And the winner is...

I put all your names in a bucket and had my 4-year-old pick one. The winner is... Bev! Please email me at ThePurpleElephantBook@gmail.com with your address and I'll put your book in the mail!

Just in time for Christmas (Update!)

Hi fellow bookworms! I'm doing my first ever book giveaway by giving away a free copy of my new book, The Purple Elephant! The book would make a great gift for the gradeschooler in your life.

To find out more, check out The Purple Elephant Blog or leave a comment below to enter. I'll announce the winner on December 1. (Update! Silly me -- I thought Dec 1 was next week! I'll hold the drawing this Friday, Nov 20. Sorry!)

Winner of Mom's Guide to Growing Family Green

And the winner is . . .

Abbie of Farmers' Daughter. Abbie, shoot me an email at greenbeandreams(AT)gmail(DOT)com so I can get your address. Thanks everyone for entering the drawing.

Review & GIVEAWAY: The Mom's Guide to Growing Your Family Green

Several months ago, I received an email from Terra Wellington, an author, wondering if I wanted to read and review her book, The Mom's Guide to Growing Your Family Green: Saving the Earth Begins at Home.

I quickly accepted because I was low on books and this one sounded up my alley. But summer came and with it camping trips and lazy days by the community pool and a crazy harvest of tomatoes and I promptly forgot about Ms. Wellington and her book, until last night.

The Mom's Guide is about as thorough a book as I've read on how to live more lightly. Ms. Wellington covers it all and tells it like it is. When I first "went green", no one wanted to tell you that you should stop buying - except maybe Annie Leonard of The Story of Stuff. Instead, it was all talk about green consuming, throwing out the old and replacing it with bamboo or organic. Well, Ms. Wellington doesn't hold back. Buy less, she advises, or buy second hand.

I really enjoyed the garden section. It not only covers greening your lawn, growing your own produce and other "green yard" standards. There's a lot of talk about getting your kids outdoors and getting their hands dirty, which warms any green mom's heart. Moreover, there's some nice tips about inviting wildlife into your yard.

Some of the sections, I felt were very "beginner green". They covered things I had done in my own home right when I first started trying to live more lightly. In addition, I've got a bone to pick with Ms. Wellington over the fact that she listed Target as one of the top four resources for reusables (e.g., reusable bags). Ikea was in the list too. Really!! Target. Certainly she could have found a more environmentally friendly company than Target. Last time I was there, the cashier looked at me as if I had four eyes when I said that I had my own bag.

All in all, though, The Mom's Guide is a useful and thorough book, highly recommended for moms looking to begin their green journey. I rate it 4 out of 5 stars.

If you are interested in winning my (signed) copy of this book, please leave your name in the comments. Winners will be announced on Saturday, September 26.

Book Giveaway - The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget

As promised, it's time to announce the winner of the book giveaway. After assigning everyone a number and using a handy-dandy random number generator, the winner of The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget is... (drumroll please)...

Dina!

Dina, please email me with your full name and address and I'll get the book out to you this week. 

And a special thank you to all who participated in the drawing!

The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget

When I speak to people about my personal local diet experiment, I'm often asked "What have you found most challenging?" It's an easy question for me. The answer? By far, the greatest challenge in eating locally is identifying local food resources. But I also believe that this challenge is understood by anyone attempting to follow a "greener," more eco-friendly lifestyle. We WANT to leave a lighter footprint. We just don't know HOW or WHERE to get help.

And as I've worked hard to make eating locally less of a challenge for anyone following in my footsteps, so has the Lazy Environmentalist himself - Josh Dorfman - made living a greener life both more accessible and affordable.

In his newest book, The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget, Josh Dorfman provides readers an amazing array of wallet-friendly resources for our eco-mindful lives. Whether you're a dedicated non-consumer or looking for greener alternatives to every day purchases, Dofman provides a little something for everyone.

