Sustainability Resource Library: Health and Well Being

Status: Coming Soon!

The first edition of Living Downstream—an exquisite blend of precise science and engaging narrative—set a new standard for scientific writing. Poet, biologist, and cancer survivor, Steingraber uses all three kinds of experience to investigate the links between cancer and environmental toxins.

The updated science in this exciting new edition strengthens the case for banning poisons now pervasive in our air, our food, and our bodies. Because synthetic chemicals linked to cancer come mostly from petroleum and coal, Steingraber shows that investing in green energy also helps prevent cancer. Saving the planet becomes a matter of saving ourselves and an issue of human rights. A documentary film based on the book will coincide with publication.

Status: Coming Soon!

Nothing could be more important than the health of our children, and no one is better suited to examine the threats against it than Sandra Steingraber. Once called "a poet with a knife," she blends precise science with lyrical memoir. In Living Downstream she spoke as a biologist and cancer survivor; in Having Faith she spoke as an ecologist and expectant mother, viewing her own body as a habitat. Now she speaks as the scientist mother of two young children, enjoying and celebrating their lives while searching for ways to protect them--and all children--from the toxic, climate-threatened world they inhabit.

Each chapter of this engaging and unique book focuses on one inevitable ingredient of childhood--everything from pizza to laundry to homework to the "Big Talk"--and explores the underlying social, political, and ecological forces behind it. Through these everyday moments, Steingraber demonstrates how closely the private, intimate world of parenting connects to the public world of policy-making and how the ongoing environmental crisis is, fundamentally, a crisis of family life.

Status: Coming Soon!

When it comes to cleaning products, society often values convenience over personal and planetary health, thanks to decades of advertising propaganda from the chemical companies that market overpriced and dangerous concoctions. But awareness is changing: Not only are homemade and nontoxic cleaners strong enough for the toughest grunge, they are often as convenient as their commercial counterparts.

Nontoxic Housecleaning--the latest in the Chelsea Green Guide series--provides a way for people to improve their immediate environment every day. Pregnant women, parents of young children, pet owners, people with health concerns, and those who simply care about a healthy environment--and a sensible budget--can all benefit from the recipes and tips in this guide.

Included are tips for:
The basic ingredients: what they are, and why they work.
Specific techniques for each room and cleaning need in the house.
Detailed recipes for homemade cleaners, including floor polishes, all-purpose cleanser, disinfecting cleanser, window cleaner, oven cleaner, furniture polish, mold- and mildew-killing cleansers, bathroom scrub, deodorizers, stain removers, laundry boosters and starch, metal polishes, scouring powder, and more.