“Sleeping Naked is Green” by Vanessa Farquharson Book Giveaway

11. June 2009 · 180 comments · Categories: Books, Contest, Product Review · Tags: , , ,

Click Here for Giveaways & Coupon Codes

Add your giveaways

Looking to green up your lifestyle?  Journalist Vanessa Farquharson was too.  While working for a conservative Toronto newspaper, she was inspired to do something to reduce her carbon footprint – something a little more drastic and – well, public.  Vanessa decided that over the following year, she’d add one new challenge a day to live a more eco-friendly life.  And she’d blog about it.  The result is Sleeping Naked Is Green: How an Eco-Cynic Unplugged Her Fridge, Sold Her Car, and Found Love in 366 Days, a funny, unbelievably candid, and inspiring book that takes you into the life of a young city woman gone eco.  

I found Sleeping Naked Is Greento be a true inspiration.  Vanessa didn’t start out as a tree hugging granola cruncher in Teva’s.  With a taste for the finer things in life, it was definitely going to be a challenge for her.  (Giving up imported wine for local can be a real drag if you don’t happen to live in France.) But day by day, she made changes – some small like switching to recycled paper, and others big like unplugging the refrigerator and (one of my personal favorites) building a compost bin filled with worms to sit in the corner of her apartment.  Farquharson is so open about everything from her mistakes and embarrassing mishaps to her dating life that readers will quickly think of her as a friend.

Even more so, anyone who reads Sleeping Naked is Green is bound to think, “Maybe I can do some of these too.”  Okay, so maybe we all don’t feel up to the challenge of composting in our living rooms or selling our cars and hoofing it more often.  But I don’t think Vanessa started out that way either. The biggest message here is that anyone can make some sort of change to their current lifestyle.  Even the smallest, such as turning off the lights when you leave a room, start to add up to something larger.  I thoroughly enjoyed Farquharson’s ability to make me laugh and the overall tone, which was not a finger-pointing “you’re killing the earth and you’ll go down with it”  smack over the head, but an inspiring “it wasn’t easy but I did it”.  I found that a lot of the simpler changes I was able to integrate into my own life immediately after reading about them.  (You’ll read about one of them soon on this blog –  and it’s a little extreme, but I’m doing it.)

If you learn best while laughing, if you’re looking for positive changes that you can handle, and if you need to be reminded it’s okay to make mistakes and keep on going anyway, then do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of Sleeping Naked Is Green.  It hits bookstores today (June 11, 2009).  And what’s more, I have three copies to give away!  

(Check out Vanessa Farquharson’s blog Green as a Thistle while you’re at it – it’s added to my blogroll as well.  And make sure to look for the upcoming interview here with Vanessa Farquharson!)

Multiple Options for Multiple Entries:

1.) Just tell me something you’ve done, or something you’re willing to do, to try and be more green. (You may enter once a day.) Remember, leave an interesting comment. If I cannot contact the winner, you might be chosen instead based on your comment.

2.) Blog about, Twitter, and/or Subscribe! Get an extra entry for each of these activities.  Just leave a separate comment for each, giving me a link to your blog post, your Twitter name, and/or a note saying you’re a subscriber.  SUBSCRIBE HERE!  

(Psst!  My Twitter name is dkMommy.)

Feel free to do all four to gather multiple entries to win! You have until midnight EST on Thursday, June 18, 2009, to enter.

Top Outgassing Items in Your Child’s Room & Some Healthy Alternatives

04. May 2009 · 1 comment · Categories: Health · Tags: , , ,

Click Here for Giveaways & Coupon Codes

Add your giveaways 

Plastic Blinds – When the sun hits plastic blinds and heats them up, they begin to release gasses.  Of course you want your child’s room to be filled with healthy, clean air!  You can opt for the less-expensive metal blinds or go for fabric light-blocking curtains instead.

New Carpet – One of the biggest outgassing culprits, new carpet will outgas formaldehyde for years and years because of the glue used to hold it all together.  That “new house” smell is often a combination of carpet outgassing.  Instead of recarpeting your child’s room, try hardwood floors with area rugs.  Real wool rugs are natural and can be easily cleaned.  They also last for generations!

New Paint – Another smell often associated with a new home, new paint can be quite an outgassing hazard.  Fortunately, it’s getting easier to find house paint that contains no VOC’s.  I’ve even found it in the chain stores.  It still has a smell, but it’s much less harmful and will dissipate quicker.  

Plastic Lampshades – For the same reason plastic blinds aren’t very desirable, so is the plastic lampshade.  As the lightbulb heats up, the shade begins to outgas.  It can be hard to find a fabric lampshade that isn’t lined with plastic, but there are some fun alternatives.  Try a salt lamp!  They’re fun, educational, and actually help the air.  These are said to be especially helpful for asthma.  I’ve also found they’re great for eliminating excess humidity in the air.  Most have dimmer switches, so you can use them as a nightlight as well.

New Furniture – The varnishes, glues, and finishes of new furniture are definite outgassers.  Especially when furniture contains particle board, it can outgas for a few years after purchase.  If you can, try and purchase furniture that is made of solid hardwoods (sustainable of course) like this bed from Ramblin Wood, which has been finished using only linseed oil.  Or try purchasing antique or vintage furniture.  (Note: Cribs shouldn’t be used if they’re old.  Remember, the standards have changed over the years so old cribs aren’t always very safe.  If you must buy a new crib, try and get it at least several months ahead of time and let it air out in a garage or other well-ventilated location.  Try and wait until it no longer smells of new furniture.)

Other tips: Try adding plants to your child’s room.  There are several that are great air cleaners, and they’ll also add some life and beauty to the room.  Just make sure the plants you choose are nontoxic and up out of reach.  Good air cleaners are English Ivy, the peace lily, gerbera daisies, and rubber plants.