To read it cover to cover, The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget is a light read, but more than anything, it's meant to serve as reference material - offering detailed information on programs around the country where individuals, governments, and companies and thinking outside-the-box providing green solutions that range from the basics like Reduce-Reuse-Recycle, to water conservation, transportation alternatives, and transforming our homes and offices. Each chapter concludes with a list of the programs or websites discussed and how to find more about each one mentioned.

The bottom line is, there are people out there (just like you and me) who are making a difference in our world, people who have initiated programs, developed products, and formed companies in the effort to make it easier for you and I to live a greener lifestyle. The challenge is connecting with those people so that we can either take part or be inspired to transform our own home towns. Well, Dofman has done all the work for us so that we can be, well... lazy environmentalists.

Recommended: as a reference guide to a greener lifestyle

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

So here's the best part... I'll be mailing a copy of The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget to one lucky winner. All you need to do is add a comment to today's post (by Friday, June 12) telling me about the easiest change you ever made in your "green" journey. I'll select a winner at random and make the announcement on Saturday, June 13. Good luck!

P.S. Entries for the drawing must have a U.S. mailing address...

And The Winner Is . . .

M of the Maritimes - you win Superbia.

Jen - you win Blue Frontier.

Gals, please email me with your contact information at greenbeandreams(at)gmail(dot)com so that I can get your books out. That wraps up our Gratitude Giveaway. Thank you to everyone for participating. The worms are grateful.

Gratitude Giveaway: Two-Fer

From Simple Prosperity's Dave Wann along with Dan Chiras, Superbia: 31 Ways to Create Sustainable Neighborhoods is exactly what it advertises itself to do. If you are looking for ways to create community and make a local eco-difference, this is a great and easy resource for you.

Blue Frontier: Dispatches from America's Ocean Wilderness, by David Helvarg, details the true conditions of our ocean, how they got that way and what we can do about them.

Enter to win these two books by leaving a comment. If you only want a particular book, please simply note that in the comments.

And The Winner Is . . .

Electronic Goose, you are the winner of Depletion and Abundance! Please email me at greenbeandreams@gmail.com with your shipping information so that I can mail you your book.

Gratitude Giveaway: Depletion and Abundance

This week, we are giving away a copy of Depletion and Abundance by Peak Oil blogger Sharon Astyk. The book has been reviewed here and here at The Blogging Bookworm and is a quick and illuminating read.

Please leave a comment to be entered to win this book. The random drawing closes on Saturday, November 29. I'll announce the winner next Sunday (November 30) and, at the same time, announce the last book to be given away in our month-long Gratitude Giveaway.

And The Winner Is . . .

Joyce from tallgrassworship.

Joyce, give me a shout at greenbeandreams(at)gmail(dot)com with your mailing info so that I can shop Green Christmas out to you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Book Review & Gratitude Giveaway: Green Christmas

About a month ago, I was contacted by a PR firm regarding the book Green Christmas. I occasionally get offers for free items or books and, for the most part, pass. With the holiday season barreling down on us and all my green mom friends scratching their heads as to how to survive the holidays with their values intact, I accepted.

Boy, am I glad I did!

I expected Green Christmas: How to Have a Joyous, Eco-Holiday Season by Jennifer Basye Sander, Peter Sander and Anne Basye to extol the virtues of LED Christmas lights and canvas bags and let folks go on their merry way. It does that, true, but the book goes much much further.

Green Christmas provides ideas by the oodles for a less wasteful and more environmentally meaningful holiday. The tips on reducing consumption, giving meaningful gifts (e.g., experiential, used or "vintage", handmade, charitable), spreading the word through fun and festive parties, and decorating with what you have, what you make and what you grow are insightful and creative. The section on buying local, alone, made my heart sing! It's rare to encounter such a clean and concise argument on why supporting your local merchants is green. Green Christmas doesn't stop at Christmas though. It guides the way to a more eco-friendly life once the holidays are just a slim-carbon footprint memory.

