What if you could own a 600-page manual filled with solutions on how to make the world a better place? And what if most of those solutions were easy?

Maybe it's not too good to be true.

Practical solutions are the philosophy behind a buzz book out that I'm excited to check out called WorldChanging: A User's Guide to the 21st Century.

Edited by Alex Steffen, with a foreward by Al Gore, the book is written by the planet's leading thinkers on some of my favorite eco-friendly topics, such as eating local, green building, workplace sustainability, and volunteerism. The premise: Creative answers exist, via technology, business, and other avenues not traditionally associated with a green lifestyle.

The book promises to focus on real soluti, ones that are already available, for a brighter, greener future. It's written by the people behind WorldChanging.com, and though the book officially goes on sale November 1, it's already in the top 100 on Amazon's bestseller lists.

Now, if you're anything like me, you might pause at the thought of having to wade through another book about the terrible state of the planet. Or, like me, maybe you worry that it's a waste of paper in order to preach to the converted.

But, as one reviewer commented on Amazon, unlike most "green-themed books" which tend to be a bit "doomy and gloomy," this book is chockful of ideas that "ordinary people can do, which don't cramp your style."

That was the sentence that convinced me to place my order.

I can embrace a book that focuses on the solutions, rather than the problems. Most of us have already grasped the problems and issues. And most of us are willing to take that extra step if we know what to do. But I'm far more likely to do something when the problems don't seem quite as daunting and the solutions are fairly simple.

In fact, as much as I hate to admit it, that's all I'm really looking for: Simple solutions, especially if they require minimal sacrifice on my part.