I’ve been writing about avoiding plastic for years now, like the best non-plastic sippy cups and our favorite reusable snack bags, but guess what? I still reuse plastic bags in the kitchen, although I don’t always wash them.
Does the infographic above from Leah Segedie and Mamavation mean I shouldn’t reuse them…or am I “green enough?”
Green Enough is the title of Leah’s brand new book, launched on Amazon just in time for Earth Day this month, and I had the pleasure of reviewing a copy — and being challenged a bit on my own plastic usage!
I don’t reuse plastic water bottles (#2) and almost always use our stainless steel, but Leah is pretty emphatic about the endocrine disrupting chemicals in plastics. It made me think perhaps I should get rid of even more in my house and figure out a better way to manage zippered bags (#4). I use those a lot for veggies and freezing things…and I always reuse them until they die. 🙁 My little green heart can’t bear to throw things away! But I don’t want to be messing with my kids’ hormones, so I’m in a conundrum for now.
“Green Enough” Book Review
This book is the perfect gift for a new mom starting out her journey or a hip friend who is totally NOT into “being green” but might be open to some statistics like: endocrine disruptors cause American children to lose 11 million IQ points and a 50% decrease in worldwide sperm count. (!!!)
Why only “hip” friends? I just want to be really clear that Leah is passionate with a capital P, and she uses the language of the people. There are a lot of curse words in the book, so if that makes you uncomfortable, it’s not the best book for you. It began to grate on me a little bit, to be honest, but I don’t think I’m really the target audience anyway. I’ve been on my healthy living journey too long.
What I do love is how similar Leah’s overall philosophy is to ours here at Kitchen Stewardship: You can’t do it all or you’ll kill yourself trying (or alienate those you love). She is all about the baby steps and actually reprimands readers to never make another mom feel badly using the info in the book. 🙂
Yes, just moms – Leah is the founder of Mamavation, a community of moms on social media dedicated to uncovering what’s healthy for families and the environment – in spite of marketing. So she speaks right to her girls, only.
And, um, if I got you worried about plastic baggies…don’t beat yourself up! It’s all about the little changes, one at a time…
For rookies to real food and natural living, Green Enough is a great place to start – the classic pantry/fridge clean-out, cooking/storage containers, increasing fruits and veggies (Clean 15/Dirty Dozen), sourcing safe meat/dairy, and tips to transferring to real food and increasing veggie consumption – including dozens of simple family-friendly recipes.
Then you dive together into the rest of the house, tackling fragrances, cleaners, and other hidden chemicals in things like drinking water and mattresses – with some more very comprehensive lists of good/better/best brands. Finally, the “whacked out world of personal care products,” Leah’s most frustrating category, is last, including another great reference list of ingredients to avoid, their pseudonyms, and why they’re harmful. The book is worth the cover price just for reference lists!
^^^If you didn’t understand all my notes there, this book is definitely for you. 😉
Here at Kitchen Stewardship, I’ve shared my own lists of the natural personal products and best green cleaners we use in our household, but Leah’s are super comprehensive – so you don’t just have to be a replicate of your fav blogger.
Throughout the book, a researcher who is an expert on endocrine disruptors and a renowned pediatrician ring in with advice, and knowing they’ve assessed and approved the book’s contents helps me feel better about it, since Leah doesn’t dive deep into research. She is more of a “60,000 foot view” kind of writer, covering a lot of ground but sparing the details. It really is perfect for the modern reader, one who isn’t used to diving deep like many of us here. 😉
On the other hand, she provides extremely helpful and extensive lists of ingredients to watch out for and brands that are good, bad and ugly, and those would help any KSer out there.
I loved the pediatrician right away, starting when she recommended only water for babies, never juice. Hallelujah! But then…she advocated skim milk for kids over 3. Bummers. Nothing’s perfect, I guess.
But Green Enough is a wonderful passion project and a superb vault into the important world of green living – to save our own families and keep this green Earth healthy and sustainable for generations to come.
Images reprinted from Green Enough by Leah Segedie. Copyright ©2018 by Leah Segedie. By permission of Rodale Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Available wherever books are sold.
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Bethany says
Too bad. It does sound like a great book but honestly, if the language is bad then I don’t even want to go there. Perhaps you should build on her principles and write a book that would cover these topics from a biblical perspective or if you really aren’t that into faith, then maybe at least from a rated G perspective. My Grandfather used to say, “If you can’t make your point or say it in the Good King’s English, then you shouldn’t speak at all”. Just a thought. So many times folks think that by adding swearing, nudity or extreme gore it makes it better or more appealing. I think it makes one’s ignorance and lack of confidence in a good product show.
If she, and others, are really about being better outwardly for the environment and wanting to have better and more abundant health, that must encompass a higher calling and the care of one’s mind too. Cursing is debased in any society really, it has never been seen as approved until only recently. Hollywood has made sure of it. It was always regarded as the language of the poor and uneducated. If we truly want to grow and be better each day, then language, seeking higher thoughts, and setting a good example must be part of that as well. Trying to be “hip” or thought of as cool or whatever it’s being called now, is really just pride run amuck.
Peshe says
I absolutely loved this Bethany; for so many reasons. Thanks for saying it.
Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says
Amen! 🙂 Katie