Wise about Waste: 150+ Ways to Help the Planet by Helen Moffett

Hot on the heels of 101 Water Wise Ways, Helen Moffett wrote its companion, Wise about Waste: 150+ Ways to Help the Planet. Both these slim volumes are, in my opinion, two of the most important books you can add to your reading pile. Who among us hasn't looked at the state of the environment – from the large-scale destruction of our rainforests all the way down to our fragile river systems choking on garbage? And who among us hasn't felt a degree of helplessness – the problems we as a species face in terms of global warming, mass extinctions and pollution seem far too big for any one person to fix.

And as Helen states in this book, it's true. One person cannot change the world. But the message she imparts is clear: one person can reach out to another, and build a community to bring about change where they have control. You don't need to give into suicidal despair. Going green in your life is about creating hope, about creating, as Helen puts it, a life raft when the ship is sinking.

Topics covered in Wise about Waste include taking a long, hard look at how we as individuals consume – more often than not, those of us who have a fair bit of disposable income buy more than we use, and waste a lot. Often our food, and other items we purchase, are packaged unnecessarily in so much plastic. Do we really need to buy new clothing, that new car, upgrade the cellphone? What can we do about the electronics or furnishings we no longer need? Are we recycling? Reusing? How can we as families work together?

Ultimately this is not a book about going out to change the world overnight. Not all of us are a Greta. Helen acknowledges that creating those vital, broad-sweeping changes is difficult. But she does offer us hope, and oodles of practical advice to start creating those changes within our own homes and communities. And who knows, perhaps these changes can ripple outwards. If we look at those changes from a grassroots, individual and community-based level upwards, then it's a start. And maybe a start, with aim to long-term personal accountability is what we need to aim for.