The Green Parent: A Kid-Friendly Guide to Earth-Friendly Living
by Jenn Savedge
Today
on our Monday's green books series, I'm reviewing a book that
may look like it is aimed only at parents who are green or
want to go green, but actually is relevant to all the parents
who care about the quality of life of their children, both
now and in the future. In other words, it's a book that will
be of interest to (almost) every parent out there.
Our book for today is:
The Green Parent: A Kid-Friendly Guide to Earth-Friendly
Living
Author: Jenn Savedge
Jennifer Savedge's articles have appeared in ePregnancy,
iParenting.com, Carolina Parent, Healthy Living, as well as
children's publications such as Appleseeds, Cobblestone, and
Odyssey. Jenn lives with her husband and two daughters in
Luray, VA. 'The Green Parent' is her first book.
Publisher: Kedzie Press
Publishing date: April 1, 2008
What it is about:
'The Green Parent' is an extensive guide for parents
who would like to green up their family's life style and teach
their children about living green. 'The Green Parent' covers
a variety of subjects that have environmental impacts - energy,
water, garbage, pets, transportation, work, shopping and many
more.
Each chapter is dedicated to a different subject and includes
useful tips (how to make your own cleaning agents from natural
ingredients), recommendations how to use your money wisely
while going green (buy ENERGY STAR appliances), suggestions
how to get your kids involved in the process of greening up
(light patrol to help you remember to turn off the lights),
information on relevant issues such as green labels and interview
with green parents. Both parents and kids will learn ways
to make the biggest impact, save the most money, and discover
how making even the smallest of changes can make a big difference.
Why you should get it:
It sometimes not easy find the right ways to go green. It
might be even harder as a parent. 'The Green Parent' is definitely
a good guide to make this green journey easier.
One of the things I liked mostly about the book are the
interviews, as Savedge conducted interviews with some very
interesting green parents who talk about their personal experiences
with their children. You can find in the book interviews with
Kathleen Ridihalgh, who write the blog 'Great Green Tips',
Leslie Garret, a journalist and author ('The Virtuous Consumer'),
Corey Colwell-Lipson, founder of the organization 'Green Halloween',
Bill McKibben, Colin Beaven ('No Man Impact') and others.
I'm not a parent yet, so I cannot relate yet to many of
the parents-children issues that are brought up in the book,
but I'm going to be a father very soon, so I am starting my
journey into green parenthood. For me, one of the book's main
strengths is that it shows new parents that being a green
parent is not only for rich people with spare time. Many times
it's just the opposite - buying less, buying used items, generating
less waste, saving energy and water, recycling - all of these
practices will save your family money and can be done even
by parents with the busiest schedule. And the book is full
of examples how to do it and great resources to receive further
information.
And maybe most important part - the book tries to help parents
with the million dollar question - how you promote environmental
stewardship that does not sound like "eco-naggin"
in the ears of the children? from the stories of the green
parents in the interviews and tips of fun activities that
will make green more understandable and attractive for kids
to great suggestions on how to incorporate green into the
kids' daily activities (how to make their lunch waste-free).
Last word - this book is my fave also because not only that
it's printed on 100% PCW recycled paper (processed chlorine
free, FSC-certified and manufactured using biogas), but it
is also the first book to be published under the Kedzie Press'
Million Tree-A-Thon initiative: for each book sold, Kedzie
Press will plant one tree, in collaboration with Eco-Libris,
with the goal of planting one million trees by December 2009.
So we're very proud to plant a tree for each copy of 'The
Green Parent' and to have our logo on the cover of the book.
What others say about it:
“In The Green Parent, author Jenn Savedge guides us
through how to live "green" and pass that love and
respect for the earth on to our children…Savedge writes
with an infectious optimism that motivates us to change our
ways and change the world in the process.” Leslie Garrett,
journalist and author of The Virtuous Consumer, mother of
three
"A great resource for updated details on green living
- especially useful for parents who no longer have the time
to stay in the loop on best practices." Sara Prout, Development
Officer, Bainbridge Graduate Institute, mother of three
“This thoughtful must-have book for parents reminds
us of the old Native American saying: We do not inherit the
Earth from our Ancestors; we borrow it from our Children."
Doug Farr, Author of Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design with
Nature
This green
book review was original posted at the Eco-Libris blog.
More resources:
1. The book on Kedzie
Press' website
2. Jenn
Savedge's blog
3. An
interview with Jenn Savedge
Back to
Eco-Libris green books page
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