OF WINE AND SOILWithout grapes, there’d be no wine, but withoutgood soil, there’d be no grapes. Wine-makerKendall-Jackson has teamed with TerraCycle,Inc. to promote healthy soil by “upcycling” itsold wine barrels into rainwater and compostbins. The Rotary Composter and the RainBarrel are made of American or French oak and

bring a rustic décor to any backyard. The RainBarrel holds 55 gallons of rainwater to use for gar-

den and lawn watering. The Rotary Composterproduces natural, mineral-rich fertilizer when filledwith yard and kitchen waste. Sam’s Club andHome Depot sell both items for $99 each.CONTACT: TerraCycle, Inc, www.terracycle.net.—Kimberly Telker

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Resources for Eco-Awareness and Action

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FINE JEWELRY REDEFINEDYour wedding ring can represent your commitment to theplanet as well as to your better half. Brilliant Earth pro-duces fine jewelry from two Canadian mines that adhere tostringent environmental laws. The company’s diamonds andsapphires are guaranteed “conflict-free,” meaning they donot fund international war, abuse or terrorism, and the set-tings are made with recycled platinum and gold. Five per-cent of all profits are donated to African communities. CONTACT: Brilliant Earth, (800)691-0952, www.brilliantearth.com. —K.T.

FOR THEFASHIONISTASEco-clothing outlet OxygenRequired sells pieces that canbe worn in layers as themonths grow colder, with anemphasis on simple designsand solid colors. A hoodedcashmere and bamboo poncho

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CHOCOLATE VISIONSThe stone-ground organic 70%dark Taza chocolate is indulgentin even the smallest doses, witha cocoa-laden, powdery texturethat’s more decadent thansweet. It’s the kind of chocolatethat would pair well with agedcheese and a glass of fine wine.Chocolate Mexicano discs canbe melted into cocoa drinks, orsimply broken and enjoyed. Theround shapes and grainy textureare meant to invoke pre-modernchocolate, from the simpledesign to the basic ingredients—roasted cocoa beans, pure canesugar and either cinnamon stick,roasted almonds or vanillabeans. CONTACT: Taza Chocolate,(617)623-0804, www.tazachocolate.com. —Brita Belli

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SMARTERSHOWERSThe Deluxe ShowerwiseFiltration System ($79)effectively reduces theminerals and impurities inshower water that arecommon culprits to less-than-shiny hair, itchy,flaky skin and burningeyes. The term known as“hard water” defineshousehold water thatcontains magnesium, cal-cium and chlorine, as wellas dirt, sediment and bac-teria that make waterheavier, less clear andsmelly. One filter will lastup to a year, purifying upto 150,000 gallons ofwater. An adjustable,multi-jet showerhead isincluded.CONTACT: WaterwiseDistillers, www.waterwisedistillers.com. —K.T.

TABLE TOPICSEcosource Home & Garden has developed grenware, a new, low-maintenance dinnerware line that includes bowls and plates made ofbamboo, straw and rice hulls. The pieces have an elegant finish anddishwasher-safe sturdiness, and are designed to last about five years.After that, you can retire them to the yard or garden where they willbiodegrade in about four months. Not a bad conversation starter fora dinner party.CONTACT: Ecosource Home & Garden, www.ecosourceonline.com. —Mara Schechter

in “baked apple” ($178) is a sophisticated takeon the comfortable zip-up hoodie. The companyuses surplus factory fabric, saving on waste, andlots of bamboo—the renewable plant is an envi-ronmental improvement over everything fromwood to pesticide-laden, water-depleting cot-ton. Vancouver-based Nicole Bridger of NicoleBridger Designs is into sustainability on theoutside and inside. The clothes—made fromorganic cotton and bamboo as well as virginwool and cashmere—include little affirmationlabels. Bridger’s Grecian style dress, plaid,cocooning shawl and striped top will appeal tothe stylish hippie: They’re roomy and comfort-able but cling in all the right places. CONTACTS: Oxygen Required, (212)817-4119,www.oxygenrequired.com; Nicole BridgerDesigns, www.nicolebridger.com. —B.B.

NicoleBridgerDesigns

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BooksTHE BIG BOOK OFEVERYWHEREThe Encyclopedia of Earth: A CompleteVisual Guide by Michael Allaby,Robert Coenraads, StephenHutchinson, Karen McGhee andJohn O’Byrne (University of CaliforniaPress, $39.99) contains quite a claimin its subtitle. While there could neverexist a “complete”guide to our planet,visual or otherwise,this is a fastidiouslyresearched and gor-geously rendered608-page tome. It iscomprised of six sec-tions: Birth (the plan-et’s place in the uni-verse and the emer-gence of its lifeforms); Fire (the earth’s core and itsplates); Land (rocks, minerals, land-forms and biomes), Air (Earth’s atmos-phere, climate and weather); Water(oceans and seas, the marine environ-ment, rivers, wetlands and swamps,and landlocked water); and Humans

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DOGGIE STYLEHot on the paws of green-er beauty care productscome all-natural dogshampoos. John MastersOrganics presents theamusingly named DogPoo($20), which cleans coatsand prevents ticks and fleaswith the essential oils ofneem, citronella, tea treeand eucalyptus. The com-pany contributes $1 perbottle to Animal Haven, ano-kill animal shelter inNew York. CONTACT: John MastersOrganics, www.johnmasters.com/dogcare.htm.—M.S.

