I was asked to review a book on my blog entitled Zapped: Why Your Cell Phone Shouldn’t Be Your Alarm Clock and 1,268 Ways to Outsmart the Hazards of Electronic Pollution, by Ann Louise Gittleman.  I was hesitant because this isn’t a forum to discuss and debate just anything and because my mind space is also very much devoted.  I rethought and decided that I would read this book about invisible pollution, and see if I couldn’t view it through a plastic lens.

So the thing this book tackles is electropollution and the disturbing effects it has on our energetic selves.  Well, energetic is maybe a bad word choice, since energy is one thing this pollution apparently robs us of.  Perhaps I shall call us electrical beings instead.  So us electrical beings are being bombarded left right and centre, zapped if you will, by electromagnetic fields made possible by our numerous electrical inventions.  Hair dryers, cell phones, radios, laptops, and the like.  Ms. Gittleman takes us through a somewhat fact-heavy heavy journey of what this does to our bodies.  Which made me tired…wait, now I am confused?  Was it the writing making me tired, or my laptop?!

I am exaggerating a little.  I wasn’t so un-into it to not start noticing some similar language coming from my and Ms. Gittleman’s pens.  For example, I enjoyed that she interestingly vilifies “conveniences”.  She even goes as far as to make a connection between lead poisoning and convenience.  Alright, now we were on the same page!  I continued, and noted her fascinating comparison of how much crap we have in our homes today, as opposed to a mere 40 years ago.  She is of course noting all the electrical appliances, and I am noting that they are all made of plastic.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again.  A lot of evil stuff comes in plastic and comes out of plastic.  We would have all been better without.

Reading along (and I promise I am not going to take you through the entire book) I found yet another connection.  “What we are beginning to understand is that the proliferation of technology, while it has taken us many strides in social and economic progress, may have created a toxic load that is too great for some bodies to handle, just as the rise of toxic chemicals such as pesticides, plastics, and heavy metals in the environment has overwhelmed the ability of some bodies to neutralize them.” I had always thought about the direct adverse health effects of plastic, but Ann kindly added another, indirect, dimension.

My main beef, apart from the horrible 80s cover of this book?  Visible or not, I disagree with the middle of the road solution to pollution- i.e. that we can find a “peaceful coexistence” with all this stuff as the book suggests.  I mean, immune-boosting recipes, among the other bring-your-own-bag type solutions, are great and all, but they can only take us so far.  EVERYTHING in moderation adds up.  Cummon Ann!  You just spent a long time convincing me how horrible this pollution is, only to lead me to mediocrity?  How about REFUSE?!  I.e. Stop buying all this plastic crap in the first place.  There is your gateway to everything good.  Think I’ll write my own book.  Yep, sure will.