I have a new favorite color...GREEN!
When I first heard that MotherTalk was hosting a blog tour for Healthy Child Healthy World by Christopher Gavigan I knew this was a book I'd like to review. One of my goals this year is to form better habits that help us minimize our carbon footprint. The problem is that I've been confused with the tidbits of enviromental info I've heard and I needed more of a concrete guide to green living. With Healthy Child Healthy World that is what I got...and so much more!
I knew this book was about "green living" but I mistakenly assumed most of the information would center around our enviroment in a global sense. I wasn't prepared for so much of it to hit home-quite literally! Here I was hoping to learn about steps to take to make the world cleaner and safer. Little did I know that I'd learn so much about making our immediate environment (our home) cleaner, greener and safer and how that can directly affect us.
The book is divided up in chapters discussing the various aspects of our everyday environment such as cleaning products, the foods we eat, caring for our lawns, the beauty products we use, and the purchases we make for our children like toys and clothes. Although parents and parents-to-be will benefit the most from this book, anyone who cares about the toxins in their home will get something out it.
One of the things I love best about this book is the way the material is presented. An item is evaluated (such as nail polish, car seats, cleaning products, or regular milk), an explanation is given regarding the potentially harmful enviromental factors, and then simple solutions or alternatives are suggested. You are left feeling aware, educated and empowered.
For me this book comes down to choices. We do have choices regarding the chemicals our families are exposed to. Gavigan is not an alarmist and does not come out and say that using typical cleaning products will directly result in devastating illnesses in our children. But what he does suggest is that there is so much that hasn't been tested, so why take that chance, especially when there are safe alternatives.
Also, when it comes to the solutions suggested in this book, such as buying organic food and using stainless steel water bottles, at first glance it may look like you'll blow your budget. This isn't the case if you also follow his other suggestions such as using cloth diapers, buying wooden toys that don't require batteries, and making your own cleaning products (he includes the recipes). When you implement these changes your spending simply shifts. Some things will cost your more, others will cost you less. It pretty much all evens out.
The book also features contributions from celebrities including Kate Hudson, Tom Hanks, Keri Russell, Brooke Shields, Courteney Cox, and Tobey Maguire. Some reviewers found this distracting, but I liked it. To me they are just examples of concerned parents trying to sift through the information like the rest of us and make they best choices they can. They acknowledged that it's a struggle at times to make the necessary changes, but even baby steps help and we all need to just do the best we can.
To say that this book is life-changing is an understatment. I immediately started making changes and will continue to blog about these under the catergory Green Living Mother here on this blog. I have been telling my friends and family about this book and naturally they ask to borrow it. Sorry, no can do! This book is not leaving my house. They'll just have to buy their own copy, or maybe I'll just buy it for them. Yes, it's that important!
To read other reviews of Healthy Child Healthy World check out the MotherTalk Blog Tour. To learn more about the Healthy Child Healthy World nonprofit organization check out their website at healthychild.org.