This is the type of book that those who are newly green will embrace. It compiles virtually every eco-holiday idea I've encountered on the web, in magazines and stole from green friends in less than 200 pages. Those further down the eco-path will enjoy the book just as much. It is helpful, meaningful and real. I bet even the deep green can find a nugget or two in the pages of this little book.

Indeed, I liked this book so much, I don't want to give it away! Alas, I promised to so here goes. If you are interested in winning this book, please leave your name in the comments to be entered to win. Check back next Sunday to find out who the winner is and what book is up next in our month-long Gratitude Giveaway.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Recommended: Light to medium green readers.

And the Winner Is . . .

Diane, under anonymous, is the winner of the book Fast Food Nation. Diane, please email me at greenbeandreams(at)gmail(dot)com with your mailing address so I can send your book out to you.

Thanks to those who put their names in the proverbial hat. Next Gratitude Giveaway coming later today.

Monday Round Up

Are you finding time to read? I finally finished Three Cups of Tea and needed a week off work to do it. Like all the reviews that inspired me, the book is a good one and timely given all the activity on the Pakistan and Afghanistan border where this book primarily takes place. If one person can embody the slogan of our President Elect, yes we can, the hero of this true story can. We need as many of these narratives in our collective consciousness as we can get. At least I do.

What are you reading or reviewing? Let's us know. I'm optimistic with the rainy days ahead there will be more time for reading.

And don't forget to sign up for the book giveaway of Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser. He's a personal hero of mine and if you'd like to see him in action watch this clip. The guy is hot.

Gratitude Giveaway: Fast Food Nation

To show how thankful we are to all you bookworms out there, The Blogging Bookworm will give away a green book every Sunday this month.

This week, we are giving away the classic Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. Please leave a comment to be entered to win this book. The random drawing closes on Saturday, November 15. I'll announce the winner next Sunday (November 16) and, at the same time, announce the next book to be given away.

Leave your name so you too can be grateful for the insight this book gives into our industrial food system.

And The Winners For The Green Collar Economy Are ......

Donna at Chocolate Crayons (we didn't even put your name in twice) and Liz at LizKnits. Congratulations.

Email me from the sidebar here with your mailing address and I'll get books out to you right away.

I wish I could send a book to everyone because it was very fun getting your comments and the enthusiasm for Van Jones and a green collar economy are inspiring.

Van Jones is speaking at a number of events and bookstores across the country in the next couple of months. Check it out. You may be surprised that he's in a city near you.

The Green Collar Economy - Book Giveaway

I have been so moved by hearing Van Jones speak that I'm posting about his new book, The Green Collar Economy, How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems, before I've read it. The book came out today. I don't even have a copy.

But I've seen Mr. Jones speak to an audience of 2,000 with no one left sitting for the ovation. I've seen him share the stage with a California Senator, with people from the food industry and regardless of the company he finds common ground, a meeting place which invites everyone to work toward a united common good. I'm confidant his book is a continuation of those conversations.

The Green Collar Economy finds itself in good company too. The forward is by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. The front cover has a blurb by Al Gore (the tiny print at the top). I first read the book was coming out this week at Fake Plastic Fish, who heard about it from Have Fun and Do Good and then I got mail today from Green For All letting me know again. I'm hopeful we'll be hearing about the good work Van Jones encourages from many other places as well.

To further the buzz if you would like to read The Green Collar Economy leave a comment and I'll do a drawing for two people on Saturday and purchase books online (from an independent seller) to be sent to you. Let's spread the word!

Book Giveaway: Simple Propserity

Wendy over at Home Is . . . is giving away a copy of Simple Prosperity: Finding Real Wealth in a Sustainable Lifestyle by David Wann. I very much enjoyed the book - finding it both uplifting and affirming. I recommend it for newly green to medium green but, hurry. You have to have your name in by July 3rd to be entered in the drawing.