Some sample recipes are included below for your holiday cooking fun, but in the cookbook, you’ll also find recipes for Sweet Corn Chowder, Farm Stand Carrot Cake and more. I’m getting hungry!

Myra’s cookbook contains more than 250 recipes, plus full-color photos — and even some shopping tips and serving ideas. She also includes “field guides” to produce and “Farm Fresh” information boxes, as well as her own family stories and beliefs about how personal food choices can make a big difference.

Enjoy the following recipes from Food to Live By. Sauce recipes for both dishes are included at the bottom of this post. While vegetarian recipes are included here, this cookbook also features recipes with meat as well.

Tricolor Spaghetti Squash

Serves 4 to 6

• 1 large spaghetti squash (about 4 pounds)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for oiling the baking dish
• Coarse (kosher) salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup (about 3/4 ounce) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup (about 1 ounce) shredded mozzarella
• 1/2 cup Emerald Green Pesto (recipe follows) or good-quality store-bought pesto
• 1/2 cup Farm Stand Marinara Sauce (recipe follows) or good-quality store-bought marinara sauce

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350ºF.

2. Pierce the skin of the spaghetti squash with the tip of a knife in several places. Place the squash on a rimmed baking sheet and add water to a depth of about 1/8 inch. Bake the squash until a fork easily pierces its flesh, 70 to 90 minutes. Let the squash cool. Leave the oven turned on.

3. Oil an 8-inch-square baking dish, then set it aside.

4. When the squash is cool enough to handle, cut off and discard the stem end. Cut the squash in half lengthwise. Remove and discard the seeds and their stringy fibers. Scrape the squash flesh with a fork so that it pulls apart in spaghetti-like strands. Transfer the strands of squash to a large bowl and fluff them with a fork to separate them. The squash can be prepared up to this point and refrigerated, covered, for up to 3 days.

5. Add the olive oil to the squash and toss so that all the strands are coated, then season it with salt and pepper to taste. Place the squash in the prepared baking dish, pressing on it with the back of a wooden spoon to flatten it into a single layer.

6. Mix the Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses in a small bowl.

7. Starting at one edge of the baking dish and working from left to right, spread the pesto over the squash so that it covers a third of it. Spread the cheese mixture over the middle third of the squash. Finally, spread the marinara sauce over the remaining third. The idea is to form 3 vertical stripes, duplicating the green, white, and red bands on the Italian flag. Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake the squash for 15 minutes.

8. Uncover the baking dish and continue to bake the squash until the cheese has melted and the marinara sauce is bubbling, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Serve the squash hot.

Grilled Vegetable Lasagna with Emerald Green Pesto

Serves 10

• 3 medium-size eggplants, peeled and cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
• 3 medium-size yellow summer squash, cut lengthwise into 1/8-inch-thick slices
• 3 medium-size zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/8-inch-thick slices
• 1 cup olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large red bell peppers
• 8 ounces lasagna noodles
• 1 1/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 cups (24 ounces) ricotta cheese
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup minced fresh basil
• 1/3 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 4 cups Farm Stand Marinara Sauce (recipe follows) or good-quality store-bought marinara sauce
• 12 ounces mozzarella cheese, coarsely grated (about 3 cups)
• 2/3 cup Emerald Green Pesto (recipe follows) or store-bought pesto

1. Place the eggplant, squash, and zucchini on a baking tray and brush them on both sides with some of the olive oil. Lightly season them with salt and pepper.

2. Set up a barbecue grill and preheat it to medium.

3. Grill the eggplant until just soft, 2 1/2 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer the grilled eggplant to a wire rack to cool. Leave the grill burning.

4. Grill the squash and zucchini until just soft, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer the grilled squash and zucchini to the wire rack with the eggplant to cool. Leave the grill burning.

5. Place the bell peppers on the grill and cook, turning frequently, until the skin is just charred black, about 10 minutes. Transfer the bell peppers to a paper bag, close it tightly, and let the peppers steam for about 5 minutes. Remove the peppers from the bag and, when they are cool enough to handle, pull off the charred skin. Discard the skin, seeds, and stems and cut the roasted peppers into long, 1-inch-wide strips.

6. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the lasagna noodles and cook according to the package directions until just tender. Do not undercook the lasagna noodles because they will not continue to cook in the oven. Drain the noodles well and lay them out flat on a clean dish towel (not terry cloth) so they do not stick together.

7. Place 3/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese and the ricotta cheese, eggs, basil, and parsley in a small bowl. Add 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper and stir well to combine.

8. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375ºF.

9. Brush a 9 by 13–inch baking pan lightly with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce. Arrange one fourth of the lasagna noodles in a single layer over the marinara sauce, trimming them to fit if necessary. Arrange half of the eggplant slices over the noodles. Spread half of the ricotta mixture evenly over the eggplant and sprinkle a third of the mozzarella on top.

10. Arrange a third of the remaining lasagna noodles over the mozzarella. Spread about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of the marinara sauce over the pasta (the lasagna will hold together better and be easier to serve if you use thin layers of marinara sauce). Cover the sauce with a layer each of the squash, zucchini, and red peppers, using them all up. Spread the remaining ricotta mixture over the vegetables and top this with half
of the remaining mozzarella.

11. Arrange half of the remaining lasagna noodles over the mozzarella and cover them with the remaining eggplant. Brush the eggplant with the pesto and sprinkle the remaining mozzarella on top.

12. Arrange the remaining lasagna noodles over the mozzarella. Spread about 1 cup of the marinara sauce over the noodles so they are completely covered and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese on top.

13. Bake the lasagna until it is hot and bubbly, about 1 hour. Remove the pan from the oven and let the lasagna rest for at least 15 minutes before cutting it. Heat the remaining marinara sauce (about 2 cups) in a small saucepan over medium heat. Slice the lasagna and serve it while still hot, with the remaining marinara sauce on the side.

Farm Stand Marinara Sauce

Makes about 5 cups

• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 small carrot, coarsely chopped
• 1 small yellow onion, coarsely chopped
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/3 cup dry red wine
• 5 pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped, juices reserved, or 2 cans (28 ounces each) diced or crushed tomatoes, with their juice
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil,
• or 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano,
• or 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves,
• or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon coarse (kosher) salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black
• pepper, or 1/2 teaspoon dried
• red pepper flakes
• 1 to 2 teaspoons sugar (optional)

1. Place the garlic and carrot in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the onion and continue to pulse until minced, scraping the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula occasionally.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium-low heat. Add the onion mixture and cook, stirring frequently, until soft but not browned, about 11 minutes. Add the wine and stir well, loosening any bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Bring to a simmer and cook until reduced slightly, about 3 minutes.

3. Add the tomatoes and their juices to the pot. Add the basil, oregano, and thyme and let simmer gently until the flavors are concentrated, 35 to 45 minutes. Add the salt and pepper. Taste for sweetness and, if the sauce tastes too acidic, add 1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar. If you are not planning on using the sauce immediately, let it cool to room temperature. It can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 3 months.

Emerald Green Pesto

Makes about 2 cups

• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 6 packed cups fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 packed cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, baby spinach, or more basil
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1 cup olive oil, plus (optional) more for storing the pesto
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (3 ounces) finely and freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Place the garlic, basil, parsley, and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped.

2. With the machine running constantly, add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream, until the pesto is smooth, stopping when needed to scrape the side with a rubber spatula.

3. Transfer the pesto to a medium-size bowl. Add the salt and Parmesan cheese and stir to combine.

(Images and recipes via Food to Live By, Myra Goodman)

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Remake it Home: The Essential Guide to Resourceful Living by Henrietta Thompson includes 20 step-by-step projects revealing how to make things like a freezer from terra cotta pots or a layered cupcake stand from plates and cups.

At 272 pages, the emphasis isn’t really on the step-by-step projects. The book serves as more of a visual and inspirational showcase of products remade from items that have served their purpose — junk. The guide is supposed to get you motivated, and make you think of additional ways items may be reclaimed in your world. Or it could serve as a sort of shopping or interior design guide.

Examples of items featured in the book include the Coat Hanger Fruit Bowl by Amplifier, the Maarten de Ceulaer Iron Bookends, (pictured) or the Dominic Wilcox War Bowl (using toy plastic soldiers). Many of the items are available for sale by the designers. Featured designs cover anything you’d want for the home — furniture, appliances, accessories, lighting, tools and more.

