Lori Bongiorno worked as a journalist at Business Week for six years before becoming a freelance writer. She has written about the environment for The Green Guide, and Glamour, Women’s Health, and Verdant magazines, among others. You can read her regular column in Plenty magazine. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, NY.
Why did I write Green, Greener, Greenest?
It’s easy being greener, although it can be difficult to know where to begin. I certainly didn’t when I first became concerned about the links between the health of my family and that of the environment nearly a decade ago. I was confused by the media’s conflicting messages of what constitutes an eco-friendly lifestyle. I believed that if I wasn’t willing or able to make radical, self-sacrificing changes, then I may as well not even try. It took time and a lot of digging for answers to figure out what worked for me.
I didn’t even consider myself particularly “green” when I started writing about these topics — I had spent most of my career reporting about business for Business Week Magazine. I was motivated to switch to health journalism after my husband’s death in 2000 following a two-year battle with melanoma. At the same time, I was caring for two very small children, one of whom had severe and extensive food allergies, so I had begun to consider issues like what kind of milk my children should drink and whether or not I should freely slather them with sunscreen.
In 2002, a friend invited me to write a health-related story for her green publication, and I took on the assignment even though I barely knew what global warming was. In fact, I was notorious for taking showers long enough to empty a hot water heater. But, as I wrote more and more stories for The Green Guide I realized that personal health and the health of the planet are inextricably linked. Although I was initially motivated by health issues, as I have learned more, I’ve begun to worry about the world we are leaving behind to our children if we don’t start taking steps now.
That’s where Green, Greener, Greenest came in. I realized that most people are concerned about the environment but don’t know where to start. I wanted to present information in a way that would make it easy for people to incorporate changes no matter what stage they are currently at. The book is for everyone from armchair environmentalists to eco-warriors to busy folks just looking for do-able ways to contribute.
In putting together Green, Greener, Greenest, I conducted interviews with doctors, public health officials, environmental advocates and various other experts and read the latest studies to get the most up-to-date information available. In order to offer you manageable suggestions that can be implemented at your own pace, I’ve tried to keep things relatively brief and focus on the basics. A friend was recently going camping and was concerned about the safety of bug spray so I forwarded her a multiple-page report on the subject. She e-mailed back asking for the “one-pager.” Green, Greener, Greenest is a series of “one-pagers.” There are additional resources listed throughout each chapter for those who want to learn more and get politically active. In the long run, policy changes and corporate initiatives are the real key to tackling big issues like global warming, which is why I am donating a portion of my proceeds to some of the charitable environmental organizations that are fighting for legislative and corporate solutions to our most pressing problems.
The good news is that, armed with the right information, we can all take steps that will positively impact our health and that of the planet. It makes sense to pick and choose your battles. In many states you can call your local utility and switch to green power, if you are interested in supporting renewable energy. If you are concerned about using Teflon cookware, you can invest in new pans or take precautions like keeping the heat low and disposing of old pans with peeling coatings. If reports on toxic chemicals leaching out of plastic baby bottles are keeping you up at night, then you can use glass bottles or buy plastics without the questionable chemical.
Making informed choices is empowering. A few years ago, I needed to buy strawberries for my daughter’s kindergarten class. I was on my way to the health food store to buy organic strawberries because I knew the conventional types are riddled with pesticides. On my walk, I passed a farmer’s market and saw the most beautiful strawberries, but didn’t know if I should buy them because they weren’t labeled organic. What’s better—the organic berries at the store or the ones grown at the local farm? I wished I had a book like Green, Greener, Greenest to turn to for advice. The answer happens to be local if they were grown without pesticides. Now you’ll have one comprehensive, easy-to-use resource to answer such questions and help you move toward a healthier and more environment-friendly life. You won’t have to spend your time searching for answers; instead you will be putting it toward making a difference.