Wednesday's green book: Clean Body: The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing Yourself

Today is the third day of our green book review and this time we're diving into the bathroom and learn how to be really really clean and healthy and support the environment with just five simple ingredients you can find in your kitchen cupboard.

Our book this week is:

Clean Body: The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing Yourself

Author: Michael DeJong

Author, designer and artist Michael DeJong did his Clean investigations while cleaning apartments to supplement his income when he first moved to New York. He has appeared in the media, on websites and in many publications. Clean was included in the trainee kit for Al Gore's Climate Project and the goody bag in the Green Room at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Publisher: Sterling

Published on: May 2009

What this book is about? (from the publisher's website)
Clean Zen, clean green! Clean Body follows the successful Clean: The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing, by cleaning guru Michael DeJong. As with the first book, this is not merely about washing away the dirt: it embodies a mindset, a philosophy, an alternative to mass consumerism.

DeJong draws from Eastern belief systems—especially the element theory in Chinese medicine and Asian cooking—and harmoniously balances five pure essentials in his recipes, using baking soda, lemon, olive oil, salt, and white vinegar as the basis for his all-natural concoctions.

Including special, separate sections for men and women, Clean Body has ideas for everything from facial exfoliants and natural aftershave to moisturizers and creams for itchy skin, discolored knees, and smooth feet. EVERY part of the body, from head to toe, is covered.

Why you should get it?
If yesterday we had a book presenting a win-win model (healthy to you - better for the environment) created by implementing the rules of green cooking, today we have another win-win model, but this time we're talking about green cleaning.

Still, we're also talking today about recipes and about food ingredients that make all the difference. To create notoxic, eco-friendly alternatives, DeJong is using five cleaning elements that are taken of the kitchen cupboard: baking soda, lemon, olive oil, salt and white vinegar.

I like the both the content of the book and its spirit. This pocket-sized book is full not only with easy recipes that can clean your body with no chemicals involved, but it's also a praise to simpleness and to the notion that if you want to make a difference and do something good for you and the environment, there's no better and simple place to start this journey than your bathroom (and your kitchen cupboard..).

Want an example? you can find one in DeJong's column on the daily green about natural shampoo.

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

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Plant a tree for every book you read!

Monday's green books series: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Green Cleaning, 2nd Edition

Do you like cleaning? my guess is that you don't. But cleaning is one of the things almost everybody does, like it or not, and it's like a Trojan Horse that brings into your home a lot of chemicals you wouldn't really like to be around.

So what do you do? you can find the answer/s on our latest book on Monday's green books series.

Our book for today is:

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Green Cleaning, 2nd Edition

Author: Mary Findley and Linda Formichelli

Mary Findley is is a veteran cleaning expert and president of the Mary Moppins Company. A leading cleaning expert in the RV industry, she shares her proven tips at her well-received seminars as well as through magazine and newspaper articles and newsletters. her customers.

Linda Formichelli is the co-author of several books. She's also written for more than 120 magazines, including Family Circle, Woman's Day, Woman's World, USA Weekend, Fitness, and Psychology Today.

Publisher: Alpha Books

Published on: March 2009 (first edition was published on March 2006)

What it is about (from the publisher's website):
Become a green cleaning machine. Fully updated and revised to focus on cleaning the “green” way—naturally, with no chemicals—this guide takes readers room-by- room, teaching them how to clean thoroughly, efficiently, and in an environmentally sound way. New and expanded coverage includes info on making small changes that have a huge impact on cleaning difficult areas, green-ifying personal care products, and more.

The book provides specific cleaning hints and teaches how to clean quickly and efficiently. It uses only common ingredients, but also provides suggestions for alternatives that readers might like better

Why you should get it:
1. Some people believe that green cleaning is a time consuming activity and therefore prefer to skip it, but this book's promise is to teach you how to clean quickly, efficiently and of course in an eco-friendly manner. Could it be better?

2. Actually yes. Usually, when you use natural materials such as baking soda (the queen of green cleaning), lemon juice, vinegar and so on for cleaning, you will find that you also save money. So if you were wondering if there's an added value to these tips versus using green cleaning products (which is a good option as well), this is one of the main ones - you will save a lot of money this way.

3. Stains! This is something I find really annoying (who doesn't), and I need to deal with it on daily basis these days thanks to a cute 9-month baby. Now, this book includes Mary's A-Z stain removal guide that teaches you "not only how to remove each stain from eight different surfaces but also nifty tricks for blotting and handling large liquid spills in carpeting." I can definitely use nifty tricks and I'm sure many parents can find them useful as well.

What others say about the book (its first edition):

"I was looking forward to reading Mary Findley and Linda Formichelli's "Complete Idiot's Guide to Cleaning" in the hopes that it might provide some cleaning solutions that didn't require either serious scrubbing or harsh, toxic chemicals--things that don't go well with my tendonitis and allergies.

That, of course, is a tall order, and one that I didn't really expect the book to fulfill. However, it succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. Mary Findley is a huge proponent of safe, non-toxic, biodegradable cleaning solutions using, when possible, everyday easy-to-find supplies. Of course, I figured there'd be a price for this. After all, why would people make and buy expensive, harsh, dangerous chemicals if things you could make out of vinegar, water, and a couple of other everyday ingredients could do as good a job?

That's where the real shock came in. There's one all-purpose solution Mary recommends that involves water with a bit of vinegar and all-natural dish soap that knocks my socks off. Our stovetop was in pretty sad shape and I was sure it was going to take a ton of scrubbing to get it clean. I sprayed this stuff on, let it sit, then wiped it off with a terrycloth towel. And the gunk came right off with it." H. Grove from Maryland (from the book's web page)

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

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Plant a tree for every book you read!