If you’ve spent much time on blogs that focus on reuse projects (like my former blog Junk Creation), then you’ve likely seen a few of the designs before. Yet, you’ve probably not seen them all. Remake it Home lists for $29.95, but can be found online for about $20.

Is it worth it?

• Remake it Home is printed on 100% recycled stock, using only post-consumer waste.
• The book itself is stylishly presented with great pains taken to include a large variety of items made from “junk.” Several handy reuse tips are included, but if you’re looking for a book packed with instructions on reuse projects, this isn’t it.
• Remake it Home would make a nice gift for the green and imaginative DIYer, crafter or design student. For others, it may just be a source of curiosity or another coffee table book. While the book is certainly interesting and beautifully designed, calling it an “essential guide” is a bit of a stretch.

Have you read Remake it Home?

(Image Credit: (c) Remake it Home, by Henrietta Thompson, Universe, 2009)

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This deck is child-friendly and colorful plus all forty recipes in this cute deck are based around the five main food groups, and offer a focus on healthy eating.  Food and vitamin facts are included, along with plenty of veggie and fruit filled recipes, which is nice (it’s not packed with meat).

The cool names like Picnic Kabobs, Apple Volcanoes, and Mean Green Guacamole will get kids on board with healthy cooking too. Ages 8 and up

Bonus material included at Barefoot Books website includes handy instructions about how to make your own pint sized chef hat – I’d used recycled paper.

Visit Kids’ Kitchen 40 Fun and Healthy Recipes to Make and Share to see more images from this cooking deck.

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PRODUCT: Simple Steps Deck Healthy Home. Healthy Planet. 50 Easy Actions by the Natural Resources Defense Council (Chronicle Books; August, 2009).

COST: $14.95

ABOUT THE DECK:

Simple Steps is a sweet little deck of 3-3/4 x 5-1/2 in cards (51 in all). There’s a hole punch at the top of the deck and it’s tied shut with a black ribbon, which of course holds the cards together. The cards do not come in a box, but rather a wrap around cardboard holder or bellyband. You can use the ribbon to hang the deck anywhere you like – say in the kitchen.

The entire deck and belly band are printed on recycled paper with soy based inks.

The deck is organized room by room, with plenty of green solutions for the entire house, both inside and out. Rooms covered include: kitchen, living room, home office, bathroom and laundry, children’s rooms, and garage and garden.

WHAT I THINK:

Overall I love the idea of a deck like this. The cards are pretty to look at and informational and fits right in the palm of your hand. I can think of all sorts of games you could play with these cards. You could draw a random card each week and try to maintain that green tip. You could have each family member choose a card. You could leave the kitchen card tips in the kitchen and the living room in the living room and so on.

I like how the cards are set up. Each room has it’s own color so they’re easy to find in the deck. Each card has one main tip on the front; i.e. “Compost” then on the back it discusses a little about what composting is in general then issues a “Got a month” goal, which tells you how to create compost in a month. Each card has different time goals, such as “Got a minute” – “Got a month” – “Got a morning.”

Most books have resources at the end, this is not a book so it’s obviously missing that component, but if the Natural Resources Defense Council has more info at their website they refer you.

NEGATIVES?:

I didn’t actually have a negative, but I do have a warning to long-time tree huggers. This deck is very cool, and has great tips, but there were almost none that were new to me. If you’ve been reading, writing, or working in green issues a good long while, this deck likely won’t offer you any new info. If you’re way into green already this deck could serve a challenge purpose though. None of us are perfect. You could draw a random card and make it a goal to work on the green tip offered on the card.

OVERALL:

Five out of five happy little trees! Even though this deck didn’t provide me with much new info, I’d highly recommend the deck for green newbies or people with some green living knowledge who could still use some more tips. This also makes it the perfect gift for a family member, co-worker, or pal that you’d like to convert to a tree hugger. Its small size will work great for stockings or gift baskets this holiday season. Check it out further at the link below.

Simple Steps Deck Healthy Home. Healthy Planet. 50 Easy Actions

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See the trailer:

The basics: Author Colin Beavan, in research for his next book, took on the No Impact Project in November 2006. As a new environmentalist Colin busted onto the scene in a pretty large way – no more automated transportation, no more electricity, no more non-local food, no more material consumption, and so on. However, his wife, Michelle and two-year old daughter are also a part of the picture, so how they cope while being dragged along for the ride is the green that most of us will compare with – having to learn as we go vs. doing it all at once.

