I've been an amateur environmentalist since childhood --  moved in my earliest years by the commercials with the Native American man looking on while we trash our environment with a tear running down his cheek and also by the "Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute" public service messages. I was about 5 months old on the first Earth Day and I won my first prize (3rd place) in 1st grade by drawing a picture with pollution and titled "The world needs more clean air"  for a Reflections contest with the theme "What the World Needs Now."

A lot has changed since then. Now the green movement is becoming mainstream, which has its upside and downside (but mostly up).

As the movement becomes trendier, lower middle-class to poor greens are starting to feel left out. We can't afford clothing made with bamboo fiber or hybrid cars or energy star homes. I took an online test to see how green I was and did rather poorly, because the test was geared to people who buy green (consumption!) and totally leaves out those of us who are reducing our footprint by reducing and reusing. My family, for instance purchases almost all our clothing second hand. While I'm glad that eco-friendly products are becoming more widely available, I'd like to acknowledge those who consume less or reuse more before those who buy the latest green goods.

That's why I love the book The Complete Tightwad Gazette. I'm not an especially frugal person, but I find (as the author does on page 222) that there's a lot of overlap between tightwaddery and green living. The Complete Tightwad Gazette has great ideas on how to reduce and reuse, and if nothing else inspires me to come up with my own creative solutions. I like to think of this book as the "Poor Green's Bible".

Even those with plenty of money could always use some tips on reducing consumption!