Planet Home by Jeffrey Hollender and Alexandra Zissu - Excerpt

8/8/2019 Planet Home by Jeffrey Hollender and Alexandra Zissu - Excerpt

1/14


2/14

To purchase a copy of

Planet Home

visit one of these online retailers:
http://www.powells.com/biblio/9780307716644?&PID=32442http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780307716644http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?defaultSearchView=List&LogData=[search:+33,parse:+44]&cm_mmc=CJ-_-2193956-_-2665379-_-88x31+logo&type=1&searchData={productId:null,sku:null,type:1,sort:null,currPage:1,resultsPerPage:25,simpleSearch:false,navigation:5185,moreValue:null,coverView:false,url:rpp%3D25%26view%3D2%26type%3D1%26page%3D1%26kids%3Dfalse%26nav%3D5185%26simple%3Dfalse%26sku%3D9780307716644,terms:{sku%3D9780307716644}}&storeId=13551&catalogId=10001&sku=0307716643&ddkey=http:SearchResults&cmpid=pub-rh-56http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?r=1&afsrc=1&ISBSRC=Y&ISBN=9780307716644http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307716643?ie=UTF8&tag=randohouseinc2-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0307716643


3/14


4/14

Copyright 2010 by Jeffrey Hollender

Text by Alexandra Zissu

Illustrations 2010 Wink, Incorporated

Design by Ben Gibson, with Kristin Brewin Nightwine

Pages 4144 SeventhGeneration.com

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Clarkson Potter/Publishers,an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of

Random House, Inc., New York. www.clarksonpotter.com

CLARKSON POTTER is a trademark and POTTER with

colophon is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc.

The book was designed by

Melcher Media, 124 West 13th Street, New York, NY 10011

www.melcher.com

Publisher: Charles Melcher

Associate Publisher: Bonnie EldonEditor in Chief: Duncan Bock

Senior Editor: Holly Rothman

Editor and Project Manager: Megan Worman

Production Director: Kurt Andrews

Production Assistant: Daniel del Valle

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hollender, Jeffrey. Planet home / Jeffrey Hollender.

1. Conduct of life. 2. Human ecology. 3. Home economics.

I. Title. BJ1581.2.H615 2010 640dc22 2010028312

ISBN 978-0-307-71664-4

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

First Edition

Acknowledgments

from Jeffrey Hollender:

My deepest gratitude goes to my co-author, Alexandra Zissu,

without whom this book would never have been possible. Lexy

was an absolute pleasure to partner with and showed her passioand talent every step of the way. Seventh Generations own

Science Man and a longtime friend, Martin Wolf, was essential

to ensuring the scientific, factual, and statistical accuracy of

this great endeavor.

My team at Melcher Media, who served as invaluable partner

from concept to editing and design, made the challenges of

producing this book an absolute pleasure. Special thanks to

Holly Rothman, Megan Worman, and Charlie Melcher. Id also

like to thank the team at Clarkson Potter, especially Doris

Cooper and Angelin Borsics, who have supported this book

wholeheartedly.

My thinking about systems was shaped by some of my teach-ers, most notably Carol Sanford, Gregor Barnum, Cheryl Heller

Martin Murson, and Peter Senge.

Without the lessons, learning, and total support of the entire

Seventh Generation community, none of my work would be

possible. Special thanks goes to Lee Pelletier, who takes special

care of me every day.

While many organizations have supported and generated the

knowledge required to learn about our endlessly interconnected

world, none plays the role of being an ongoing teacher better

than Greenpeace.

This book is dedicated to my wife, teacher, and lifelong

partner, Sheila Hollender.

from Alexandra Zissu:

I would like to thank Olli Chanoff, Ail i Chanoff Zissu, and

my wide-ranging, helpful, supportive, and multitasking fami ly

immediate and extended ali ke. Thanks also to Jeffrey Hollender

for entrusting me with this project, Holly Rothman, Charlie

Melcher, Martin Wolf, Megan Worman, Doris Cooper, Angelin

Borsics, Sheila Hollender, Lee Pelletier, Chrystie Heimert, and

Maureen Wolpert.

