#1A* -- Adria Vasil's Ecoholic

* Last week's Addictine had to be removed due to a technicality, so let's start fresh this week.

A clever frog once sang, "It ain't easy being green." Indeed, trying to change our family's buying and consumption habits has been an uphill battle. I'm convinced that all this eco-talk is just a new anxiety put out there to drive us to feel bad about ourselves. Which drives us to buy more stuff. Which is really the opposite of what a truly green person should be doing, isn't it?

The solution? Wait until you run out of something you need, (Be honest. You don't really need another David Hasselhoff calendar, now do you?) then make the wisest purchasing choice you can afford. But how do we know what that is? With all this "greenwashing" and marketing, how can the average consumer decipher which product is right for them? Isn't there one place you can go that explains what's right?

In comes Adria Vasil's Ecoholic, based on her wildly popular column in NOW magazine. The book was originally released in 2007, but is no less relevant today. I consult it weekly at least. Off to buy patio furniture? Vasil lays out my choices from best (and sadly usually most expensive) to worst. Going to diaper your baby? Buy bananas? Have sex? You might be surprised at how even the smallest seeming choices make a big impact on the greater good.

Ecoholic helps you navigate the big bad world of shopping choices in Canada, to help you whittle down good corporations from bad. Vasil does not overwhelm with too much sciencey-speak and is even rather humourous. She gives a great overview about practically everything humans buy, eat or use -- a How to Be Green for Dummies, if you will. After reading Ecoholic you will never look at any object the same way again. Especially condoms.

Buy it: BookLounge | Amazon | Indigo

Comments

[motherbumper]

LOVE this book and it really does help to nav that green tide. The fact that it's Canadian makes it even more loveable. Oh and btw - do you really think I don't need another Hasselhoff calendar?

[nomotherearth]

Going to check it out!