INTRODUCTION
In 2007, I wrote my first book, The Lazy Environmentalist: Your Guide to Easy, Stylish, Green Living, which informed readers about eco-innovation that makes green living not just possible, but enjoyable. The book avoided environmental guilt trips and allusions to gloom and doom—I've found that those tactics are ineffective at motivating people to participate in long-term change. I'm much more excited about inspiring people to create significant environmental change by presenting solutions that are easy and stylish and clearly in their self-interest. That's what I set out to do with The Lazy Environmentalist. By introducing an array of products and services that not only improve the health of the planet but also vastly improve the quality of our lives, I hoped that readers would discover that it's awesome to go green.
Once the book was published, I received lots of positive feedback. People were hungry for the solutions presented in its pages and relieved to be free from the guilt or hopelessness that frequently accompanies a book written by an environmentalist. I was proud to be reaching so many people with this message of possibility and to be offering hundreds of choices for leading a stylish green lifestyle. But there was just one problem: Very few people were taking my advice—often readers were not implementing the ideas I had outlined. I wanted to know why.
It didn't take long to find the answer. Voicing these frustrations to my brother over beers one Sunday afternoon, he set me straight. "Dude, I don't know where to get green products. If I did, I wouldn't know which ones are good and which ones stink. And if I found the good ones, how could I be sure that they were actually better for the planet than what I'm using today? But really, dude, it's all too expensive to bother with in the first place."
So, to my brother and everyone else who wants to live an affordable green life, I present The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget, a guide to environmental choices that are easy, affordable, readily accessible, and better for the planet than conventional options available today. Will a $15 low-flow showerhead solve our planet's problems? I don't know. But I do know that it will help you by lowering your heating and water bills and will help the planet by saving thousands of gallons of water each year (as well as the fossil-fuel energy required to make that water hot). With that shower-head's multiple spray options, you'll also discover that helping the planet can be a refreshing and enjoyable experience (see Chapter 5: Eco-H2O).
The solutions you'll read about in this book don't require much effort or financial commitment, yet their eco-significance is as great (sometimes greater) than those requiring big money and big struggle. For example, did you know that recycling your computer and other electronics can be easy and profitable? That's the deal at Myboneyard.com, a company that will recycle your electronics and cut you a check based on their residual value. Or that you can update your wardrobe without spending any money? Say hello to Swapstyle.com, a website that lets you trade clothing with fashionistas across the globe. And what about opting out of our mass consumer society by renting the things you need—like blowtorches, juicers, and golf clubs—instead of buying the gear and using it once? Irent2u.com has the answer (see Chapter 1: The 3Rs).
Our ability to go green simply, affordably, and with supreme style is also getting a boost from the world's largest corporations. Whether shopping for outdoor furniture, organic bedding, or baby products, Wal-Mart offers eco-options at rock bottom prices (see Chapter 7: Eco at Home and Chapter 9: Better for Baby). Clorox is responding to consumer demand for healthy home-cleaning products through Green Works, its highly regarded line of plant-based, natural cleaners (see Chapter 8: A Greener Way to Clean). And Brita is raising awareness about the environmental degradation caused by billions of used disposable water bottles through its FilterForGood.com campaign (see Chapter 1: The 3Rs). I've been so impressed with the ways in which these companies are helping consumers make easy and affordable environmental choices that I've chosen to collaborate with them in media outreach and, in some instances, as a spokesperson. You can learn more about their green consumer initiatives and those of other major brands and companies in the pages that follow.
Often I'm asked about where this green living trend is heading. To me, it seems inevitable that our lifestyles and more broadly our global economy will one day function in balance with nature's capabilities to sustain it. Yet, how soon that day arrives is really the key question to consider. While we already possess the know-how to solve global warming and other looming environmental challenges, what we don't possess is unlimited time to implement the solutions. The Lazy Environmentalist on a Budget will help you make the decisions that will shift your lifestyle into balance with nature. The sooner we do so, the sooner we'll create the change in the world that we want to see.