Melcher Media wishes to thank Kay Banning, Christopher Beha

David E. Brown,Amlie Cherlin, Cheryl Della Pietra, Marilyn

Fu, Barbara Gogan,Diane Hodges, Coco Joly, Robin Kamen,

Julia Marks, Myles McDonnell, Lauren Nathan, Minju Pak,

Katherine Raymond, Lia Ronnen, Jessi Rymill, Julia Sourikoff,

Alex Tart, Scott Thares, Shoshana Thaler, Anna Thorngate, and

Rebecca Wiener.

SPECIAL OFFERS FOR PROTECTING PLANET HOME!

Join the Seventh Generation Nation online and be eli-

gible to receive special offers from Seventh Generation

and other companies recommended in this book.

Learn more at Seventhgeneration.com/PlanetHome.

...
http://www.randomhouse.com/crownhttp://www.randomhouse.com/crown


5/14

CONTENTS

Wa I Consciou Home?page 6

CLEANING PRODUCTS AND CHEMICALS:

YOUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE page 1

THE KITCHEN page 3

FOOD page 6

THE BEDROOM page 9

THE NURSERY AND KIDS ROOMS page 1

THE FAMILY ROOMS: LIVING ROOM,

DINING ROOM, MEDIA ROOM, AND DEN page 1

THE BATHROOM page 1

THE UTILITY ROOMS: ATTIC, GARAGE,

MUDROOM, AND BASEMENT page 2

THE LAUNDRY ROOM page 2

THE HOME OFFICE page 2

THE BIG PICTURE page 2

Te Ingedient Guide, Resource, Reference, Ind page 3


6/14

6 WHAT IS A CONSCIOUS HOME?204 SYSTEMS


7/14

WHAT IS A CONSCIOUS HOME

There comes a time in anyones life when

the current state of the earth becomes too

obvious to ignore, and taking some steps to

green and protect your own environment

your Planet Homeseems like a good idea.

For many, becoming pregnant or looking intoyour childs eyes for the first time can trig-

ger a deeper concern for global issues. And

no wonder. Countless others have been moti-

vated to action by climate change and, more

recently, by images of oil gushing into the

Gulf of Mexico. Whatever has inspired you

to pick up this book and make some chang-

es, first steps tend to be simpleswitching

to organic milk, buying toilet paper madefrom recycled fiber, packing lunch in reus-

able containers, swapping in energy-efficient

light bulbs. These are popular adjustments

because theyre better for you and your fam-

ily. But its the rare person who sees that

the organic milk is also better for the cow

for the people who raise them, and for o

shared environment. This makes sen

human beings tend to be compartmentaliz

thinkers. We see the individual puzzle pie

rather than the whole picture. Indigeno

and Eastern cultures based on spiritual

are more likely to see the puzzle in its ent

ty; with spirituality comes an understand

of the interconnectedness of who we are a

what we do. Still other cultures are forc

to be aware of the bigger picture because

their limited space on the planet. America

so vast that many activities that are harm

to the environmentlike removing mounta

tops to mine coal or endlessly filling garba

dumpstake place where we dont see the

Out of sight, out of mind. When you do

see the interconnectedness of your da

decisions and actions in a holistic way, y

also cant see their unintended conseque

es. There are plenty of resources availa

for people interested in eco-friendly ing. And primarily, Planet Homeprovide

road map for anyone who wants to green a

clean a home. But the following pages a

go well beyond offering typical go green

vice. This book is an attempt to inspire

all to open our minds, expand our collect

consciousness, and think without compa

mentalizing. Its an invitation to stop and

amine how our individual choicesthat mthat light bulb, and even where you choose

bankripple out to affect our neighbors, o

community, and the environment as a who

Because when were only told to lower o

thermostats and stop thereone piece of t

What Is a

Conscious

Home?
http://www.randomhouse.com/crownhttp://www.randomhouse.com/crownhttp://www.randomhouse.com/crown


8/14

8 WHAT IS A CONSCIOUS HOME?

puzzlewe remain fundamentally confused

about the whole of what matters and how to

truly make a difference.Planet Homeis a call

to arms that will inspire you to ask better

questions and move beyond just going green

and toward connecting the green dots all

around you, holistically and systematically.

