Book Review:
Ecoholic: Your Guide to the Most Environmentally Friendly Information, Products,
and Services in Canada
UPdate Fall 2007
By Adria Vasil
Thankfully, you don’t have to move to Toronto to get the low-down
from Adria Vasil’s spicy environmental column, Ecoholic, in NOW magazine.
Ecoholic, the book, is now available country-wide.
In Ecoholic, Vasil looks at everything from carpets to coffee, diapers
to diesel, seafood to sex. She focuses her eagle eye on the environmental
impact of everything we do, from the time we get up in the morning to the
time we go to bed – and after.
But she doesn’t stop there. The book is loaded with environmentally
friendly resources and information about where to find them. Vasil has
unearthed some unusual options, such as hemp footwear, and provides new
insights into old favourites. Who knew that Birkenstocks are made with
leftover cork from the wine industry, natural latex and solvent –free
glues?
And then there are the useful tidbits sprinkled through the book. “An
acre of hemp absorbs five times more carbon dioxide than an acre of forests,” Vasil
informs us, and “single use cameras have the highest recycling rate
of any consumer product,” although digital cameras are the most environmentally
friendly overall.
Ecoholic makes a great holiday gift. Buy this book early, and browse through
it. It could lead you to unusual gift ideas, like the Fuel Cell Car Science
Experiment Kit, which makes a model car that runs on water (www.mastermindtoys.com).
You won’t see that advertised on TV! In fact, there’s a whole
section on toys for kids, steering you away from chewable toys made out
of phthalate-laden PVC (polyvinyl chloride) and stuffed toys sprayed with
brominated fire retardants, and letting you know what brands are better
choices.
Ecoholic, Your Guide to the Most Environmentally Friendly Information,
Products and Services in Canada is published by Vintage Canada, www.randomhouse.ca.
It sells for $24.95. ISBN 978-0-679-31484-4
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