Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

"The Green Book" is not so much a cohesive manuel on how to save the planet as much as a collection of little paragraphs highlighting insignificant things which would have minimal positive impact on the Earth. While there are paragraphs on insulating your home and sustainable forest products most of the book focuses on such things as consuming fewer staples, buying unwrapped candy (wrappers are difficult to recycle) and using non-petroluem based lipstick. (After reading that section I had visions of a woman driving her Denali across town to Whole Foods to buy all new make-up.) The book is also riddled with factual errors. For example, in the section on phone books the authors stated that "Telephone books make up almost 10 percent of waste at dump sites." A visitor to the dump would be hard pressed to find a single phone book amongst the thousands of tons of asphalt shingles, old carpet, construction debris and other household waste that really fill the nation's dumps. Although somewhat dated a much better book on this subject is "The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices: Practical Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists." It details which consumer activities are the most harmful and least harmful and what everyday people can do to lessen their footprint on the environment. While it does not have cute little vignettes by Jennifer Aniston or Justin Timberlake it is written by real scientists who have provide a thought provoking analysis of environmental issues.