Visualizing just how connected we all are to

each other and the earth when, say, youre

wandering the aisles of the supermarket isnt

obvious. But if you try to take the simple yet

revolutionary notion that were all connected

as a point of departure, the systems behind

everything from the water running out of our

taps to the cotton grown for our sheets, cloth-

ing, and even feminine care products start to

become clear. Youll see the entire puzzle, not

just the pieces. The ability to see the total en-

vironmental impact of any one choice is para-

mountthe real takeaway of Planet Home

whether youre just beginning to consider

going green or youre living off the grid and

growing your own food. Being more aware

of how your actions influence everything else

will change how you behave. It will help you

go greener faster than just doing a few green

things, and with a less vague sense of why

youre taking the steps youre taking. It will

have a far-reaching impact. It will also enable

you to recognize when systems break down

or are incompletelike when you place your

pesticide-free organic produce on a cuttingboard cleaned with a conventional product

containing pesticides.

Imagine a country full of people who un-

derstand the social and environmental im-

plications of everything from their choiceof

toothpaste to the cleaning product residue

they wash down their drainspeople wh

want to make better choices for their fam

lies, their communities, and the earth. Thi

consciousness could make a real overarchin

environmental impact at a time when it i

sorely neededmaking green the new nor

mal. We cant turn back the clock, but we ca

all work together to ensure that our children

our childrens children, and the planet we a

share will be healthy enough to continue t

sustain us. Human beings have unlimited po

tential when we put our minds to solving

problem. And there are many people workin

hard to do the right thing right now. This i

your invitation to join them.

Use the following chapters as a jumping

off point. There are plenty of practical step

detailed; remember as you undertake an

number of them that were not alone in ou

little green bubbles. Keep in mind that go

ing green shouldnt involve losing sight of th

quality and richness of life. Pause for con

scious ritualslike watching the sunset as

familyas often as possible. The emotiona

nourishment these moments offer is wha

we need to build happy and fulfilling lives

Living consciouslybeing aware, awake, an

thoughtfulincludes treading lightly on ou

shared home planet while embracing ouright to happiness, which will enable us t

better enjoy the happiness that a responsibl

and sustainable life so bountifully brings.

***

Jeffrey Hollender


9/14


The 7

Inter-

Connected

Principles of

Conscious

Living

We need revolutionary change in the world,

and we need it now! You can begin by shift-

ing your mind and reframing the way youlook at the immediate challenges in your

home. Conscious living extends beyond these

challenges to how we think about ourselves

as a society, and our responsibility to one

another and the planet.

THINK HOLISTICALLY

Try to see the whole interconnected sys-

tems that live just behind everything that

you do. Using ethanol as fuel may seem like

a good idea, but look beneath the surface.

Ethanol isnt just energy derived fromcorn;

its grown from genetically modified seeds

requires the use of petroleum-derived spra

and it drives up the price of cornwhich th

affects tortilla prices in Mexico, for exa

ple. It takes more energy to grow the co

used to make ethanol than the ethanol its

provides. Looking beyond the surface of

actions you take in your everyday life w

better inform your choices.

