A Guide to Green Housekeeping Live a Calmer, Healthier Life, Recycle and Reuse, Clean Naturally, Garden Organically

By Christina Strutt
CICO Books, 2008, $19.95

Every day, more news comes out about the toxins in our local environment. Cleaning products designed to disinfect objects and surfaces — even our bodies — have taken the place of more natural products; garden pests are eliminated with poisons that also kill friendly insects and pose a threat to children and pets; lawns are fertilized with chemicals that poison our waters. Christina Strutt offers solutions that take us back to a time when cleaning was done with effective natural products, and organic gardening was the norm. She does this using up-to-date research in each area, and she avoids fear tactics in favor of conveying information that can lead to confident action.

Strutt’s book suggests gentle change and offers methods that anyone can implement — without an overload of information that can make the shift to a more natural lifestyle seem more difficult and complicated than it really is. She suggests that we all have the power to make some alterations in our behavior to protect our planet for future generations, and we do not have to wait for governments, committees, and vast bureaucracies to initiate action in that direction.

Christina Strutt runs “Cabbages and Roses,” a London-based company specializing in printed fabrics for fashion, interiors, and accessories. Her beautifully illustrated book would make a delightful gift for anyone setting up housekeeping for the first time or for those ready to settle into a more natural, relaxed, and gracious way of life.