Rodale
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In 1968, the original Whole Earth Catalog laid out a blueprint for conscious living and offered "access to tools" for building a pragmatic environmental movement. Four decades later, thanks in no small part to the WEC, green is the new black. The Whole Green Catalog speaks to a new generation who grew up with recycling and has long since confronted An Inconvenient Truth but still needs guidance on the path to sustainable living.
Consciously designed to invoke its predecessor, the WGC is published by Rodale, the company that founded Organic Gardening, and earns props out front with a forward by eco-activist Bill McKibben. The catalog's job, says McKibben, is to help us make the hundreds of small choices we make everyday that shape the planet's future. "Some of them are for things to buy," he writes. "But the most important are for things that let you stop buying, that help you see real possibilities for doing things differently."
Does the Whole Green Catalog live up to McKibben's ideal?
Yes and no. Smartly organized into sections that invite both casual bathroom perusal and serious study, WGC's entries are easy on the eyes and easy to digest. How-to sidebars devoted to "things that let you stop buying" are printed in kelly-green, making them easy to distinguish from product entries. The Travel section, for instance, contains plenty of tips for traveling green (fly by day to leave a smaller footprint, make your own hotel bed), along with signposts that point to the best ecotourist resorts. In Electronics, you'll learn how to buy a greener PC, beginning with rule number one: "shop within your needs." Prices are given for most big ticket items throughout, whether it's an Energy Star-compliant Lenovo monitor ($470), a hybrid Ford Escape ($27,445 and up) or a Ultra Motor electric bike ($2,500).
Prices are nowhere to be found, however, in the product-heavy Natural Beauty section, which is all about "things to buy." Hair Care pays lip service to DIY tips by suggesting apple cider vinegar as a "clarifying rinse," but that little nugget is surrounded by spreads for upscale natural beauty products. The entry for Tela Beauty Organics, which "combine the best of nature's sustainable ingredients with the most advanced science," reads like a press release. The price of "35 certified organic ingredients" turns out to be $50 for a bottle of shampoo; I had to unearth that figure myself by going to the Tela website (which also lists no prices) and clicking over to Barneys.com.
But what really got the Flea Queen's goat is the Clothing section, which serves as a billboard for top green designers whose work is gorgeous, impeccably sustainable and incredibly expensive. Garbing yourself in secondhand style on the cheap barely rates a blink-and-you'll-miss-it mention. And while I'm a big fan of the way labels like Burning Torch give new life to vintage fabrics, why are there no DIY tips for making your own halter tops out of old silk scarves? Why did I have to go to the Burning Torch website to find out that recycled cashmere hoodie costs $525? The sidebar on fair trade fashion is all well and good, but what's fair about teasing committed but cash-poor greenies with a bunch of cool stuff we can't afford?
It's in the Energy and Recycling sections that WGC really earns its keep. Both are loaded with solid advice on how to cut waste where it matters most. Recycling covers everything from reused buildings and recycled steel to small household stuff (use spent fabric softener sheets to keep drawers fresh). And the Energy Audit offers a step-by-step guide to checking your own home for leaks, from performing a "candle test" for drafts to giving your roof a "snow test" to see if it's properly insulated. These are all things that help you "see real possibilities for doing things differently," which is exactly what the original Whole Earth Catalog was all about.
Cree McCree is the author of 'Flea Market America: The Complete Guide to Flea Enterprise'.
More on How To Go Green:
How To Go Green: Fashion & Beauty
How To Go Green: Food & Health
How To Go Green: Home & Garden
How To Go Green: Tech & Transport
How To Go Green: Travel & Outdoors
How To Go Green: Work & Connect
How To Go Green: The Basics
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