CosmoGIRL 250 Things You Can Do to Green the World

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:59:00 +0000

I never really considered myself a “green” person until I went to the Power Shift conference in Washington, DC last year. Things I or my family had done for years—recycling, composting, using reusable bags and cutlery—were second nature to me, and it did not quite click with me that we had been going green for years. After going to Power Shift, I made a decision to do more to help the environment, so when I saw CosmoGirl! had come out with a book with 250 ways to go green, I was intrigued.

The audience for CosmoGIRL 250 Things You Can Do to Green the World is the same audience as the magazine: high school girls. Many of the suggestions are targeted to that age group, such as ways to go green for the prom. Some of the tips extend to college students, such as dump and runs (a great idea, and a good way to pass on things you do not need anymore). However, many of the green ideas can apply to any age group. The pocket-size book is broken up into nine sections: fashion, home, food, beauty and fitness, travel, school, holiday, pets, and activism. I appreciated in their pet section that they recommend adopting pets from an animal shelter, a cause very close to my heart.

What makes this book very accessible is that many of the green ideas are easy to do. For example, tip #115 recommends keeping a pitcher of water in the fridge, then pouring into a travel mug or reusable bottle (bye bye plastic bottles!). Since the target audience is high school girls, many of the ideas take into account a limited budget. Many of the tips also suggests different eco-friendly organizations and charities that readers can get involved in. In addition, the book also gives a shout out to green groups run by women.

Each page contains one tip (except the ten eco-tips that are longer) and are easy to read—they resemble the blurbs of information found through a CosmoGirl! or Cosmopolitan magazine. However, I did find one small problem. In tip #176, the authors recommend buying a book printed on recycled paper; I could not find anywhere in the book stating that my review copy was printed on recycled paper. Besides that glitch, CosmoGIRL 250 Things You Can Do to Green the World is a good “going green” reference, especially for teenagers.

Written by: Elizabeth Stannard Gromisch, February 11th 2010

CosmoGIRL! Make It Yourself: 50 Fun and Funky Projects

admin — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:29:00 +0000

By Editors of CosmoGIRL!

Hearst Books

CosmoGIRL!, the little sister of Cosmopolitan magazine, has just released it's own make-and-do book of DIY projects for crafty teenage girls. “Hey _CosmoGIRL!_s,” reads the prologue, “You may not know it, but you're the most positive, can-do, pro-active group of girls that has ever walked the earth. I know that may sound like a big statement, but it's true. You're smarter than ever, you're more independent, and no one can trick you because you see right through it.”

So what kind of craft projects followed this empowering statement? Why, “Boy-Of-The-Week” panties, of course! Readers are instructed to take seven pairs of panties, and use fabric paint to write on the names of various boys. “Pick seven guys' names,” reads step 1, “Choose an M name for Monday (Mike), a T name for Tuesday (Tom), etc.” After adding ribbons and charms, you have a “Funny present for a friend who has everything.” I wonder how the reader's parents would feel about this dubious gift? (And who wants homemade underwear for their birthday?!)

“Boy-Of-The-Week” panties get this book off to a bizarre start, but the rest of the projects that follow are your standard, innocent craft ideas. The projects are all for clothes, accessories or beauty products, with a difficulty level provided for each one – Easy, Medium, and Hard—although none of these ideas are too complicated. As with any make-it-yourself book, there are some good ideas, and some where you wonder what they were thinking; and the absurd ideas are part of a craft book's intrinsic charm. The ugliest project in this book has to be the spool bracelet, where you take a large plastic spool and glue beads on it haphazardly, threading it through a chain. If it doesn't look good in the picture, imagine what it looks like in real life.

All in all, this book is a fun read. Most of the clothing projects are hideous, but the beauty section has some really cute ideas for homemade bath salts, soaps and body scrub. I'll probably make the fizzy bath bombs the next time I assemble a gift basket. I also really like the recipe for the Chocolate Mint Cookie Foot Scrub, which seems like it would be an easy and inexpensive gift to make—unlike the boy panties!!

Written by: Beeb Ashcroft, July 25th 2007