I work in a public library, so, in choosing my sources, I imagined that I had been approached by a patron who was interested in leading a greener life and was looking for books that would provide tips for being greener in many different areas of life. What books would I feel confident in recommending to this patron? I eventually chose three books from my own library system and three from a nearby one, which has a great loaning relationship with my own library. Each of my sources addresses being green in many different areas of life, and they would all be appropriate for either the novice or the veteran of the green life.

Source 1


Title: It's Easy Being Green: A Handbook for Earth-Friendly Living
Author: Crissy Trask
Publisher: Gibbs Smith (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Date: 2006
URL: Find it at your local library

Why I chose this source: This book is very well-organized and contains practical, simple ways to be green on a daily basis. It has a good mix of straight prose, tips, website suggestions, and inspirational quotes. This was the first source I came across, and I found it both informative and user-friendly. My favorable opinion is shared by the majority of the reviewers on Amazon.com: most of the reviewers of this book gave it a rating of five stars, which is the highest rating possible.


Source 2


Title: Green Living: The E Magazine Handbook for Living Lightly on the Earth
Authors: The Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine
Publisher: Plume / Penguin Group (New York)
Date: 2005
URL: Find it at your local library

Why I chose this source: This book covers a broad spectrum of areas of life in which to be green. The chapters of the book are fairly in-depth and well-organized. Each chapter is also written by a different person, giving the book a diversity of opinions. The reviewers of this book on Amazon.com were overwhelmingly positive about this book, and all but one of the ten reviewers gave it four or five stars out of five.


Source 3


Title: Good News for a Change: How Everyday People are Helping the Planet
Authors: David Suzuki and Holly Dressel
Publisher: Greystone Books (Vancouver, British Columbia)
Date: 2002
URL: Find it at your local library

Why I chose this source: Rather than direct advice, this book offers the reader a chance to hear stories of what real people are doing for the environment. Thus it has more of a teaching-by-example approach than the other sources I chose and may inspire others with ideas for how they could implement some of these same stretegies in their own lives. The reviewers of this book on Amazon.com appreciated the positive attitude of and the hope present inthis book.


Source 4


Title: The Lazy Environmentalist: Your Guide to Easy, Stylish, Green Living
Author: Josh Dorfman
Publisher: Stewart, Tabori & Chang (New York)
Date: 2007
URL: Find it at your local library

Why I chose this source: One of the first characteristics of this book that struck me was how user-friendly it is. For each topic, there is a brief summary of what is going on in environmental-awareness in that area and a few tips from the author. This is followed by lists of companies or other useful resources for the reader. Overall, this book is an easy-to-use, comprehensive resource for being green in many different areas of life. Reviewers on Amazon.com were mostly appreciative of the lists of green companies and were generally favorable in their ratings of this book.


Source 5


Title: The Official Earth Day Guide to Planet Repair
Author: Denis Hayes
Publiher: Island Press (Washington, D.C.)
Date: 2000
URL: Find it at your local library

Why I chose this source: Along with the tips for living a greener life, which address a variety of topics from cars to washing machines, this book discusses more political and scientific aspects of the issues of being green. The information is presented in a clear, easy-to-read manner. This book received only good reviews on Amazon.com: the reviewers found it a helpful and readable resource.



Source 6


Title: Eco Chic: Organic Living
Author: Rebecca Tanqueray
Publisher: Carlton Books (London)
Date: 2000
URL: Find it at your local library

Why I chose this source: Like my other sources, this one addresses being green in many different areas of life. Unlike the other sources, however, it is focused on being stylish while being organic, which brings some different kinds of suggestions for living. This book includes recipes, tips for decorating a house, and recommendations for fabrics and other materials. It offers a different kind of approach to being green while still filling my criteria for a source. Of the three reviews of this book on Amazon.com, two gave it one star and one gave it five. The one-star reviews objected to the emphasis on stylishness and trendiness rather than on constructive ways to be green.