Woman in Real Life

Talk show host (The Talk), actress, producer, mother and imperfect environmentalist Sara Gilbert (Roseanne's Darlene Conner) offers quick tips for detoxing your life. A vegan mother of two and a graduate of Yale, Gilbert surely knows what it means to be busy. Recognizing that we are all overwhelmed with great ideas, good intentions and too little time, Gilbert shares ideas for small changes that we can make each day that will eventually have a big impact on our environment.

What I appreciate most about The Imperfect Environmentalist is that it is divided into small segments. You can put this book on your coffee table (or next to your toilet) and pick it up for a quick, informative read when you have a few moments to spare. Start at the beginning or just pick a random page.

This tongue-in-cheek reference guide has 10 chapters, with topics such as clean eating and drinking, clean house, clean health and beauty and clean parenting. Each chapter is broken down into interesting tidbits on themes such as windows and weatherizing, why paper is overrated and why diamonds and roses aren't always so romantic.

Depending on how much time you have, the topics are further explored under headings like "Cut to the Chase, Hippie: What's the Least I Need to Know?" and "I Need Some Facts to Bore My Friends With."

I'm looking forward to spring and the opportunity to implement some of Gilbert's suggestions for organic gardening and avoiding herbicides and pesticides.