Read Green Kids, Sage Families

In the introduction to Green Kids, Sage Families: The Ultimate Guide to Raising Your Organic Kids, Lynda Fassa says she hopes to be "...like a soft-voiced GPS, helping you make the moves that get you where you want to go." The book is the culmination of Fassa's knowledge of child rearing (she's got three) and green living. "Where you want to go," and where she hopes to take you, is a healthy, happy, eco-conscious lifestyle.

After publishing Omnivore's Dilemma, Michal Pollan popularized the catchy dictum: "vote with your food." What we buy, says Pollan, tells producers what we want, and our food dollars can be powerful speakers for change, if wielded properly. Fasso tells the same story; she stresses that consumer power is the path to change, and being an informed consumer is an essential step in the direction of a smarter, better, greener life. And a better world, in fact. Over half of Green Kids focuses on products-the dangers lurking in common goods (from cleaning supplies and lawn care to food and toys), and how to avoid them. If people continue buying conventional pesticides, mildew cleaners, fake neon fruit snacks, and slick plastic toys, producers will continue to feed the demand. We need to wise up, says Fassa, and spend our money in smarter way—and her book is a practical first step in that direction.

Fassa is a realist who says she's not especially "crunchy," and readily admits all the mistakes she's made (on putting in linoleum floors after the birth of her first child: "I thought they'd be great because they're so easy to clean, but you know that weird linoleum smell? Yeah, that's chemicals."). Reading Green Kids won't make you feel like a pariah for letting little Timmy eat a bag of Gushers last week. But you will think twice before buying anything else with Red No.3. The changes she suggests (again, from cleaning supplies to food and entertainment-this woman's got every area covered!) are simple but impactful, and, most importantly, quite feasible.

And you don't just have to take her word for it: Fassa has interspersed guidance from a group of "Green Gurus"—experts who she's met along the way, who have opened her eyes to different elements of green living. Their powers combined, they've made a broad, readable, enjoyable book that educates and empowers.

Here are some bits of green action advice, inspired by Green Kids, Sage Families: