A review by keltreads
Green Washed: Why We Can't Buy Our Way to a Green Planet by Kendra Pierre-Louis

challenging informative reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

Overall, I found this book to be very informative. Even though this was written 12 years ago, the information Pierre-Louis presents still holds up. The author takes a good look at multiple industries - food, fashion, cars, etc., and argues how buying "greener" doesn't solve our environmental problems because this consumerism itself is the problem. Our consumerism results in wasting more and more resources, leading to greater degradation of our environment. I really appreciate how Pierre-Louis provides a holistic view of our environmental problems, looking at both our collective individual decisions (including our culture) as well as the broader economic system which fails to incorporate environmental costs. I think the book is mostly well-written and readable, and arguments are laid out well (though this may be because I studied environmental science and am familiar with this subject area). 

The main downside is that the book is heavily negative and can get depressing to read at times. Pierre-Louis only briefly touches on solutions and what others are doing throughout the book. I think there could have been a greater emphasis on call-to-action as well as highlighting how impactful the solutions and groups she mentioned have been, to inspire more readers.