Review by K. Newton:

Every day I have questions about how to have a healthier household and family–how do I choose sunblock, do my laundry, be a responsible home owner, feed my children, choose a shampoo, a car, carpet, sheets….?? Phew, it is endless. But Renee Loux, in her book Easy Green Living, presents you with all of the information and choices so you can make the most informed decision possible. Nobody wants to expose their children to toxic chemicals or dump toxins into the ocean, for example, but unwittingly, we continuously do. While reading Easy Green Living, instead of inciting a major freak-out (in me!) or sounding didactic, Loux takes a heartfelt, gentle, and passionate approach–encouraging baby steps (and grand leaps, if possible) of change towards a healthy, vitality-filled life.

I have already changed my household cleaning products and rituals. (My children now lovingly wipe the counters with citrus-smelling spray, because they like the smell.) And I am so motivated to change the other things in my life that are possible to change. Loux covers everything from linens and face cream, where to dump old cell phones to retrofitting toilets, safe cookware to curbing waste, deodorant, plastics, and energy efficient appliances.

Easy Green Living truly is an encyclopedia of knowledge, soundly researched (30+ pages of footnotes..Yikes!) that will stay in my kitchen for quick reference, when it’s not on my bedside table for devouring before bed.

Review by Norma Lehmeierhartie:

Easy Green Living, by Renee Loux is an exhaustive guide to eco-friendly living for the home and person. Each chapter reveals the hazardous products to avoid, complete with detailed findings from research. Next, green products to use instead of dangerous ones are described. Finally, each chapter provides resources to find green products.

I like that the introduction included the following, with explanations:

Being green is not black and white

Consider the life cycle of a product

Start small

Green living is a process

The first chapter includes a basic introduction to green living and hazardous materials to avoid.

Chapter two covers the basics of green cleaning; what to avoid, 6 basic ingredients to use for cleaning and recipes and resources for purchasing green cleaning supplies.

Chapter three continues on the cleaning theme, for the kitchen and chapter four covers the bathroom.

Chapter five is about personal care products. In addition to makeup and body cleaning products to avoid and use, Loux presents the hazards of conventional antiperspirants, tampons and hair dye and more and provides

safe alternatives.

Chapter six discusses how to have an eco-friendly laundry.

Chapter seven covers green bedding and chapter 8, lightbulbs.

Chapter nine discusses furnishings and materials, including paint, flooring and carpeting, kitchen and bath counters, cabinets and candles. Of all chapters, this could be more comprehensive–however, as Loux explains in the introduction, understanding the life cycle of products should make it easy to determine how green any product is.

This guidebook will leave few questions about basic green living unanswered, particularly green cleaning.

By the author of the award winning book, Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify and Energize Your Life, Your Home and Your Planet.

Review by Stacey Kelman:

Greg Horn did an excellent job with this book! It’s very comprehensive, realistic and empowering. It explains the effects on the environment from the food we eat, the products we use, the energy choices we make and how our homes are built. The best part is his very specific recommendations in each chapter. Some of the life changes are quick and easy and others require longer term planning.

Horn doesn’t sugar coat the disturbing facts about our current environmental problems but focuses on the many potential solutions. Some of the content of this book may be a bit shocking to people who haven’t read environmental literature lately, but fortunately Horn balances every problem with one or more solutions. After reading the book, I feel informed and empowered that I am making choices that are making a real difference.

Review by Cassandra V. Glickman:

The environmental crisis seems overwhelming and you, as one person, may feel like there’s so little you can do. But that’s not the case, and this book shows you the way. You don’t have to completely change your life (although you can pretty much do so, if you choose, with the information in Living Green) to make a difference. From recycling just that little bit more, to reducing your water and power consumption in simple, painless ways, the book is filled with tips that prove you CAN make a difference. It’s an easy, enlightening read that helps you take a fresh look at items and behaviors in your everyday life that you can make greener.

Review by Norma Lehmeierhartie:

This book covers a vast amount of information in the typical Dummy fashion. If you know nothing about living a green lifestyle, Green Living for Dummies will teach you the basics and lots more. Because of the breadth of this book, virtually everyone will learn from it.

