shopping and avoiding greenwashing. The majority of the book then discusses specific ways you can shift your spending on common commodities to positively impact the environment.
Go Green-simple suggestions of immediate, green lifestyle changes
Make the shift-eco-friendly product recommendations
Ecocheap-ways to save money and shop green
Shop talk-suggestions for encouraging local merchants to carry more green goods
Green at work-how to make your work place more eco-friendly
Thumbs up-a rating for products, services, and practices that really live up to their green claims
Thumbs down-greenwashing
In my house-a green reality check for your home
The power of the purse or wallet cannot be denied, as companies respond to what people spend money on. This is already evident by the increase of organically grown products available in today's market. Consumer spending power is a powerful force in a capitalist society.
Sure, "Michael, recycle!" could be a command, but in the children's book Michael Recycle, he is a super-green hero. Written by Ellie Bethel and illustrated by Alexander Colombo, this book takes readers on a rhyming adventure to save a town where garbage piled up and people were "lazy". Despite his zany colander cap, Michael tells the people they must recycle, and they listen to his advice.
They recycled their paper,
Their plastic and cans,
And even old junk Like used pots and pans!
They also began
The "Be Greener Campaign." They grew their own kumquats
And saved up the rain.
The book ends with several simple "Michael Recycle's Go Green Tips" for children to implement. Michael Recycle does not address the complexities of climate change, like The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming; however, children will enjoy the rhyming text and illustrations.
The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook is the quintessential cookbook for vegans and vegetarians, similar to Betty Crocker for those just learning to cook. This cookbook is loaded with basic recipes from sloppy joes to cinnamon rolls. You can learn to make your own seitan and soymilk in this cookbook filled with basic recipes, from the quick to the more complicated. My copy of The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook is so torn and tattered that is held together with a rubber band now. The Farm is an intentional community in Tennessee, famous for their midwives.
Whole World by Christopher Corr and Fred Penner is a new children's book based upon the gospel spiritual originally sung by African American pianist and composer Margaret Bonds (1913-1972). You probably sang this song in childhood, chanting aloud, "She's got the sun and the moon in her hands...She's got the whole world in her hands!" Carr and Penner's version of this classic song, that embraces the world as a whole, ends with an environmental message. Readers are given brief descriptions of the geography of the different areas featured in the verses of the song, followed by some "Ways to Reduce Global Warming":
Eat less meat. Forests of trees that reduce carbon dioxide in the air are cut down to make way for cows that will be used for food.
The artwork is delightful in Whole World, and it comes with an audio cd. One track on the cd includes vocals of "Whole World", and another is a dub version for your sing along enjoyment. Personally, I have heard better versions of the song than on the cd; however, I do enjoy children's books based on songs, especially if there is a green message! Oh yea, Whole World is printed on "ancient-forest friendly" paper, and 10 percent of net sales go to conservation organizations!
Green Children's Literature: The Barefoot Book of Earth Tales
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