Celebrate Green by Corey Colwell- Lipson and Lynn Colwell

Kedzie Press, 2008

Recommended readers- Adults

Cautions:

Publisher’s description:

Not only is this book bursting with tips and ideas for celebrating green, but it boasts recipes, craft projects, and actual facts! Yes! If you’re interested in the “why’s” behind their alternatives, you’ll find them. If you only want to figure out what the heck to get your mother-in-law for Christmas that will make her sing your praises to her son without costing you or the planet, it’s there too.

Celebrate Green! is sprinkled with personal anecdotes because, as amazing as it may seem, Corey and Lynn are real, live human beings. You get to meet, know and (hopefully) enjoy them through the book. And once you know them, you’ll begin to fall for their ideas even if you’re a bit skeptical at first. They don’t hit you over the head and make you feel like a complete eco-idiot for not jumping on your bicycle, and heading to the food co-op to stock up on a year’s worth of beeswax birthday candles. They simply offer you so many sensible, interesting, and creative ideas that you’ll find it hard to resist trying some of them.

KIWI Bookworm review:

The mother and daughter team offer a myriad of suggestions to green holiday décor, gifts and meals throughout the year. Instead of falling into old habits of mall dash then trash, the authors offer unique, low-impact ideas for every special occasion wrapped up in recycled paper and a repurposed bow.

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The Complete Compost by Barbara Pleasant & Deborah L. Martin
Storey, 2008
Recommended readers- Adults
Cautions:
Publisher’s description:
Turn the compost bin upside down with this natural Six-Way Compost Gardening System for keeping compost heaps right in the garden, rather than in some dark corner behind the garage. The compost and the plants live together from the beginning in a nourishing, organic environment. The authors’ bountiful, compost-rich gardens require less digging, weeding, mulching, and even planting. And here’s one of the best parts — no more backbreaking slogs from compost bin to garden. The authors even identify the plants that benefit most from compost and explain how the elements of a composted garden work together.
KIWI Bookworm review:
Turn your organic kitchen waste into gardening gold with this must-have guide to composting. This book is a complete how-to for all levels of composters and gardeners and emphasizes using the tools and materials you already have to enrich your garden. Let the worms do the work while you enjoy the fruits of their labor.
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Hey Mr. Green by Bob Schildgen
Sierra Club Books, 2008
Recommended readers- Adults
Cautions:
Publisher’s description:
Now the editors of Sierra magazine have distilled the best of “Mr. Green” into this enormously useful and entertaining book, organized for easy access: “At Home” offers tips on staying cool, cleaning up, and other domestic details; “Food for Thought” focuses on how to eat and drink better while spending less; “Out and About” covers getting around, fueling up, and enjoying the great outdoors; “The Three Rs” shows you how (and why) to reduce, reuse, and recycle almost everything; and “The Big Picture” considers how the environment, politics, religion, and other issues intersect—often at the dinner table.
Kiwi Bookworm Review:
The Sierra Club’s Bob Schildgen fields down and dirty questions from readers including whether to buy beer in bottles or cans (best to make your own beer or buy it in a keg) to proper use of your garbage disposal (use minimally – compost the organic waste instead). This book has humorous, but fact-based answers to all of your burning (gas grill or campfire?) questions.
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Big Green Purse by Diane MacEachern

Avery, 2008

Recommended readers- Adults

Cautions:

Publisher’s description:

Whether readers want to start with small changes or are ready to devote the majority of their budget to green products, MacEachern offers concrete and immediate ways that women can take action and make a difference. Empowering and enlightening, Big Green Purse will become the “green shopping bible” for women everywhere who are asking, “What can I do?”

Kiwi Bookworm review:

There are many books on the shelves today with tips about reducing carbon footprints, but Diane MacEachern has managed to create the most comprehensive guide to all things green. Emphasizing that consumers, especially women, vote with their big green purse, she advocates making every purchase count to make a cleaner, greener world. From home base to the workplace, the author covers a lot of ground from identifying companies that recycle computer waste to planning a neighborhood plant swap.
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Gardening with Kids by Catherine Woram & Marytn Cox

Ryland, Peters and Small, 2008

Recommended readers- Adults

Cautions:

Publisher’s description:

In Gardening with Kids, Catherine Woram and Martyn Cox tell you everything you need to know, from choosing and preparing your site, and growing from seeds, bulbs and cuttings, to choosing plants from the local garden centre. Themed plant lists help you choose what to grow, as well as highlighting plants to avoid. There are 35 amazing projects — even toddlers can enjoy growing cress in crazy eggheads or planting colourful annuals, while older kids can create their own salad patch, a hanging basket, a terrarium in a glass jar or an alpine garden. There are also plenty of garden-related crafts to work on indoors. Little hands will enjoy getting to grips with lavender bags and tin-can windchimes. A section on outdoor fun covers garden games and treasure hunts whatever outside space they have.

KIWI Bookworm Review:

You won’t be able to read this book cover to cover, because just the first few pages will inspire you to dash out and dig in the dirt. Beautiful photos accompany simple steps to creating a garden with kids, including preparing the soil, choosing plants and harvesting herbs. Don’t miss the special section on making gifts and crafts from your garden’s bounty.

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Yoga Planet - 50 Fun Activities for a Greener World Card Deck

Barefoot Books, 2008

Recommended for all ages

Cautions: None

Description:

Yoga Planet 50 Fun Activities for a Greener World Written by Tara Guber and Leah Kalish

Gooseberry Patch Christmas – 10^th Anniversary

Recommended readers – Adults and kids

Cautions: All clear

Publisher’s Synopsis

This year’s Gooseberry Patch Christmas is better than ever, as we celebrate 10 years of cookbook collaboration with Leisure Arts! Packed with full-color photographs, 100 recipes and over 80 fun holiday projects, this book will keep you celebrating all season long. With creative ideas for decorating, gift-giving, wrapping, entertaining & more, it’s a merrymaking must-have. Hardcover, 160 pages. (11-1/4″ x 8-3/4″)

Kiwi Bookworm Review:

Every single year for ten years, the staff at Gooseberry Patch has put out an amazing Christmas book full of crafts, treats, recipes and more. I am giving you fair warning that, if you go on their site, you will not be able to contain yourself with all of the cool products and books. Martha schmartha and diet/schmiet…I love Gooseberry!

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