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(our habitats, use of natural resourcesand impact on the planet). The ency-clopedia is easy to navigate, withtimelines, “Fact File” sidebars andinformation boxes throughout. Thefinal section of the book is devoted toglobal conservation and ends with adire directive, symbolically representedwith a photo of a Sri Lankan drum cir-cle: “To salvage Earth, the humanspecies will need to communicate andcooperate globally like never before.”—Jessica Rae Patton

SMALLER LIVINGFive years ago, Gregory Johnsonmoved to a 140 square foot home,built on a trailer to comply with localbuilding regulations. He has no elec-tricity or running water and eats most-ly non-perishable foods at home,using other facilities to shower, go tothe bathroom and do his laundry.Since he sold his car on Earth Day in

2004, he has beenusing a bicycle to getaround. Johnson, whofounded Resources forLife and the SmallHouse Society, hasturned his experiencesinto the book Put YourLife on a Diet: LessonsLearned From Living in140 Square Feet (GibbSmith, $12.95).

He recommends taking everything outof the bathroom except what is need-ed for a short trip and proposes thatpeople create a small home-within-a-home by converting one room into amain, multifunctional area.Conversational and easygoing,Johnson ends each chapter with actionpoints, discussion questions and a(small) space to take notes. —Mara Schechter

OLYMPIC RUINSThis is the sentence ChristopherShaw wants readers to take awayfrom his book Five Ring Circus: Mythsand Realities of the Olympic Games(New Society Publishers, $19.95):“The Olympic Games at the local levelare all about real estate” (emphasishis). The Canadian professor andactivist is particularly concerned aboutVancouver’s successful bid for the2010 Olympics, but the corporate cor-ruption and ecological destruction

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happens in every host city, he writes.As an environmental argument, thebook makes a convincing case. TheInternational Organizing Committeeplanned a “Sea to Sky” highway fromVancouver to Whistler through a sensi-tive ecological zone known asEagleridge Bluffs,home to endangeredfrogs and migratorybirds. A coalition ofprotesters formed, butdevelopers’ chainsawsquickly followed,felling 500-year-oldtrees. “If you drivepast Eagleridge now,”Shaw writes, “all yousee is a huge, ugly 50-meter-wide scar in the earth.” TheOlympic legacy, apparently, is morethan just medals. —Brita Belli

GETTING FABULOUSThe essence of Starre Vartan’s book,The Eco Chick Guide to Life: How to beFabulously Green (St. Martin’s Griffin,$16.95), can be found in this sen-tence: “Being an Eco Chick meansdoing good while having a good timedoing it: it is NOT about deprivingyourself, but about rethinking how welive our lives...”Founder and editor ofthe blog eco-chick.com, Vartan(who has written forE) employs a fun toneand style. But she’sserious about environ-mental awareness.She details whatclothing and foodlabels mean; whichcompanies make biodegradable plates,tampons and doggy bags; and what aholistic veterinarian has to say abouthealth. She offers advice on how tomake your own perfume, cleaningsupplies, and compost. In the last sec-tion, Vartan even advises readers howto approach their bosses and familiesabout making environmental changes.This book is a guide, but readers canalso use it as a tool to become theguides themselves. —M.S.

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HOW THE WEST WAS DRAINEDWater War in the Klamath Basin:Macho Law, Combat, Biology, and DirtyPolitics (Island Press, $30) by HollyDoresmus and A. Dan Tarlock com-bines a deep understanding of the his-tory of water laws withsympathy for the farm-ers, fishermen, NativeAmericans and assortedanimal species whohave all suffered due tolegal interpretations inthe Klamath Basin, aregion in Oregon andCalifornia drained bythe Klamath River.

The authors engag-ingly convey the historical faults at thebase of water disputes, how the dis-agreements and potential solutionshave changed over time, and why legalsolutions will not meet local needs. Nomatter what the legal future of water inthe American West, it is no longer thefrontier, they write. In other words, oursociety has evolved, but our water lawshave not. —Brian Colleran

A TREK THROUGH TIMEIn There’s a Barnyard in My Bedroom(Greystone Books, $19.95), acclaimedgeneticist and environmentalist DavidSuzuki takes children and their adultreading companions on a sweepingthree-part ecological adventure in pic-ture-book form. In the first story, thepatter of rain on the bedroom windowdoesn’t keep pluckyprotagonists Jamie andMegan from thenature hike their fatherpromised. Instead, Dadacts as a tour guide ofthe world’s forests,waterways and farm-lands by discussing thefar-flung sources of thefamily’s refrigerator contents.

In the fantastical illustrations byEugenie Fernandes, the oak tree fromwhich the dining-room table was ren-dered now grows from the center ofsaid table. Complete with activity sug-gestions and a glossary, this is a usefultool for environmental exploration withkids. —J.R.P.

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