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Rating: 
Summary: The book title says it all.
Review: This is a terrific book describing simple and manageable methods for improving the suburban family's opportunity to replace environmentally harmful chemical products with safer ones. It includes advice for gardening, washing anything and everything, home maintenance, repairs and shopping, It is extremely easy to read, very well laid out in an appealing format, friendly, concise, and doesn't preach or scold. This book is a wonderful tool for starting or maintaining an environmentally ethical suburban lifestyle without making you feel like a green-earth criminal.
Rating: 
Summary: Good introduction, but not much more, and only if you have $
Review: This thin book is packed with information for someone new to "living lightly in the world." Broken out by living area -- bedrooms, bathrooms, laundry room, yards, etc. -- the book suggests alternative products and approaches to everyday living. Schultz takes on questions like "Should I Fertilize My Lawn?", "Cloth or Disposable Diapers?", and "Plastic or Paper Shopping Bags?" His writing is clear, concise, and his explanations easy to understand. He also includes a number of "recipes" for cleaning using vinegar, baking soda, and/or hydrogen peroxide, as well as a useful -- if brief -- list of sources.Unfortunately, I was hoping for some new information here, but all I found was what has been said before in any number of places. Hang your clothes outside instead of using the dryer, use non-chlorine bleach, don't run your car's air conditioner, keep your tires inflated, don't drive an SUV. One more significant problem I had with the majority of Schultz's suggestions: he gives no regard to cost. He suggests readers install front-loading washing machines and gas dryers, buy organic produce, buy only organic cotton clothing, and use organic lawn fertilizers. Not once does he note that all of these suggestions are considerably more expensive than their traditional counterparts. When buying a new washer, do you spend $500 on the traditional model, or $1,000 on the eco-friendly model with all the same features? Do you pony up the additional 30-50% for organic cotton clothing (plus shipping!)? How do you work with a grocery budget that is at least 30% more when you buy organic food and cleaning supplies? Organic living, by this standard, is a luxury not for the suburbanite on a budget. Several times he comments that energy savings will recoup the up-front expense, but this takes years in most cases. What would be great to have seen is a book with more of his simple, effective, inexpensive solutions -- re-using and recycling products, low-cost/low-impact cleaning solutions, innovative solutions to everyday problems. If you're new to organic living and you have the money to spare, this is a great book to buy. Otherwise, save your money and use your head. Get it at the library.
Rating: 
Summary: Getting the most from the status quo
Review: You're there. You have the family, the house, the yard, the car, the job that requires a commute. Given the way that a lot of us live, it can be very useful to have a check-list -- to do a walk-around of home and garden and see the latest thinking on how to minimize our impact on the environment. As someone who has been following these issues for years, I found it interesting that the evidence on some things seems to argue for different choices -- and that I had been way off on my thinking in other specifics. It's a pleasurable read -- the retro photos remind me that the suburbanization of America was rooted in a more innocent time, when few people had the foresight to see its results. What is beyond the scope of the book, but the more important question, is how we get to the point where we are creating not 20% less damage but 50% or even no damage at all -- and those are the "tough questions" that this book just does not ask.
Rating:
Summary: Getting the most from the status quo
Review: You're there. You have the family, the house, the yard, the car, the job that requires a commute. Given the way that a lot of us live, it can be very useful to have a check-list -- to do a walk-around of home and garden and see the latest thinking on how to minimize our impact on the environment. As someone who has been following these issues for years, I found it interesting that the evidence on some things seems to argue for different choices -- and that I had been way off on my thinking in other specifics. It's a pleasurable read -- the retro photos remind me that the suburbanization of America was rooted in a more innocent time, when few people had the foresight to see its results. What is beyond the scope of the book, but the more important question, is how we get to the point where we are creating not 20% less damage but 50% or even no damage at all -- and those are the "tough questions" that this book just does not ask.
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