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New books help you go green, become self-sufficient and maybe even rich

BY PAM ROBINSON

Two new green books

"Go Green, Live Rich," by David Bach and Hillary Rosner, (Broadway, $14.95)

The authors offer 50 ideas for ratcheting up a commitment to environmentalism but their emphasis is on how people can save or make money by doing so.

Among their ideas: Telecommute, if possible. Use cheaper, green products for household cleaning. Recycle and keep garbage fees down. Some are simple: eat less meat or drive less. Others require more effort, such as planting a vegetable garden or buying a hybrid car. At the end of the book, they complete the cycle of money by offering advice on investing in eco-friendly businesses. Their main argument is that there is no such thing as a "green premium," a higher cost for going environmental.

"The Self-sufficiency Specialist," by A. and G. Bridgewater (New Holland, $9.95)

This little book is packed with dozens of tips of ways to "go off the grid," or make your home and yourself self-sufficient of outside power and food sources. Some of these ideas can be used in suburbia: there's advice on planting a vegetable, fruit or herb garden; ideas for reducing heat loss in a home by using wall hangings; using rainwater for gardening purposes or recycling. Others are more complex, such as tapping into geothermal energy; raising poultry or other animals; building a wind turbine or smoking or drying food for later use.