The book begins like most green living books do, with an overview of the importance of being green for our deeply troubled Earth.

However, unlike most eco-friendly books I’ve read, this one covers the gamut:

Green at Home: includes a section on detecting and banishing health hazards like asbestos and lead.Basics on green remodeling and building and on green cleaning.

Chapter on garbage. This was great, as part of the problem is the proper disposal of unwanted stuff. Includes how and what to recycle, including what to do with the problematic computers and cell phones.

Chapter on growing your own food.

The chapter on how to purchase the best green and ethical food was excellent.

Subsequent chapters included green clothing, ethical investments, donations and banking.

Transportation, green travel…

Even working in a green environment was covered.

Like I said, a green soup to nuts books. Lots of good, current information. Highly recommended.

Author of award winning book, Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify and Energize Your Life, Your Home and Your Planet

Review by Robert A. German:

A must for parents and grandparents , who want to leave a clean living place for their children and grandbabys . I try to live green , but even I, have learned much more I can do to help planet earth,. Written in an easy to read format ,;; reccomended. From growing your own vegetables ,to renewable energy sources.

Review by Brian Connors:

You have to read this book carefully, since at first glance it reads like a gigantic love letter to New York City, with the heart in “I (heart) NY” recolored green. And if you do read it that way, you’re going to miss the point of what the author is saying.

The problem with green thinking is that there’s a whole heck of a lot of self-delusion going on, and when it comes to urban planning, David Owen has done a lot of looking into it, pointing out that at the end of the day, a lot of “green” purchases and behaviors are attempts to rationalize consumption without actually reducing it. Along the way, he steps on the toes of the great pastoral myth of environmentalism by showing how anti-city bias in conservation thinking has often served to promote the very urban sprawl it’s supposed to be fighting. And Owen is hardly a global warming denialist or ecology “skeptic” either — in fact, the primary focus of the book is on managing carbon footprints and just how poorly that’s done.

Owen’s dirty little secret is something urban planners and ecological experts have been promoting for years with little heed from the general public — that the density of cities like New York is key to creating a low-consumption environment, since distances between home, work, and other activities are relatively small and therefore cars are generally unnecessary. Owen looks at carbon footprint in per capita terms, showing how the average New Yorker uses something like one third of the total oil consumption of a rural Vermonter, and points out the absurdity of building a “green” corporate campus (his prime example being Sprint/Nextel’s in Kansas) so far away from a city that virtually all employees have to drive to work. He even goes as far as to attack the locavore movement, noting that because of the ability to pool resources (i.e. load lots of produce onto one big truck), a container of raspberries going from California to NYC can have a smaller carbon footprint than the same container grown in upstate New York.

Now the book isn’t perfect — Owen leaves a lot of loose ends and really doesn’t do a lot of theorizing about solutions beyond the broad templates he outlines about transit-heavy city life, and his dislike of urban agriculture of the sort proposed by futurists seems rather inflexible and underinformed; his points about excessive open space (particularly Central Park, which he finds oversized and underutilized) are sensible in terms of walkability, but urban agriculture as such is still in its infancy. He seems to avoid the issue of concentrated air pollution in urban settings, a curious omission when dealing with urban environmental matters. (And, most curiously, Owen doesn’t seem to offer any opinions on the works of Paolo Solieri, the creator of the concept of the arcology and seemingly one of the most relevant of all architects to his point, although Frank Lloyd Wright comes in for a drubbing due to his unrelenting support of suburban expansion.) But the book shines at pointing out the absurdities of the modern environmental movement (in the process tending to prove a theory I’ve long held about the environment/ecology section at bookstores, that the signal to noise ratio is heavily tilted in favor of noise from both sides) and functions as a call to the environmental movement to stop seeing urban life as the enemy.

Review by Adam Rust:

This was a pleasant surprise.