I may be attending one of the showings, and if so I’ll be back with a review, but from the looks of the preview, it should pretty much rock. Plus I think this is something a lot of green folks have issues with – i.e. are you greener than your mate, family, friends, and so on.

More info…

No Impact Man blog

No Impact Man book

No Impact Man Facebook page

What do you think of the preview? It looks cool no?

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And what happens – the trees are dead, the animals leave, and life as the entrepreneur knew it ends up a mess with just one kid who may be his salvation.

Ah Dr. Seuss – so ahead of his time.

Variety notes that the flick, a 3-D CG event is being created in a joint effort by Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment and it’s co-directed by Chris Renaud and Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio, with Paul & Daurio writing the script.

If your kids are Lorax hungry now check out the Lorax Save the Trees Game – some plug-ins required but fun.

I can’t wait! We don’t get to see many eco-kid movies. How excited are you?!

[image via Amazon]

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Product: The New 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth by EarthWorks Group’s John Javna (plus some kids) published by Andrews McMeel Publishing

Cost: $8.83 at Amazon.com

Reviewers: Myself and my eight-year-old Cedar

What I like about the book:

The book was printed on recycled paper with soy ink!

Kids were involved in writing this book. The forward letter to kids is, in fact, by 15 year old Sophie Javna (John’s daughter). She and some other green youth worked as co-authors on this book so there’s actual kid flavor to it.

The old version was good, but this version offers suggestions and tips that meet current needs. I.e the green issues we’re all still working on, Internet resources, and updated statistics.

The language in the book spoke to, not down to kids; very respectful of green youth.

Each of the 50 tips has a “did you know” area with facts about the eco-topic at hand. Then there’s a “what you can do” section, followed by a “see for yourself” or learn more section. I like that it’s the same throughout because smaller kids know what to expect.

There are extras! Besides the 50 tips the back of the book offers 7 fun eco-experiments like how to make paper and a visual smog damage experiment. There are also 4 quick quizzes that test kids knowledge about green topics.

The website for this book ROCKS. There is WAY too much good stuff at the website to discuss, I’d be here typing all day. Note: You will love it, your kids will love it, enough said. Visit today.

My son LOVED this book (minus the web stuff – see below in negatives). He thought the tips were great and could very much understand what the book was telling him. In fact, and this is a true story, he stayed up until 1am asking me to read tip after tip the first night we got the book. He couldn’t get enough and wanted to try all the experiments in this book. The next day at his free school he walked in and started giving speeches to all the other kids and staff related to all sorts of eco-facts he learned in the book. Now, granted, Cedar is around green all the time. We breathe it in at my house, so he’s already big on this topic BUT I think any child would like this book and gain valuable eco-tips.

What I don’t love about the book:

Too many web shenanigans – while I DO like that websites and web resources were included, it’s almost too much in this book. The long urls included confused my eight-year old, although I suspect an older kids would find them easier to navigate. For example; instead of saying, “Visit Powerhousekids.com” they write urls like this, “Find air leaks! Some pointers: powerhousekids.com/stellent2/groups/public/documents/pub/phtv_se_we_gs_000529.hcsp” HOLY! I’m not even sure I typed that in correctly. I see a couple of problems with this. One, little kids (like my son) are overwhelmed by this long url. Two, these links, which pepper the text will possibly be outdated quickly and that will really frustrate people.

My suggestion would be to NOT use so many links throughout the book, but to include a good resource list of links at the back of the book. Less distracting.

No end-of-book index - The front of the book does offer a number by number list of topics; i.e. tip 1, “Recycle Glass page 22″ However, some of the topics are obscure in title like, “It’s the Law page 87″ which really, might mean anything. If you wanted to look up all the topics in this book related to “Garbage” there’s no index to look it up in.

Overall score:

Four out of five happy little trees.

The web stuff (long urls) were super distracting and the book should have an index so when kids say, hey, find that page about so and so, we can. However, my son adored this book – it’s all he wants to read currently and he told me that he’d tell his friends to read it. This book will provide weeks, not just hours of fun and learning, plus it’s very well-priced. I highly recommend picking The New 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth up for your kids.

