Jen Chillingsworth: Live Green

52 Steps for a More Sustainable Life by Jen Chillingsworth shows the reader how to live an eco-friendly lifestyle. With cover-to-cover captivating artwork, innovative ideas and suggestions leap off the pages of Live Green.

Topics on sustainability include sprucing up the home with anti-pollutant plants, spicing up the dinner table with wholesome foods, buying natural products for hair and skin,  and creating Christmas decorations from organic materials.

In addition to ideas to encourage a greener lifestyle, the author lists sources of inspiration for those who want to explore the subject further.

My favorite chapter, “Eat Green,” challenged me the most. As a two-year breast cancer survivor, the quest to eat healthier stretched me to try healthier foods and forego sweets, deli meats, and soft drinks. If this seems daunting, I would encourage the reader to incorporate changes slowly. It takes time to make significant lifestyle adaptations, even for the most determined.

The underlying theme in Live Green begins with awareness. I recommend starting simply. For example, I began by growing herbs beside our front door and planting lettuce and onions in a winter garden. More strategies in Live Green include how to compost and buy products in bulk.

Modest changes like bagging groceries in hemp or cloth bags instead of plastic help the environment. For Christmas, I gifted my daughters reusable straws. After years of hounding me to recycle, they are impressed with how far I’ve come. Small adaptations help sea creatures not only survive but thrive.

Live Green: Fifty-Two Steps for a More Sustainable Life is one giant leap toward helping all of us to live greener. Future generations will thank us, and our oceans, air, forests, birds, honeybees, and animals will reap the benefits of our more sustainable life choices.