When I read the first chapter of Green Metropolis, I was worried that my fears about this book might be confirmed. After all, the blurb says that the author is going to reveal how New York City is more sustainable than Snowmass, Colorado or Burlington, Vermont. Hmm, I thought, there’s not much to that. People in NYC don’t drive cars, they live on top and side-by-side of each other (so they share heating costs), and they have great transit. Why should any readers find it surprising that NYC is so sustainable?

I was kind of impatient, I suppose. I remember sitting in a hotel near the campus of Sprint, on about 110th St and Metcalf in Kansas City, Missouri (a national epicenter of sprawl!) and telling my sister that its not enough to say NYC is the ideal for sustainability. You can’t turn this into Greenwich Village, right? In other words, that kind of insight is lacking because it offers no value for what policy should do about the problem of sprawl.

Moreover, I thought, why is David Owen singing the praises of NYC, when he moved from there to rural Northwestern Connecticut?

Owen must have known that, because this book seems to understand that its not enough to laud NYC. What this book does it go step-by-step through many of planning’s existing antidotes to sprawl and reveal their limitations. This is a book about challenging the assumptions that govern current sustainability policy.

The problem, he says, is that New York was built not by policy makers with the right vision, but by lucky timing. It was good timing because most of the city was laid out before the car. What is even more important to realize, he says, is that it was only because of the inability of planners to exert their will upon NYC’s urban form that it turned out so well. The best efforts of man didn’t foul things up. Although zoning laws and modern planning had begun to take root as early as the 20s, professional planners didn’t realize their will on NYC. Too many land decisions were already predetermined before zoning could force segregated land uses. New York succeeded in spite of the best intentions of policy.

Moreover, NYC continues to succeed mostly due to forces that are beyond the decision-making of consumers and policy makers. People choose transit because they don’t have a better option. Given the choice, many New Yorkers might drive Smart ForTwo cars if they were available. Sure, there would be more fuel efficient cars on the road – but there would then be fewer walkers.

Owens works over so many of the hot ideas in sustainability – from traffic calming, to congestion pricing, to LEED, to HOV lanes, to locavorism, to new urbanism – and shows how each produces unintended impacts that offset much if not all of their value. LEED, for example, is undermined by its focus on becoming green by adding extra features to buildings. It is a dream for a builder, but is it really sustainable to build a 4,000 square foot house even if it has bamboo cabinetry and argon windows? Wouldn’t it be more sustainable, he suggests, to just live more simply?

The problem that undermines efforts to make Kansas City sustainable are in many ways the same problems, albeit on a larger scale, that make it hard to build sustainability on the household level. Current policy focuses on making a better “bad:” i.e., low sulfur coal, hybrid cars, bamboo flooring. What would be better would be to shift more to the “goods:” walking, biking, and generally consuming less.

Once a suburb has been developed and infrastructure has been invested and built to service that new “place,” the die is cast. People can build a solar panel, but they are still going to be driving just as far from work to home. You can have a Prius, but you are still driving it on roads. It’s the miles, not the mileage. Its the low-density development that prevents people from walking or biking.

For individuals, it is much the same: once a bad decision has been made, even trying to improve on a “bad,” is limited. Owen does own that house that is 1 mile from the nearest commercial entity. He could move back to NYC, but then someone else would move into his home and consume on the same scale. If anything, he reasons, its better for a work-at-home person to inhabit this space.

I think he recognizes the value of using market forces and incentives to change travel plans, but he seems to argue that the labor-saving capacity of oil is rarely equalized by policy. Oil is just too efficient, it seems. You have to deny its use – rationing its use only makes the auto mode more efficient – thereby reducing the chance that congestion will send a strong enough signal to travelers that they should just ride a bike.

I haven’t been satisfied with Michael Pollan because he seems to ignore some of the critiques against his ideas. I.E. – if I consume “local”, do I have to give up coffee, gasoline, and most anything made with foreign minerals? How about the 2 or 3 billion who will be left to go hungry when we eliminate agriculture at scale? I have appreciated the ability of Bill McKibben to critique the problems of our current lifestyle. Then again, I am not sure he has spoken adequately about their solutions.

