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Green living : a comprehensive guide to a happy and sustainable life / Green Matters
Who says living a green lifestyle has to be a chore? Part reference, part lifestyle-with a dash of inspiration-Green Living is full of approachable, accessible, and easily implemented strategies to quickly and easily bring sustainability into all areas of your life and home.
Don’t be trashy : a practical guide to living with less waste and more joy / Tara McKenna
We’re all trapped in a convenience-based and wasteful cycle, but Tara McKenna offers an alternative: an approach to reducing waste for a more sustainable and ethical life that emphasizes progress over perfection. This isn’t about fitting all of your waste into a Mason jar or going zero waste overnight. For real, long-lasting change that will enhance your life, McKenna guides you through a year of reducing waste, month by month, with lifestyle topics ranging from decluttering and developing a capsule wardrobe to streamlining your kitchen, pantry, and bathroom–slowly!–to significantly reduce the inflow of single-use plastics. This is an opportunity to become a more conscious consumer, as McKenna emphasizes the importance of a circular economy, and soon you’ll be investing in home goods that’ll last for decades. Ultimately, it’s about transitioning to a minimalist mindset–a mindset that, coincidentally, will be good for your wallet–and the planet–in the long term.
The carbon footprint of everything / Mike Berners-Lee
An award-winning, practical (and funny) guide to reducing your carbon footprint. Calculate your carbon footprint: with an item-by-item breakdown. Meet your company’s carbon goals: using the latest research. Covid-19 and the carbon battle: understand the new global supply chain. The Carbon Footprint of Everything breaks items down by the amount of carbon they produce, creating a calorie guide for the carbon-conscious. With engaging writing, leading carbon expert Mike Berners-Lee shares new carbon calculations based on recent research. He considers the impact of the pandemic on the carbon battle–especially the embattled global supply chain–and adds items we didn’t consider a decade ago, like bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Supported by solid research, cross-referenced with other expert sources, illustrated with easy-to-follow charts and graphs, and written with Berners-Lee’s trademark sense of humor, The Carbon Footprint of Everything should be on everyone’s bookshelf. The Carbon Footprint of Everything is an extensively revised and updated edition of How Bad Are Bananas.
Simply sustainable : moving toward plastic-free, low-waste living / Lily Cameron
Transitioning to a zero-waste lifestyle means eliminating unnecessary clutter from your home and reducing your dependence on disposable goods, but it also comes with practical challenges that can seem daunting. In Simply Sustainable, perfection is not required. Whether you are looking for easy changes to get you started, or more advanced, high-impact tips for your low-waste home, these simple, effective steps will forever change your relationship to disposable plastic products. Lily Cameron shows readers how to gradually transition away from plastic and curate a minimal, beautiful home in the process.
Sustainable garden : projects, tips and advice for the eco-conscious gardener / Marian Boswall ; photographs by Jason Ingram
A stylish, inspirational and practical guidebook to maintaining a more environmentally friendly outdoor space. Sustainable gardener Marian Boswell walks us through the process of creating and maintaining a sustainable outdoor space, offering tips, guidances and step-by-step projects designed to help you lead a more low-impact lifestyle. Whether it’s by making your own fertilisers, converting to peat-free compost, reducing your consumption of plastic, saving your own seeds or creating raised beds with reused timber, there are numerous ways – both big and small – to make a difference. This book will guide anyone hoping to take informed and intelligent decisions to make a difference, but who perhaps don’t know where to begin.
One : pot, pan, planet : a greener way to cook for you and your family / Anna Jones ; photographs by Issy Croker
Jones shares recipes for quick, sustainable, and stylish vegetable-centered meals. The recipes are easy to make– and keep sustainability at the center of every dish. The variety and depth of flavors will make these inventive, deeply satisfying dishes your new kitchen standbys for vegetarians and vegans. Jones also includes information to help you reduce waste, use leftovers, make your kitchen plastic-free, and make you a more environmentally mindful shopper.
