Educating ourselves on environmental topics is an important step in solidifying our reasoning and encouraging our actions. I’ve put together a list of 5 books I’ve read recently and enjoyed immensely; these books cover a variety of topics and include both one-time and ongoing sustainable actions.
Don’t Be Trashy is an excellent and refreshing read. The author speaks with realism and understanding, knowing that difficult seasons of life can slow or stop progress toward a person’s goals. She tackles issues that can truly impact a person’s habits going forward, such as finding your personal style so you stop buying clothing that you don’t truly love, and how to refuse unnecessary things without seeming or feeling rude. She has chapters arranged into categories, so readers can easily focus on an area of life that may seem overwhelming without guidance.
If you like this blog, I promise you’ll also like this book.
The Mindful Kitchen is a cookbook filled with insights to help people reassess their relationship with food and nature. It provides history of certain ingredients and foodstuffs to ground us, cultural relevance to connect us, and thought provoking questions to inspire us. It is thoughtfully made, part cookbook and part healing resource for anyone who feels out of touch with food for any reason.
The Story of Stuff is a book that truly depicts the impact of consumption and, more importantly, overconsumption. It unveils the hidden costs of the items available to us. Where we see items in the shop and items in our home, it reveals what is invisible to us: from the extraction of resources around the world, to the inhumane labor conditions and pollution created during manufacturing, to the packaging and transportation, and, after consumption, to the disposal of these items. It all adds up to a much more shocking impact for the items we feel we need, that are more often than not obsolete or discarded shortly after they’re purchased.
Restore. Recycle. Repurpose.: Create a Beautiful Home is a book that showcases creative ideas for decor, imaginative details, and functional yet avant-garde pieces. It’s a great resource for anyone who’s looking to remodel an existing space or just freshen up an area in an environmentally friendly way. The author inspires readers to think of existing materials with new insight, finding charm in imperfection and beauty in everyday items.
Last but not least is 72 Reasons to Be Vegan. I debated if I should include this book, but it was too good to not mention; as soon as you include the word “vegan” in the title, meat eaters stiffen in response. But this book gives plenty of reasons why someone may consider reducing or eliminating animal products from their diet. It has some emotional reasons, but is very factual for why meat isn’t always a healthy choice and why plants often are. It’s sectioned into 72 very short, simple chapters, so it’s easy to read up on the types of reasons that interest you. Are you wanting to eat for brain health? There’s a chapter for that. Reduced cancer risk? There’s a chapter for that, too. Better athletic performance. Yes, there’s a chapter for that.
Every person has individual interests and strengths. Whatever your interests are, I encourage you to learn more about them. With knowledge, creativity, and determination I am confident you will find a way to utilize your passion for the good of the planet.
If you’re looking for even more book suggestions, you can find last year’s recommendations here.