Upon reading Owen, I am left with a feeling of the nuances and tensions within many of the questions surrounding the sustainability of people and cities. I think this book has a place for the bookshelves of a policy maker or in the syllabi of some college planning courses. Riverhead Press says this is a book about the environment. Really, it is a book about urban planning. The author makes reference to Jane Jacobs, to Christopher Alexander, to Robert Moses, and to many of the nation’s great land-use planners.

Review by Suzy Cohen:

Finally, a book on how to go green that is simple, smart and reeeally useful to someone like me who is just starting out. Trish Riley knows how to hold your hand and give sensible advice on how to avoid chemicals in your food, in your home, in communities and even with cosmetics!

The book is broken down into chapters that allow you to access all the information for the particular area of your life that you want to do better with. I absolutely love the little boxes showing “Hazard” areas, for example, one of these “Hazard” boxes taught me that imported foods don’t have to meet the same standards in their own countries to be labeled organic as they do here in the US. Another little Hazard box taught me not to pour vinegar down my drain (which I do all the time) right after pouring drain cleaner down it (!) because the chemical reaction could cause dangerous fumes.

It’s useful information like this that I found sprinkled throughout the book, which is a very solid guide. The science is there if want it, but it’s not over your head. The section in Chapter 12 on pesticides was very sobering, I had no idea that 1,400 various pesticide chemicals can be found in household products that we use every day. One of the tricks she mentioned was that you can reseed annually to keep weeds at bay and keep your grass thick. Now this is simple for those of you who understand gardening, but to a beginner like me (who is sensitive to many chemicals) this simple cost-effective trick is fascinating.

Another aspect of this book that I enjoyed so much were the “Going Green” boxes that I found in every chapter. These boxes contained useful tidbits to help you do better at home. One of the best “Going Green” tips that Riley put in Chapter 18 had to do with the fact that more than 3.5 million tons of paper –mostly junkmail & catalogs– is sent out annually (in the form of catalogs) and you can save about 60 million trees by stopping the junk mail. She gives an address to write to, and a website you can visit to register online. By doing this, you will help save trees and cut down on junkmail. For me, this advice was worth the price of the book!

It’s the little tidbits of information that I found in each chapter that I think makes this book worth buying. It’s not a cover-to-cover read, it’s more of a manual that you can call upon to use when you want to attack and fix an area of your home, garden, work, daily life, cosmetic drawer, kitchen pantry, etc…

I confess that I’m not as green as I’d like to be, I’m the sort that wants to drive a Jeep to Whole Foods, and while I avoid meat, I do own a couple of leather wallets…but still, I am trying hard to protect my family, and the Earth that we live in. I think Riley did a good job at getting ALOT of difficult information out to the world, and she did it in a very conversational, easy-to-understand way. I’ve read other books on the subject, but kept none because they were just to scientific, or too boring, or impractical to my real life. It’s clear that Riley is quite intelligent, but I never felt like she was talking down to the reader. Instead, I felt a sense of passion about the planet, and her genuine desire to help those of us learn some simple ways to do our part. I am thrilled about getting started and in my own little way, I know I’ll make a difference thanks to the sensible advice in this book. As far as I’m concerned, Riley rocks!!!

Review by Alma H. Bond.:

“The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Green Living” by the award winning journalist Trish Riley is a wonderful book, which has awakened this reader to the most significant issues of the day. I have rarely learned as much from one source in so short a time. Global warming, saving energy at home, reducing fuel consumption, chemicals in food, changing our energy habits for a healthier future, growing green in the workplace and the community, and teaching our children the principles of Green Living are only a few of the topics covered in an interesting and attention-grabbing manner, helped along with sidebars and illuminating cartoons.

The book is full of useful nuggets of information, such as the quote by Susan Glickman, consultant to the Natural Resources Defense Council. “I wonder if people realize that so much of the money they pay to their electric companies goes to hire lobbyists to fight against the public’s interest.” And “A metal roof can last twice as long as an asphalt shigle roof.” And most horrifying of all, “EPA’s political boss sacrificed the lives of 5 to 10,000 Americans each year, who will now die from air pollution related srokes and heart and lung disease,” by John Walke, Natural Resources Defense Council.