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WHAT IT IS:

ParentsDigest is the perfect service for parents who feel totally overwhelmed by the sheer amount of baby and parenting books out there. Their motto is, “We read the books so you don’t have to.” Nice for a busy parent. Like speedy parent Cliff-Notes.

HOW PARENTSDIGEST WORKS:

ParentsDigest is a an online subscription service offering book summaries of popular parenting books. The experts at ParentsDigest “Read the best and most popular books about parenting and family health, summarize them and deliver them over the Internet to subscribers.”

If you’re a subscriber you get to view summaries of the books you choose. Each summary is a professionally written, concise synopsis of all key concepts of each book. ParentsDigest extracts the most important facts and points found in each parenting or family health book and write them up into brief, but comprehensive, abstracts of approximately 3,500 words (about eight letter-size pages). Since this is obviously much smaller than the actually book you can read a summary in about 30 minutes vs. days. You can create a sample account to view free summaries. You’ll need an email address.

The company adds new parenting book summaries frequently, and has books suitable to fit all parent lifestyles and needs. Categories of parenting books range from babies to teens, to organic and green parenting issues, to pregnancy, to child health plus well-being, and more.

WHAT SUBSCRIBERS GET:

As an annual subscriber, you get two summaries delivered to your e-mail monthly. After signing up, you can cancel within 60 days for a full refund – read the Money Back Guarantee.

WHAT THE SERVICE COSTS:

The service is a surprisingly good deal (under $6 a month for the year) – you get two book summaries a month and there’s no way 24 books a year will cost you less than $6 a month. If you’re not sure this is a perfect service for you, I’d check out their special three month subscription option. For under $20, you get an introductory subscription, so that you can make sure this is for you.

A GOOD DEAL FOR TREE HUGGERS:

The nice folks at ParentsDigest gathered up some books they carry, that will be especially interesting to Tree Hugging Family readers…

• Organic Baby – Simple steps for healthy living…guiding parents through the many, sometimes vexing decisions involved in creating a healthy environment for baby. Lots of detailed suggestions on non-toxic furnishings and decorating to navigate the overwhelming and toxic world of baby gear…
• Growing Up Green – In her second installment of the Green This! series, author Imus shares her tips on how to raise healthy kids. She reveals the growing number of toxins and pollutants in our environment and how they may be damaging our children’s health. There is detailed info to help us avoid many toxins
• Healthy Child/Healthy World -This important book reveals the detrimental impact many consumer products > have upon people – especially children – animals, and our environment. This merchandise includes a wide range of items such as shampoo, carpeting, toys, > vegetables, and electronics, among others…
• Last Child In The Woods – It is critically important that we recognize and never forget that nature is > all around us. It can be found in the back yard, the local park, the school yard, as well as in the woods, the desert or on the mountain side. Children need the connection with trees, and we must cultivate a love…

Visit ParentsDigest to learn more. OR enter the ParentsDigest Subscription Giveaway to win free access to this service.

[header image via ParentsDigest - baby+book image via stock.xchng]

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

In continuing with my reviews this week, I thought it would be nice to look at a holiday-minded product. On with the show…

Product: Celebrate Green! Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations and Traditions for the Whole Family by Corey Colwell-Lipson and Lynn Colwell

Basics: Celebrate Green is a mama-daughter book collaboration – the title is fairly self-explanatory – this is a book about all things related to green holiday celebrations.

Cost: Family friendly at only $17.95. Plus for a limited time, you can score an even better deal. “Right now when you order a copy of Celebrate Green! from our website, you can choose between a box of organic truffles from Sjaaks for one penny plus shipping or a free jar of fair trade whipped shea butter from Vintage Body Spa for nothing but shipping.” That’s a great value. Especially during the holiday season.

What I think:

There are many outward positive aspects of this book. For example, it’s printed on 100% recycled FSC certified paper, which more books should be. There’s also a highly interactive website going on for this book. Plenty of green tips, author info, and fun stuff is offered, along with a value on reader participation.