LIVE BY THE PRECAUTIONAR

PRINCIPLE

Whenever the potential of an activity, pr

uct, or chemical raises the threat of ha

to human health or the environment, prec

tionary measures should be exercised. P

caution should be taken even if the absol

cause and effect relationships that might le

to harm have not fully been established s

entifically. Thus, the maker of a product

chemical, or one who proposes an actionbusiness endeavor, must prove the safety

such in advance of its exposure to people

the planet and bear the burden of proof

its safety. The Precautionary Principle shi

responsibility for the proof of safety to bu

ness and industry and ensures that peo

and the planet are not guinea pigs subject

uncertain experimentation.

Chemicals and consumer products todare innocent until proven guilty. T

makes human beings those guinea pigs

an uncontrolled experiment. There have be

80,000 to 100,000 new chemicals introduc

since World War II, but the health effects

2.

1.


10/14

10 WHAT IS A CONSCIOUS HOME?

less than 5 percent of these are known. We

dont yet understand the impact of having

combinations of these chemicals in our bod-

ies, or what daily low-dose exposure to them

means for us down the road. If a chemical

or a product is guilty, i.e., harmful, we pay

the price. It can show up as disease, cancer,

or chronic illness. We need to change this

process so that chemicals in a product must

be proven safe by their manufacturer before

they enter the market. Its difficult to con-

nect the dots and pinpoint the impacts and

implications of chemicals due to the sheer

amount of them gushing into our society. If

a bird in the Gulf is covered in oil, you know

where that oil came from. But when a child

gets cancer, you rarely know its source. Un-

til there is regulatory change, common sense

says that you should adopt as many of the

changes suggested in these pages as you can

and live by the Precautionary Principle, too.

ACQUIRE LESS STUFF

Prior to World War II, we were a culture of

reuse, recycling, and restraint. But following

the war, huge factories suddenly had nothing

to make. Our government created a national

strategy and built our whole economy around

consumerism. We see now that this is irre-

sponsible and unsustainable. The sequence ofevents that brings all this stuff to the stuff-

buying masses is destructive. The materi-

als contained in any old household product

are global, rarely local. Theres an elaborate

system needed to extract, process, and

transport the building blocks of stuff from

where it was found (Saudi Arabia? Malaysia

Texas?) to where it can be manufactured

Manufacturing is another system. The

there are the systems of equipment neede

to package, warehouse, and distribute stuf

to consumers. There is also the system o

waste: we have no place to keep all of th

trash our consumerism creates. The product

themselvesfrom manufacture to disposal

are polluting our earth and releasing untol

chemicals into the air in our homes. Ther

are better, less toxic versions of many prod

ucts described in these pages, but ultimatel

we as a culture need to back away from th

overabundance of stuff in our lives. How

much do you really need compared to how

much do you want? Its a question of quan

tity versus quality. We must simply buy les

stuff, and what we do buy must be made t

last, leaving the smallest possible footprin

behind. All this stuff doesnt lead to happ

ness or fulfillment. True satisfaction comefrom relationships and community, not car

or cell phones. Think about your relation

ships: would you rather have 25 superficia

ones or three totally trusting, open, hones

ones? Meaning comes from deep, qualit

relationships.

THINK LONG TERM, NOTSHORT TERM

In a fundamental sense, we have collectivel

pushed the long-term consequences of ou

decisions entirely out of our consciousness

3.

4.


11/14


Other than the relationships we have with

our families, most of the time were uncon-

scious of the lasting repercussions of our ac-

tionsof what we eat, what we buy, what we

do. How many things can you name that you

do out of concern for the next generation?

For most people it is generally out of sight,

out of mind. We must shift our perspective

and take a longer-term point of view.

THINK WE, NOT ME

When youre thinking only about yourself,

it doesnt matter if you buy another T-shirt

or you take another flight or you put pesti-

cides on your lawn. In the Me world, none

of these things matter. In the We world,

they all do. When we all behave as if we were

alone, the results are catastrophic. Can you

go through the traffic light when it is turn-

ing red? Can you not take time to help some-

one who is lost and needs directions? Whatwould happen if we lived in a world in which

no one helped anyone else? For anything of

great substance to happen positively, the

power is in what We can do, not in what I

can do. If we start to see how our everyday

individual actions affect the people around

us, if we consider ourselves members of the

community and act accordingly, good things

will come. Start by smiling.