“The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Green Living” was reviewed by Jim Motavalli, editor of the award-winning “E/The Environmental Magazine” and author of several books on the environment. Motavalli carefully reviewed it for scientific accuracy, which is why I object to the “review” and rating of the book on this site by Thomas B. Grizzle, who informs readers that he is a scientist who knows something about the issues of green living, and makes the vague claim that Riley’s book contains a “fair amount of mis-information” in it. In the opinion of this Ph.D., Grizzle’s evaluation greatly misrepresents the material in the book, and gives advice that will be followed to the detriment of a public which needs to be informed of these all-important issues.

The book is interesting reading, extremely informative, even amusing at times, and is highly recommended for neophytes and “old hands”alike.

Review by Green Lives:

Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls is an excellent book for any landscape architect who has not yet designed and detailed either. For myself, the most helpful bit of information was the data collected and presented from various green roofs.

The living wall section on the other hand was thin. There was no mention of the living wall system Patrick Blanc developed which is much more interesting than putting up a wire trellis and planting vines next to it. The other comment i would have is that almost all of the examples are from Europe. We have fabulous examples in the US with more relevant plant materials and weather conditions.

Finally I would say that the authors didn’t seem interested in exploring native plant materials and instead focused on a few cookie cutter plants commonly planted all over the northern hemisphere. Not unlike McDonalds.

Review by Linda S. Velazquez:

Greenroof professionals and enthusiasts alike will be delighted with the easy reading and scope of content offered in “Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls” by Nigel Dunnett and Noël Kingsbury. Very well organized, the book’s forte and major value is as an essential resource – especially in terms of plant description, characteristics and specification. It’s also a great bargain in that the book is filled with color photos, drawings, charts and reference material. This indispensable hard cover reference guide contains a truly massive collection of appropriate plant information, and perhaps most importantly, extensive plant directories are provided for both greenroofs and façade greening.

Organic Architecture with Plants

Greenroofs, living walls, and various other bio-engineering techniques are introduced and the authors cite the associated benefits and reasons why we should be integrating these measures of organic architecture into our built environments. The authors refer to current international research and technology; background and history are touched on; and benefits and applications of these “ecotechnologies” are discussed at length. Yet, a “How-To Build” book this is not; basic principles are set out and tools for further research are provided.

Benefits at a Range of Scales

The section “Why Build Green Roofs?” explores hard evidence and the various benefits operating at a range of scales from amenity and aesthetic values to economic and environmental aspects. Increased roof life, insulation and energy efficiency, green building assessment and public relations, biodiversity and wildlife value, water management, air pollution, and fire prevention and risks are discussed with supporting evidence.

Although previously well known, the biodiversity and wildlife value of greenroofs is expanded upon here, including the new British models of “brown” or “rubble” greenroofs – those which recreate the thin, infertile landscapes of disturbed brownfield sites. Spontaneous colonization is presented as an important natural occurrence.

A Vast Array of Planting Opportunities

The authors rightly note that “The majority of guides to green roofs and roof greening concentrate on the technical and construction aspects but have relatively little to say about planting opportunities – mainly because most authors are not plant specialists.” Well, Noël – a well known writer of plants and gardens, and Nigel – a senior lecturer in the Department of Landscape at the University of Sheffield, most certainly are plant experts, and an entire 47-page chapter is devoted to the wide range of planting opportunities for extensive greenroofs, beyond the ubiquitous albeit hugely successful use of Sedum species.

Prevailing site conditions will always dictate the plant selection, so designers need to know what plant species will not only survive but thrive in extreme local conditions. Desirable physical attributes of plants and how they may be established and managed are presented. Considerations of monocultures, single plant combinations and mixtures, and plant communities are useful as planting design tools. The form and physiology of suitable greenroof plants are nicely covered from a botanical as well as functional and aesthetic perspective. Issues of viewing considerations are pondered and design solutions are offered relating to the roof function and visual criteria. “Methods of vegetation establishment” is particularly detailed and thus extremely valuable. The authors point out, however, that current research is insufficient to show how long each species will live and how each species will interact over the years atop roofs.

