Green Mama: The Guilt-Free Guide to Helping You and Your Kids Save the Planet

by Tracey Bianchi

Moms today are busier than ever. Taking care of the planet sounds like a great idea―but in the midst of taking care of your kids, it becomes just one more thing to feel guilty about not doing. Tracey Bianchi knows what it’s like to live in the middle of suburbia with a to-do list too long to write down. In Green Mama, she brings green living within reach for every overtired, overstressed, and overwhelmed mom. Her practical suggestions help moms like you make environmentally wise choices at the grocery store, schoolyard, and kitchen table, while keeping an eye on the kids and the budget. With creative tips, tricks, and resources, she shares her stories of successes and failures in saving the planet and inspiring her kids to love God’s world. Moms need a resource like Green Mama to remind them that green living is not another chore but an invitation to a creative partnership with God. As Bianchi enthusiastically tells you, green living is more than a trend―it is God’s beautiful plan for the planet and for your life. This book and its contents are not authorized, endorsed, sponsored or approved by The Green Mama, LLC

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

A blogger, author, parent, daughter, sister, speaker but most of all, hopefully a listener. Tracey Bianchi has three young kids and a goldfish named Stinky Pete. She and her husband camp out in the Chicago area where she serves on pastoral staff at Christ Church of Oak Brook.

Tracey is a sought after communicator who shares her musings everywhere from Sojourners to MOPS International to Christianity Today publications. Her first Book "Green Mama" takes a hard look at the responsibility of parents to live with care for the planet their children will inherit. An avid fan of all things outdoors Tracey's passion to preserve a viable future for her children as well as help them see the link between the environment and faith is one of her greatest passions.

She is also a founding member of the Redbud Writer's Guild.

Reviews

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

easy to read, easy to apply ideas connected with being better stewards of God's great earth

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly filled with lots of ideas. Probably a good starting place for people.... not super helpful to me personally though.

[Rhonda D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good starting point for a Christian mamas wanting to learn some basics how to start to apply a green lifestyle. Most of it will seem very basic for someone who's been walking this lifestyle for a few years. Since it is now 14 years old, I'd love to see a second edition that includes ideas that are up to date and for mamas of older children. Sadly some of the organizations and websites here no longer exist. I'd love to know what her teens think of all of this having grown up with this lifestyle and how this has translated towards their view of God's Earth.

[Amber Launstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for any Christian mama. Puts into perspective our role to take care of the planet. Gives easy and practicals ways to green up your family routine. Provides mind blowing statistics

[Kat W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book. Approachable and full of practical ideas and resources. It was written in 2010, and environmental and technological issues advance so quickly, so it was *slightly* outdated.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: GREEN MAMA
Author: Tracey Bianchi
Publisher: Zondervan
March 2010
ISBN: 978-0-310-32036-4
Genre: Inspirational/Christian life/family

Going green is a popular topic now-a-days. We’re inundated with suggests for electric cars, getting new heat pumps, water heaters, etc, and getting rid of our old appliances and buying new “greener” ones. But sometimes our financial situation just doesn’t allow that. So how can you go green without going into debt?

Tracey Bianchi has written this book for busy moms who want to make wise choices for her family – and makes simple suggestions for going green. Simple things, like reusing scrap paper for your to-do-lists or recycling your cans and bottles. But there are also more complex suggestions if you are already doing the simple stuff.

Ms. Bianchi includes creative tips and spiritual inspiration to help you make wiser environmental choices in the community, office, or at home.

GREEN MAMA is filled with suggestions, most of which are common sense ones. But they are shared with real life stories, such as the time Ms. Bianchi went hiking with a real eco-friendly man as their guide, or stories about her children discussing why trees are important. And Ms. Bianchi recognizes that not everyone will be able to follow all the advice. Such as, I live in a rural area with no public transportation and am twenty miles from the nearest grocery store. I won’t be riding the bus or biking any time soon. But the tips are there in case you are in a situation where you might be able to use it.

I already incorporate most of the ideas into our lifestyle, and with homeschooling, that might make it a bit easier, since the children are raised with it day in and day out. But still, even if you don’t do anything right now, there are things to try, and simple suggestions included in each chapter, as well as questions to answer at the end, with plenty of room to answer them. If you want to go green then GREEN MAMA is definitely a good place to start. Ms. Bianchi suggests borrowing a copy of this book so you don’t waste resources, but I don’t think the publisher would be behind that suggestion one-hundred percent. And since you might want to refer back to it occasionally, I suggest buying your own copy. $12.99. 208 pages.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compelling, well-written book for aspiring environmental mommies, Green Mama manages to fulfill its "guilt-free" promise with solid, simple advice that's easy — for even the busiest moms! — to implement. "Leaving things better than I found them even started to seem, well, a little like something Jesus would do," says Bianchi.

Bianchi's appealing slice-of-life stories, which preface each chapter, document her struggle to balance consumerism with God's call to stewardship. Green Mama: The Guilt-Free Guide to Helping You and Your Kids Save the Planet encourages thoughtful, spendthrift behaviors that trickle down immediately to the next generation. Particularly helpful are each chapter's end checklist, where Bianchi repeats the behavior or spending changes she's introduced, letting a reader decide whether each item is important to her or even possible, given the situation.

If her goal is to leave her children and the planet they inherit infinitely bettered by affecting today's choices, Bianchi scores major environmental points here and readers will too.

[Deirdre · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about "greening" your family's life as a mother. What distinguishes this from other green parenting books is that it includes scriptural references and encourages parents to see how intertwined a life of faith (in this book, the Christian faith in particular) is with living a life rooted in taking care of the Earth, i.e. minimizing the waste of resources, mitigating materialism (and the concomitant waste of resources), taking care of the Earth and, in turn, other people's children in the world (e.g., properly recycling our toxic electronic waste instead of sending it to Third World countries in which children often strip computers, etc. for parts). I have been surprised that churches have not taken a more prominent role in environmental advocacy. I am glad to know that more churches are taking seriously their sense of stewardship for Creation.

[Evelyn Corney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book in many respects, challenging and inspiring, though just occasionally I found it guilt-inducing rather than inspiring. At other times I was shocked by things that the author considered to be "good steps you could consider to help save the planet" - in some cases I couldn't believe that they wouldn't be considered general common sense and non-wastefulness, but that may be a cultural divide.

My main disappointment was that too much of the book was specifically geared to and therefore only helpful to an American audience... I need the same book again, but wiht a UK mindset! Any suggestions anyone?

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book spoke to my heart. She shares my passion! Living green to honor God and the planet He allows us to inhabit--His creation. She gives you very practical ideas without being condemning and while acknowledging that being green and a mom is not always easy--but here's some ideas for you! I really loved that she included not just environmental but social justice as well. I've not come across many books like this in the Christian world--this was so refreshing! Thank you Tracey!

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book for what it was: an informative and practical guide to being more Eco-friendly. There were some easily doable steps that anyone can take to show better stewardship over the earth. I would recommend it, and will put it on my wish list to own do that I can refer to it again and again.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read w book club. All discovered a few new ideas to implement into our families lives thru majority of book. Ending kinda started to lose us. Seemed too "preachy" even for a book that's goal was to show how caring for the earth is caring for gods gift to us.

[Kristi Brokaw]

This was a really helpful and practical guide to going green in the midst of motherhood. It published in 2009 so it’s a bit outdated in parts but the concepts are still solid. I’d love to see an updated version released.