I just finished reading a book written by Christie Matheson called Green Chic, Saving the Earth in Style. I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a great, simple resource guide to greening all aspects of your life.

Christie’s background is in writing for travel, fashion and food publications such as Body and Soul, Glamour and the Boston Globe Magazine and she has co-authored several books on these topics.

Having no background at all in being ‘Green’, Christie spent a couple of years researching the topic of ‘going green’ and thoroughly documenting everything you can do in your life to make a difference without sacrificing your style. She actually proves that by going green you can increase your chicness!

What I really appreciated in Green Chic was Christie’s easy-going and sometimes humorous writing style and her overall philosophy about ‘going green’.

“It’s not about consuming more, it’s about changing your way of thinking. How can we still be stylish and chic while doing our part to save the earth?”

For me personally having been living a green lifestyle for several years now, I was especially touched by chapter 5, Hello Gorgeous. In this chapter she reminded me of the dangers of cosmetics and beauty products as well as how to trim down my clothing consumption and how to style out my closet more effectively.

I highly recommend getting a copy of this book and passing it on! It is published by Sourcebooks, Inc, www.sourcebooks.com and sells for just $10 on Amazon.com.

Stacie Shepp, Green Maven Editor

Qigong Master Mingtong Gu will lead a "Healer Within" workshop in the Bay Area from May 31 - June 1 at the International House at UC-Berkeley.

Mingtong Gu is an internationally recognized teacher and healer who received his training from a variety of grandmasters in China and at the world's largest Qigong hospital. This "medicine-less" hospital, Zhineng Qigong Center, has treated over 200,000 patients with over 185 different illnesses and has a 95% success rate.

The main objective of the "Healer Within" workshop is to empower individuals to use their own healing abilities. For more information, visit www.chicenter.com. To register, click here.

Edited by Bill McKibben with a foreword by Al Gore.

“Every important advance in American environmentalism,” according to writer and activist Bill McKibben, “has coincided with—sprung from—some piece of writing, some book. We can’t afford those voices to die out.” Now, as America and the world grapple with global ecological challenges, McKibben ensures that these voices will be heard with his unprecedented and timely anthology gathering the best that has been thought and said about the interconnectedness of the natural world, our place in it, and our responsibility to it.

This April 22nd, The Library of America marked Earth Day 2008 with the release of the first definitive anthology of American environmental writing: AMERICAN EARTH: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau (hardcover, $40.00), edited by McKibben with a foreword by Al Gore. Touchstones of the environmental imagination—the essays of Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, and John Burroughs; Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac, and Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring—are set alongside the inspiring story of an emerging activist movement, as revealed by newly uncovered narratives of pioneering campaigns for wilderness conservation, passages from landmark legal opinions and legislation, and searing protest speeches.

If you're interested in learning more about green topics such as conservation, green technology and social justice, check out "Keep It Green", on Wednesdays, 8 p.m. EST on Equator HD, the first 24/7 hi-definition channel dedicated to global adventure and green living.

The original series returns for a second season with a newly expanded half-hour format and a brand new host: noted green expert (and Green Maven editor) Melissa Mansfield .

Each week, Melissa interviews leaders in their field about important environmental and social issues, shows viewers how simple choices can make a big difference and offers practical advice about sustainability.

Melissa is a green lifestyle expert and activist, with an extensive background in environmental and social justice issues. She lives the green lifestyle, walking or biking to work almost every day. She is a vegetarian and teaches yoga in her spare time.

"I'm really excited about Keep It Green's new season," Melissa says. "We're covering topics ranging from the hottest green car technology to saving humpback whales. The show is all about informing and empowering viewers so they're inspired to take action."

The first episode of KEEP IT GREEN premiered on Wednesday, April 23 at 8pm ET/9pm PT/7C on EQUATOR HD. Weekly guest include leaders from Interface, NOAA's National Marine Sanctuaries, Popular Science, the National Audubon Society, Grameen and Doctors Without Borders.

EQUATOR HD is available nationally on the DISH Network satellite service (Channel 9471) and Cablevision's iO digital cable service (Channel 728). Interview segments and Melissa's blog will also be featured online each week at www.blog.equatorhd.com.

In 1854, the streets of San Francisco were illuminated for the first time by gas lamps. Over a hundred years later, California and the world are struggling with energy challenges in the face of global warming.

And the original lamplighter of 1854 - the San Francisco Gas Company, which ultimately became the mega-utilities corporation PG&E - is now seeing the light on the need for sustainable power.

PG&E - and California - are already ahead of the game in many ways. Over the past 30 years, while the nation's energy per capita consumption jumped 50 percent, California's remained flat.

How? In the 1990's, California took unprecedented action by "decoupling" utilities' profits from their sale of energy, setting the stage for energy efficiency to become a source of energy and money.

"PG&E does not make money from selling more energy. It profits from how much energy it saves," explained Jennifer Zerwer, PG&E spokesperson. "PG&E treats energy efficiency as its top resource."

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