The very important aspect of different growing medium properties and functions is addressed in-depth, and comments are provided about particular types of materials, substrate depths, and accompanying vegetative possibilities. Maintenance issues and requirements are briefly noted, touching on feeding, plant protection, drainage, and weeding.

Considerations of Natives and Introduced Species

The unexploited opportunities of testing and using native vegetation are explored, in terms of increasing biodiversity and aesthetic benefits. Regionally native plants should be tested for many reasons, including ecological restoration. Non-native plant species with invasive tendencies can be a problem, therefore careful selection is critical to maintain healthy ecosystems. Yet many introduced species are appropriate, and there are many circumstances where non-natives offer considerable local wildlife value.

Certain natural plant communities and their soil types are explained and presented as an argument for further study as suitable models for successful roof plantings. Trialing of appropriate local plant communities is therefore recommended and encouraged so as ultimately to be able to introduce more natives into the greenroof matrix of plant species.

“The natural habitats of potential roof-greening plants” explores the potential to discover and trial the world’s flora found in similar harsh habitats. Mountain, high latitude, coastal, limestone, sclerophyllous woody vegetation, semi-desert environments, and species whose plants are exposed to climatic extremes are regions with potential for testing of new roof greening plants.

The Task Has Just Begun

Philosophy and advice to greenroof plant enthusiasts can be summed up with these reflections by the authors: “With roof greening becoming an important part of the new built environment, it is increasingly important that more attention is paid to sourcing new plant material from habitats in the wild where conditions approximate those on rooftops and other problem urban situations…The task of selecting suitable plant species for roof greening has arguably just begun, and it offers potentially enormous rewards.”

They are quick to point out that the globalization of our knowledge base and the ready availability of certain aggressive species can threaten entire ecosystems, and care must be provided to the selection of greenroof environments (just as at ground level) so as to avoid invasive and potentially destructive non-natives or introduced species.

Façade Greening and Living Wall Structures and Surfaces are the final two chapters of the book, offering both visual and ecological climbers, clingers, ramblers and scramblers. New support structures, materials, technologies and details provide practical and interesting information for this older yet equally fascinating design element of green architecture. The authors examine how the design of façade greening can equally disguise unattractive features while at the same time enhance existing surfaces. In either case, education and care are necessary to promote vigorous growth that is supported by a variety of vertical and/or horizontal structures.

At the end of the book, 49 pages are devoted to the Roof-Greening and Façade-Greening Plant Directories, listed by botanical names, common names, cultivars and related species. The horticultural and cultural aspects are presented with definitions and listings of many specific plant characteristics.

A minor grumbling on my part about the book is the absence of identifying greenroof project photo captions for the geographic locations and the building application types. It would be beneficial to know not only where each is located, but also whether the project is commercial, industrial, residential, etc.

A Dovetailing of Living Plants, the Building, and Its Human Users

Whereas Ted Osmundson’s excellent 1999 “Roof Gardens: History, Design, and Construction” is considered the bible for the intensive greenroof crowd, Nigel Dunnett and Noel Kingsbury’s “Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls” is simply a must have for extensive and intensive greenroofers worldwide.

“Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls” is a comprehensive argument for integrating nature and architecture, and I highly recommend it. It’s obvious that Kingsbury and Dunnett are first and foremost dedicated, ecologically minded plantspeople; here, then, is a very important work for those of us in the greenroof industry. ~ Linda S. Velazquez, Publisher Greenroofs.com

Review by Karen Henrickson:

This remarkably well-researched, comprehensive work includes chapters on food, building materials, socially responsible investments, clothing, bedding, pets, babies/children, personal care products, recycling, transportation, eco-travel, and more. At the end of each chapter is an extensive list of sources for the green products mentioned and for further information. Much of the appeal of this highly informative book lies in its user-friendly practicality and its reassuring, encouraging advice. Engaging, eye-opening reading that’ll really get you psyched to clean up your act.