DONT CONFUSE LESS BAD

WITH GOOD

We have totally confused less bad with go

We dont know what good is anymore. Nine

nine percent of what we think of as good

actually just less bad. So what is good?

tends to show up in a few specific areas

meaningful relationships, education, natu

biodynamic farming. It shows up in servic

too, but it very rarely rears its head in pr

ucts because of what it takes to make a

get products to the market. In many cas

getting something to consumers will tilt t

scale dramatically from good to bad, not ev

less bad. Think of honey. Thats good, rig

Well, where did it come from? Consider h

it was collected, processed, packaged, a

shipped, and by whom.

GET ACTIVE

There is only so much a holistically thi

ing individual can do to affect global chan

Joining forces with groups working to in

ence both our government and big busines

to bring about systemwide change is a gr

thing to do. The right legislation will ha

wider impact than any one persons cha

es. Voting, calling, e-mailing, spreading

word, aligning yourself with the organitions working tirelessly to protect our shar

earth and generally making noise all help

5.

6.

7.
http://www.randomhouse.com/crown


12/14

14 CLEANING PRODUCTS AND CHEMICALS

Cleaning product labels are a quick read, as

they typically contain very little information.

By reading one, you will discover the type

of product it is, directions for use, safety infor-mation, and any storage and disposal guidelines.

What you wontdiscover is a list of ingredients.

These are usually undisclosed, government-

protected trade secrets, unless they are disinfect-

ing agents, pesticides, or listed as hazardous by

the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

(CPSC)then those specific ingredients must

be disclosed. Until recently, regulation of the

chemicals in cleaning products has essentiallybeen neglected. For decades, manufacturers

have been legally allowed to include untested

and potentially harmful chemicals in house-

hold products without informing the consumer

about them on the label. Recently, though, man-

ufacturers have started to pay more attentio

to growing legions of curious label readers. Th

launch of the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Fam

lies coalition to reform the Toxic SubstanceControl Act, and other public actions, lik

the Consumer Product Ingredient Commun

cation Initiative, have helped, too. Althoug

information on ingredients products contai

is now becoming more available (whether o

the label ormore commonlyon the manufac

turers website), the need for tighter regula

tion and broader transparency remains. It i

still currently up to the consumer to seekout ingredient lists, read between the lines on

the labels, and make a conscious, informe

decision about what to buy and bring int

the home. Heres how:

How to Read

Labels


13/14


14/14

To purchase a copy of

Planet Home

visit one of these online retailers:
http://www.powells.com/biblio/9780307716644?&PID=32442http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780307716644http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?defaultSearchView=List&LogData=[search:+33,parse:+44]&cm_mmc=CJ-_-2193956-_-2665379-_-88x31+logo&type=1&searchData={productId:null,sku:null,type:1,sort:null,currPage:1,resultsPerPage:25,simpleSearch:false,navigation:5185,moreValue:null,coverView:false,url:rpp%3D25%26view%3D2%26type%3D1%26page%3D1%26kids%3Dfalse%26nav%3D5185%26simple%3Dfalse%26sku%3D9780307716644,terms:{sku%3D9780307716644}}&storeId=13551&catalogId=10001&sku=0307716643&ddkey=http:SearchResults&cmpid=pub-rh-56http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?r=1&afsrc=1&ISBSRC=Y&ISBN=9780307716644http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307716643?ie=UTF8&tag=randohouseinc2-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0307716643

Planet Home by Jeffrey Hollender and Alexandra Zissu - Excerpt

Documents

Transcript of Planet Home by Jeffrey Hollender and Alexandra Zissu - Excerpt