EASY RECYCLING HANDBOOK by Dee McVicker...

EASY RECYCLING HANDBOOK by Dee McVicker (Grassroots Books: $8.95; 128 pp., paperback original) and WHAT WORKS: Local Solutions to Toxic Pollution by Kristin Schafer with Sarah Blust, Brian Lipsett, Penny Newman and Richard Wiles (Public Interest Publications, P.O. Box 229, Arlington, Va.: $17, plus $2 postage; 157 pp., illustrated, paperback original). As the title suggests, “Easy Recycling” offers basic instructions on how to prepare material to be recycled, how to recognize the symbols for different types of plastic, etc. “Local Solutions” focuses on questions of environmental justice, citing instances of citizens rallying to defeat ill-planned projects, remove health threats and force companies to install pollution controls. At a time when members of poor and/or minority communities are objecting to being stuck with disproportionate numbers of waste sites, the authors hope to convert readers into activists by demonstrating that they can successfully oppose powerful corporate interests.