Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Green book review (and giveaway) - Green Earth Guide: Traveling Naturally in France























Today we have a great guide for those who wish to travel to France and want to have fun and enjoy the trip while keeping their footprint as low as possible.

Our book today is:


Green Earth Guide: Traveling Naturally in France


Author: Dorian Yates

Dorian Yates has worked for consumer advocacy organizations as an environmental activist and congressional lobbyist; as an advisor on environmental, health, and social justice issues; and as a consultant on non-toxic products, indoor air quality, and organic farming issues. A researcher and consultant for the books The Green Pages and Ecopreneuring, she lives in Vermont.

Publisher: North Atlantic Books

Published on:
May 2009

What this book is about? (from the publisher's website)
Written by the founder and publisher of The Alternative Health Guides, a web and print guide for Vermont and New Hampshire, Green Earth Guide is a one-stop reference that provides travelers in France with tips to stay green and healthy even when traveling.

Green Earth Guide
contains current, comprehensive listings of health food stores and farmers’ markets, public transit information, alternative health care facilities, green businesses, organic vineyards, renewable energy resources, yoga and spiritual centers, national parks, and other green places of interest. Written in a friendly, accessible style with personal anecdotes, how-to travel tips, and practical information, the book offers an insider’s guide to healthy living on the road. With Green Earth Guide, readers don’t have to sacrifice healthy habits and ecolifestyle choices just because they are in a foreign country.

Green Earth Guide helps travelers have a wonderful, fulfilling vacation while leaving a smaller footprint wherever they venture in France. Included is a 16-page color insert.

What we think about it?
Starting the book, going over some of the helpful words the author translate from English to French, I felt I'm going into a time tunnel back to 1986. Here I was again in my French class in junior high school struggling with the language I loved so much. I'm not sure Madame Rachel, my teacher, would be happy to see me still struggling with my French, but I'm sure she'll be happy to know that I'm still in love with this beautiful language.


You don't have to know French to enjoy this book or to find it useful. All you need to be is "the twenty-first-century traveler with a conscience. You don't even need prior desire to go to France. I assure you that you'll have plenty of that by the time you finish this book.

Unlike other traveling guides, such as the Lonely Planet, this guide is organized mainly by subjects and not places. Still, the search is fairly easy whether you're looking for information on shopping, recreation or accommodation.

The book has couple of significant strengths: firstly, it provides you with a much better understanding about the green side of France, combining cultural, social and historical aspects that together create a big picture you'll find nowhere else. It also shows how ecologically minded traveling is not only for reach travelers and can be done on any budget.

And last but not least, this is a great resource of information. It's very convenient to have all the information on eco-friendly accommodation, farmers markets, organic vineyards and biking under one roof.

If you go to France you might still need another "regular" guide to provide you with information you won't find here, but nevertheless if you care about your own carbon footprint you should have this guide with you. Not only it will make your trip greener, it will make the whole experience more enjoyable.

Bottom line: I was in France only one time and I wish I had this book with me then. I can only say that after reading this book and seeing the beautiful photos in it, I know I must travel there again soon. With this book of course..

Disclosure: We received a copy of this book from the publisher.

GIVEAWAY ALERT!!

We're giving away our review copy of the book, courtesy of the publisher, and of course a tree will be planted for the copy!

How you can win? Please add a comment below and share with us a green experience you had in one of your last trips to another country. Submissions are accepted until Tuesday, November 3, 12PM EST. The winner will be announced the following day.

If you're looking for other interesting green-themed books, you are invited to check out our
green books page on Eco-Libris website's green resources section.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Two more weeks to our campaign: It's Time for a Green Book: 1 Day, 100 bloggers, 100 green books, 100 reviews

Only two weeks left to our green lit campaign - It's Time for a Green Book: 1 Day, 100 bloggers, 100 green books, 100 reviews. And I'm happy to update you we already have 111 blogs registered to the campaign!!

Just to remind you, this campaign
is part of our efforts to promote green books, i.e. books that are printed using recycled and FSC certified paper. Our idea was to have 100 bloggers, who review books on regular basis, simultaneously publish on Tuesday, November 10 2009, exactly at 1:00 PM EST, their book review of a "green book" of their choice.

We want to use the power of the internet and social media to promote "green" books and increase the awareness of both publishers and readers to the way books can be printed responsibly and sustainably. We hope the magnitude of this initiative will help grab readers, publishers and others' attention and get them to think about and discuss the future of books and how the "green" factor should be part of it.

As mentioned, we already have 111 blogs who will participate in the campaign and it means we have 111 "green" books that will be reviewed. We have a great selection of books and we want to start presenting them to get you ready for Big Tuesday. So from now on until November 10, we'll present here every day a couple of books that will take part on the campaign.

1. A Walk For Sunshine (expanded 3rd edition)

Author: Jeff Alt

Publisher: DS Publications

Will be reviewed at: badgerbooks




2. Art and Upheaval: Artists on the World's Frontlines

Author: William Cleveland

Publisher: New Village Press

Will be reviewed at: At Home With Books



3. Fly by Wire

Author: William Langewiesche

Publisher: D&M Publishers

Will be reviewed at: A Reader's Respite


4. Any Other Woman: An uncommon biography

Author: Monica Kidd

Publisher: NeWest Press

Will be reviewed at: Bloggin' bout books




5. Savage Gods Silver Ghosts - In the Wild with Ted Hughes

Author: Ehor Boyanowsky

Publisher: D&M Publishers

Will be reviewed at: Literary Kicks


6. Small Beneath the Sky

Author: Lorna Krozier

Publisher: D&M Publishers

Will be reviewed at: pages turned


7. Discernment: Educating the Mind and Spirit

Author: Venerable Yifa

Publisher: Lantern Books

Will be reviewed at: Huffington Post/ Sharon Glassman




8. Small Business: How to Improve Your Bottom Line, Grow Your Brand, Satisfy Your Customers - and Save the Planet

Author: Jennifer Kaplan

Publisher: Prentice Hall Press

Will be reviewed at: Anti Pollution Revolution Campaign

9. Sacred Commerce: Business as a Path of Awakening

Author: Matthew Engelhart and Terces Engelhart

Publisher: North Atlantic Books

Will be reviewed at: Easier Being Green



10. The Spitting Cobra

Author: Gill Harvey

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books

Will be reviewed at: Heather's Books


Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting sustainable reading!