Review by AvidReader:

I have purchased this book twice now – once for myself, once as a gift – and I wouldn’t hesitate to buy it again. Most of the ideas are easy to implement and are accompanied by clear explanations of the ecologic and economic values of “being green.” The sections are easy to read and generally interesting, and the resources provided within the text and at the end are quite useful. When you implement the suggestions in this book, you will help the Earth and save money, making it a great value in more ways than one. Highly recommended for “greenies” and “non-greenies” alike. This book was written by the folks at “E the Environmental Magazine” (also terrific, and chock full of great ideas for everyday living).

Review by Caroline Blake:

I’m fairly new to the “green scene” and I’ve got to say that I really love this book. The fifty tips offered are broken out into 11 different sections: Knowing Your Impact, Driving, Energy, Water, Real Estate, Shopping, Recycling, Family Values, Work, Investing and Giving back to green charities.

The author’s tips are really useful and he backs it all up with solid stats (some very surprising ones too that really drive his points home…)

It’s an easy read with each chapter summed up into specific actionable steps you can take…which for me is extremely helpful.

But the BEST part about Bach’s book is that he shows you how to SAVE and actually EARN money by going green. I found this to be a unique perspective since the common misconception is that going green is expensive.

I highly recommend Go Green, Live Rich!

Review by Imal Wagner:

Having read several of David’s other New York Times Best Sellers on finances, saving money and living wisely I expected this book, Go Green, Live Rich to be interesting. Go Green is spectacular- a wealth of information, how to make small changes that will impact the planet and still be easy to do and improve my life. And the added bonus of

Web sites that provide additional information and green products make it easy for me to follow through on the information . The chapters are a quick read with short Go Green Action Steps within as a side bar. I keep putting the book down to think about what David has written. Although I work with charities every year and try to make a difference.- Go Green has opened my eyes- each day we can make changes that are beneficial for our personal health and help the environment. I only wish this was a 10 star system – his book is brilliant!

Imal Wagner

Review by Lynette R. Fleming:

Have you ever gone to the grocery store and heard someone complain about the expense of an organic food? You might run into them a few minutes later in the meat department selecting a 12-ounce T-bone steak with a price tag well over .00. Obviously, they aren’t thinking about what they are getting for their money or they’d toss that steak back and buy the organic spinach.

Most of us have grown up making the wrong choices . . . water in plastic bottles, packaged foods with long lists of unidentifiable ingredients, and cleaning supplies strong enough to take the paint off the wall.

If you care about your health and the health of those you love, you will want to buy this book and then read it cover to cover. Inside this book is well-founded information which can help us avoid many of the toxic chemicals we can’t see or taste, which are putting our health at risk for diseases and even death. If you’re over 40, you probably have noticed (like I have) that you know many more people who are dying of cancer than when you were younger. There is a reason for that, my friends, and the toxic chemicals in our food and home is a definite contributor to our demise.

Beth Greer has become a well-known expert in this topic, and every page of her book tells us something we didn’t already know. Would you have imagined that most of our garlic comes from China, and that it is whitened with bleach and injected with growth inhibitors to prevent sprouting? Don’t look the other way . . . buy this book, get smart, and get healthy!

Lynette Fleming, Coauthor of Lunch Buddies: Buddy Up for a Better Diet

Review by V. Kennedy:

This book is an excellent guide to going green. The author covers toxins in foods, bottled water, toothpaste, furniture, paint, cosmetics, and lots more. Most of us never dreamed our houses and lives were so full of toxins. The book takes you through each room of your house with information about all the things you need to watch out for and there are suggestions about how to correct the problems. The book has a huge amount of info crammed into its pages and this review doesn’t begin to do it justice. I plan to use it as a reference and I know it’s a book I’ll keep coming back to. It should be on everyone’s bookshelf.