Environmentalists have a bad reputation as overly earnest, dour, end-of-world types. But that’s slowly shifting as environmentalism, or giving a darn about the earth, becomes more mainstream.

Sometimes green folks and green books can be positively … funny. Yes, I said funny.

The best books are those that are funny and get you thinking. Then you don’t feel like you’re being hit over the head with a baseball hat. Don’t get me wrong –sometimes we do need to be hit over the head with a baseball bat, but not all the time. Sometimes we need a break.

If you need a break from heavy, serious eco-lit, let me give you two book suggestions.

The first: Bothered by My Green Conscience by Franke James is not only fun and thought-provoking, but illustrated with funky pictures by the author, a Toronto artist. James decided to sell her SUV and rip up her driveway to plant a garden, and endures the reactions from family and friends, and even Toronto City Hall to her wild, green scheme. Along the way she discusses how social change happens: awareness versus action, empathy versus self-interest, and fines vs. social disapproval. The result is a whimsical look at one person’s efforts to do the hardest thing first to counter climate change in her personal life.

The second: Greasy Rider: Two Dudes, One Fry-Oil-Powered Car, and Cross-Country Search for a Greener Future by Greg Melville is an eco-road story. Melville and his old college chum, Iggy, depart on a cross country tour visiting green hot-spots like Google’s headquarters, Al Gore’s mansion, Fort Knox, a wind farm, a renewable energy lab, and a green home, driving an old Mercedes converted to run on vegetable oil. While I wouldn’t say this book was hilarious, like some reviewers did, it was entertaining and very readable. And not to worry; it doesn’t skirt ethanol’s thorny issues.

In past posts, I bragged that I no longer washed my hair with shampoo, but instead used baking soda. I twigged on to this because I’d read about a few people who were trying to reduce their plastic waste to next to nothing. I also didn’t like the idea of putting questionable chemicals on my scalp and in our water supply.

Now I have to come clean with you – my baking soda experiment failed. My hair became so dry that my hairdresser had to cut off an extra two inches of damaged ends. “What have you been using on your hair?!” she asked, nose wrinkled.

I don’t know where these “no-poo” people live, or what kind of hair they have, but for me, living in Calgary, baking soda shampoo was a horrible idea. (That said, I still use it about once a week, just not every day).

I write all this sheepishly, not only because I’m responsible for the damaged locks of a few of my friends and colleagues, but also because I’m taking up valuable space and time talking about washing your hair with baking soda. It’s not exactly an act that’s going to save our little green-and-blue marble now is it?

If you really want to take action why not sign up for Green Calgary’s EcoLeaders 2010 course? It’s a course for people who are working to reduce their eco-footprint, but are interested in learning more and doing more. The deadline to apply is March 4^th and more info is available here.

I’m pretty sure they won’t be telling you to wash your hair with baking soda.