Locavore Gift Idea #8

Sneaking in another gift tonight and in a minute I'll tell you why. This gift is a book written by a local author, Lindsey Carmichael. She has written the book, Greening Your Family which offers an overview of three areas; cleaning products, foods, and personal care products.

Greening Your Family is a valuable reference guide for parents to make informed decisions about the consumable products we buy on a regular basis. Information is arranged in an easy-to-use format that allows readers to quickly find what they need. The book includes numerous tables and product lists, recipes for making homemade cleaners, and a variety of web-based resources. Perfect to bring to the store and consult while shopping, Greening Your Family offers busy families an important tool they can use for optimal health.

The book also raises awareness about the legislative landscape, where there is currently little governmental oversight around dangerous chemicals used in food, personal care, and cleaning products. Author Lindsey Carmichael explains how scary, shocking and outrageous this is, promotes advocacy on a grass roots level, and outlines how we can take action to make our families safer.

Why I bring up this now is because you can purchase a Green Alliance membership AND Lindsey Carmichael's book together for just $40 (you do need to pick up this gift at the Green Alliance headquarters in Kittery, ME).  What better way then to commit to a greener and healthier 2011, for yourself or a loved one?

Also, if you have a green techie in your life, Lindsey has released an iPhone app giftable through iTunes for just $2.99.  Check out some of the applications features:

• Extensive information covering three broad categories: food, personal care and cleaning products
• Recommendations for safe brands of products in each category
• Information about ingredients to avoid in conventional products
• Detailed information about labels on food, cleaning and personal care products
• Ability to create a ‘favorites’ list for quick access at the store Easy social network integration for Facebook and Twitter
• Updates ensuring current information about the ever changing green products landscape
• Safe Guide to Plastics for foods
• Guide to House Plants That Purify the Air in your home
• Table of the top 15 ingredients to avoid in personal care products

So pick up your copy of Greening Your Family book or iTunes app this week and make someone's Christmas a lil' greener.