Before I read this book (graciously loaned to me by a friend, fresh
out of the mailbox from Chapters.ca!), I considered myself to be an
environmentally aware kind of gal. I recycle faithfully (heck, I
even pick pop cans and cardboard frozen dinner boxes out of the
garbage at work!), I use my green bin provided by our municipality
to its fullest, and because of this, I only put out one small bag
of garbage every week. I'm doing great, right?! Well, once I read
this book, I discovered that I was basically a walking
environmental disaster. I use chemical laden cleaning and beauty
products, I wear clothing made by children in foreign sweatshops, I
eat food prepared with preservatives, growth hormones and
pesticides, and I buy products that people were paid unfairly to
produce.
All kidding aside, this book is a real eye opener. I shudder to
think of what people in countries with little or no fresh drinking
water would think if they saw how wasteful we are. Not only that,
we pour chemicals down the drain into our municipal sewer system,
crank up our A/C in the summertime, leave lights on needlessly and
buy products made with PVC, thus assuring our slow (or not so slow)
poisoning of our planet.
I've taken heed of Vasil's words and am venturing out in search of
locally grown produce, natural cleaning products, replacing light
bulbs, etc.... In fact, I liked this book so much, I went out and
bought a copy for myself, and one for a friend. It makes me feel
better to know that I'm making steps to change the way I live to
help our little blue planet. I hope people will take the
opportunity to pick it up. Oh, make sure you lend it to someone
when you're done!