I received this book from the publisher through Netgalley for review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
The author begins with her journey from grief to frugal environmental ideology. She embraces environmentalism as a way of life. She challenges the reader to follow in her footsteps to be less trashy. Twelve chapters allow for one month of focus in the coming year to take practical steps to low waste living, making changes to your own lifestyle. Read it fast or slow, take notes, Mark your calendar and set a plan in motion to reduce your waste. Revisit reduce, reuse, recycle.
Note: concepts are decluttering, minimalism, reducing as a consumer, make over your closet all while living in the real world. This is not a book for peppers or off grid living.

The world, especially its oceans, is becoming a trash heap. Food containers and other excess packaging are filling our landfills and are not composting. Don’t Be Trashy gives all kinds of advice to reduce your family’s carbon footprint, while also significantly decluttering your home.

Does anyone else feel smothered by the amount of goods that are in your home? Are you sick of taking out bags and bags of empty packaging for food, cleaning supplies, and beauty products? Are you concerned about possibly toxic chemicals in your home? Don’t Be Trashy addresses all of these issues within its pages.

Personally, I’ve already implemented some of the suggestions. I’ve replaced plastic water bottles with glass. I’ve been buying grains, beans, and candy in bulk at my local market. I’m even thinking of composting (though it is too cold outside to start it now). Don’t Be Trashy provides some easy ways to slow down climate change that you can do in your own home. 4 stars!

Thanks to Rodale Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Is one of your goals to get more organized in 2022? To declutter and create less waste that goes into the landfill? To do your part to slow climate change and make more responsible choices?

This new book by Tara McKenna, who started the Zero Waste Collective, gives several timely tips and suggestions. Her book is broken down into 12 sections perfectly suited to commit to a year of making changes and creating less trash, tackling one topic each month.

The sections are:
-Trash Talk Basics
-Decluttering and Minimalism
-Conscious Consumption
-Pantry Goals
-All Things Bathroom and Cleaning
-Outfit Repeater
-The Subtle Art of Refusal
-Family and Friends
-You're Not Alone
-Money Matters
-No-Buy Month
-Wrap it Up

For the past couple of years, my family has made a commitment to eat real food and cut out processed foods and chemicals in our diet (with the help of Eat Real Cookbook). Perhaps this is the next logical step in the changes we are making in our lifestyle.

I received an arc of this timely and helpful book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks for the opportunity.

This practical guide from the creator of The Zero Waste Collective goes over a variety of ways to reduce your waste. Let’s face it, we throw away a horrendous amount of items in this country, and it needs to change. This book goes over a variety of things such as ditching the latest fashion and building a capsule wardrobe, getting rid of plastic, how to revamp how you shop for groceries, etc. I’ve read some other books on the subject and I appreciate that this one is a bit more realistic. A lot of other guides will insist that you make your own toiletries at home, get rid of half your kitchen and replace it with sustainable options ASAP, etc, but this author is cool with using up what you have, then see if you can find better options used (save money & resources), or if there’s something you just can’t part with then it’s OK. I also appreciate that she is not as ableist as most other authors. For instance, acknowledging that if you need to buy precut veggies at the grocery store (in plastic) due to health issues or time then that’s perfectly fine.

Thank you to NetGalley & Rodale for this advanced reader copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Perfect book for middle-class readers looking to start a low-waste journey in their household. Of course, there's plenty of great advice for people who don't fit that demographic, but this seems to be the book's target audience. I think that the pace of Tara's program is perfect for someone who is just beginning--not overwhelming, no drastic changes that will leave people feeling discouraged. The exercises at the end of each chapter are great for reflecting and engaging with what the reader has learned.

I am a nutritionist who strives to live a healthy and simplified life. I also recycle and try to reduce waste where possible. This book gives ideas as to how to reduce waste and be a more conscious consumer. Each of the 12 chapters focuses on one thing to reduce waste and consumption from decluttering, purchasing less, and overhauling your kitchen and bath. This book would be a good overview and action guide for someone who is new to reducing their consumption and trash. If someone is more knowledgeable they might not learn a lot new from this book.
I received a complementary copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Don't Be Trashy is an engaging tutorial guide with tips on decluttering, streamlining, upcycling, and living with less waste curated by Tara McKenna. Due out 4th Jan 2022 from Crown Publishing on their Rodale imprint, it's 256 pages and will be available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

The author is passionate about the subject of trash, pollution, conservation, and creative things we can do in our individual lives to change the comprehensive destruction of our planet. Exactly how much impact we can make by upcycling empty bottles is another matter. The book is not just upcycling of course; the author has made an effort to be compendious in her efforts and includes a laundry list of what, how, and why.

The chapters are arranged thematically and organized well: basics (how, what, why), decluttering & minimalism, conscious consumption (LOTS of good info here), pantry, bathroom, clothing, saying no (to stuff), family & friends (don't be *that zealot*), find your tribe, frugality, no-buy month (do-able), and a sensible conclusion/wrap up. When I read the author's intro, I had some trepidation that this was going to be a wide eyed gung-ho manifesto. While the author is, admittedly, engaged and passionate about the subject, she's not wrong, and we do have to make changes. The ideas she presents aren't extreme and are (mostly) implementable for most people.

The book is full of sequentially numbered bullet lists and worksheet tables. People-who-make-lists will be in heaven here. The tone is very politely insistent throughout - and if I'm being 100% honest, to me it channels that one passionate friend who is always engaged in a cause and wants everyone to Feel Deeply Too. That being said, she takes pains (a whole chapter) to explain how NOT to be that friend, so it could just be me.

Graphically, it's extremely spartan. There are no photos or illustrations (they're not really needed). It's more of a taking notes and making lists type book. There is also a subtle presumption of readers having access to (and money for) larger metropolitan areas and food co-ops for buying in bulk and re-using containers.The chapters on disposable clothing, "fast fashion", and makeup/toiletries are spot on and probably worth the price of the book.

I found it worthwhile and thought provoking. Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This book provides a lot of fresh craft ideas for upcycling, recycling, and creating decorative, functional, and multi-purpose crafts out of "trash."