Nancy H. Taylor’s Go Green: How To Build an Earth-Friendly Community offers a concise, well-organized guide to a more sustainable lifestyle. Taylor examines everything from green building to locally-produced food, addressing her book to homeowners, students, businesspeople, and politicians. She explains the issues at stake, assesses their financial, environmental, and health impact, and then offers practical suggestions for future behavior. The book concludes with an extensive list of green products, books, websites, and organizations.

Go Green provides information for both minor and major lifestyle changes (the index alone covers everything from green skylights to environmentally-friendly burial options*). Unfortunately, its packaging is misleading. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the book is actually too cute. The cover art for Go Green is bright, funky, and graphic—it's eye-catching, but a poor match for the book’s earnestly instructive tone. This isn’t a coffee table book; it’s a succinct, methodical, insanely useful how-to guide for readers looking to reduce their environmental impact.

*Apparently, your cremated remains can be added to deteriorating reefs, thereby improving sea-life habitats! Who knew? Click here for more info.

Labels: Earth Day '08, Nonfiction