Pros:

I like how the book is set up: The table of contents is divided into seasons, and then sub-holidays under each season. Spring through winter holidays are offered and a cool section with year round holidays -such as birthdays, family reunions, and baby showers. The last section is very nice with a great big list of helpful green websites (three pages worth) and a green-smart glossary. There are also blank page sections in the back of the book where you can make notes about each season. This book is super easy to skim through and find what you need, and their index pages are actually very well done (I’m sick of poor indexes).

I like the design: The design is simple but easy to follow. The colors flow through the book in soothing sage and browns. Important information is either in a solid color block, or has a great big header; both of which really break up the text in a bite size way. Also, each holiday is clearly marked in the bottom page corner – which is nice, so if you’re flipping through spring, you’ll see where Easter topics end and Earth Day begins.

The holidays are covered well: It would be impossible to go through how they discuss each holiday, but trust me, plenty of green tips are covered for each holiday. I’m going to use Cinco de Mayo and 4th of July as examples.

In the Cinco de Mayo chapter some of the various items covered include:

• Eco issue facing Mexico in general, and how you can help.
• Organic veggie enchilada recipe.
• Paper bag pinata instructions.
• And more.

In the 4th of July chapter some of the various items covered include:

• The dish on if fireworks are green and air quality and child labor issues related.
• Alternatives to fireworks and how to safely manage them.
• Recycling bin contest idea.
• Three worthy summer eco-causes you can support.
• How to organic up your picnic.
• Choosing eco-friendly summer drinks including where to score eco-beer.
• News about tap water.
• Organic Red, White, and Blueberry muffin recipe.
• Fun family activities that don’t kill the earth.
• And more.

So, as you can see, each holiday not only focuses on the green aspects of the holiday, but also on other green issue important to the season – that is pretty cool.

Cons:

I couldn’t really find many cons about this book. My only issue is that the text is a little wordy. (Like I’m one to talk though). The intro was really long, a little too long for my taste, and there’s a back story behind almost everything in this book, and in some cases I felt they could have just offered the tip and moved on. On the other hand, some people like that kind of thing, and as noted, I’m not exactly the most succinct human ever, so… take this with a grain of salt. It is what it is.

Celebrate Green final score:

Five out of five happy trees. This is one of the most in depth green holiday resources I’ve seen. It’s also perfect for families. Very well balanced with both kid and adult friendly aspects. It’s not just for one member of the family. Also, right now, with the special deal going on, this is an extra great value for a green book. It would make a great holiday gift.

Learn more at Celebrate Green

Buy the book

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I wanted to get to my review of Eco-Touch  – conscious car care because so far I’m loving the interior wash – however, I’d also like to try out the exterior wash, and it’s been raining and raining – I missed the two sunny days we had. That said, we may need to break this up. Tomorrow, look for a review of the interior car care products from Eco-Touch.

Now, books don’t require nice weather to review, so today we’re going to look at….

Green Christmas: How to Have a Joyous, Eco-Friendly Holiday Season by Jennifer Basye Sander & Peter Sander.

Basics: Make your holiday green with this easy read. Small in size, but big on tips, this book covers everything from why go green this Christmas to eco-family time to green entertaining to green holiday vacations and more.

Pros:

I felt this book catered perfectly to exactly the readers I try to post for here at THF. The tips are suggestive, but not forceful, and there are ideas for how to deal with problems – say, kids or family members not being on board with a less consumer based holiday.

My favorite section was the Eco-Family Time chapter, which was way in line with our ethics here at Tree Hugging Family. There are fun kitchen activities offered, crafts, even some homeschool ideas, and more.

The book was set up in nice bite sized chunks – almost like a blog actually. Each small tip section has a bold or italic headings, so flipping through, you can find items that interest you.

All the basics are covered. You can learn about what sort of tree to buy, the cost of travel for the planet, and even how to build an eco-cozy fire. I think, with this one book, all your green Christmas questions will be answered.

Cons:

????  I guess I would have liked to see a collection of product and other links offered in the back of the book. It’s a little awkward, because while product suggestions are made, the links are posted throughout the text – this may be just a pet peeve of mine though.

Score:

Five out of five happy trees. Not only is this book useful, but it’s a great low cost gift. It can cost more to go green, as we always discuss here, but for less than $6, you can afford to put this book in everyone’s stocking this year.  

November current events at Tree Hugging Family – themes, reviews, news, and more… [image via Tower Books]

Post from: Tree Hugging Family