Sundressed : natural fibrics and the future of clothing / Lucianne Tonti
In this superbly written book, fashion insider Lucianne Tonti looks beyond sustainable fashion to a future remade by natural fibres. An exploratory dive into the art and industry of clothing and an ode to the possibilities in nature, Sundressed is an accessible, engaging and optimistic challenge to designers, farmers and business to think bigger.If we grasp their potential, natural fabrics will revolutionize more than the way we dress. Regenerative farming of fibres like cotton, wool, flax and cashmere can restore biodiversity, soils and water cycles, making it possible to create beautiful clothes while improving the environment. Tonti introduces the farms and fashion houses that are changing the industry. She uncovers a growing hive of activity worldwide, from mulberry groves in China and cotton collectives in California to Mongolian goatherds and Australian sheep farmers. Tonti’s extensive research in sustainability is interwoven with her insights and personal experiences in fashion houses internationally. With a designer’s eye for detail and an insider’s understanding of the market, Tonti shows us where our clothes come from and why it matters.
The happy planet cookbook : mostly plant-based recipes for sustainable eating / Eva Fox
Reduce your carbon footprint one small, scrumptious step at a time! Eva Fox’s The Happy Planet Cookbook is here to help with plant-based recipes that are easier on the environment and more sustainable ways to enjoy the proteins you just can’t live without. Get curious about your ingredients, reduce your meat and dairy intake, and add more eco-friendly foods to your pantry so you can help make the planet a little happier.
Sustainable beauty : practical advice and projects for an eco-conscious beauty routine / Justine Jenkins
Sustainable Beauty is an inspirational and practical guide to living a more eco conscious lifestyle and maintaining a low waste beauty routine. Vegan, cruelty free, ‘clean’, organic, non GM, zero waste, not to mention palm oil, silicones and micro plastics where do you start when it comes to creating a sustainable beauty routine? There are thousands of products claiming to be better for the environment and your skin, but they also come with a hefty price tag. So what can we actually do to make a difference? This book provides the small steps everyone can take to make a big difference at home. Justine Jenkins, an holistic and sustainable make up artist & consultant, guides you through breaking down the issues and explaining how we can mitigate them at home. With easy tutorials to follow from simplifying your beauty routine and product label literacy through to recipes for DIY hydrating serums and superfood face masks Jenkins shows you how small changes in habit can result in a more sustainable beauty routine that doesn’t break the bank.
Minimal : for simple & sustainable living / Laurie Barrette and Stéphanie Mandréa ; translated by J. C. Sutcliffe
Minimal: For Simple and Sustainable Living offers readers inspiration and tools to embrace simple living and create meaningful, lasting change in their lives. From advice on home decorating and decluttering, easy-to-follow recipes for making your own cosmetics and cleaning products, and tips for shopping sustainably, composting, and restoring old furniture, Minimal provides a host of small but powerful ways to live a more balanced life while being good to the planet.
Zero waste living, the 80/20 way : the busy person’s guide to a lighter footprint / Stephanie J. Miller
Empowering the busy individual to do the easy things that have a real impact on the climate and waste crises.Many of us feel powerless to solve the looming climate and waste crises. We have too much on our plates, and may think these problems are better solved by governments and businesses. This book unlocks the potential in each “too busy” individual to be a crucial part of the solution. Stephanie Miller combines her career focused on climate change with her own research and personal experience to show how a few, relatively easy lifestyle changes can create significant positive impact. Using the simplicity of the 80/20 rule, she shows us those things (the 20%) that we can do to make the biggest (80%) difference in reversing the climate and waste crises.
The (almost) zero waste guide : 100+ tips for reducing your waste without changing your life / Melanie Mannarino
You want to reduce waste in your daily life and make a positive impact on the planet– ​but without​ making​​ drastic changes in your habits. Mannarino shows how you can have a profound impact on our environment, climate, and health by making some simple changes to your lifestyle. She shares tips for being less wasteful whether at home or traveling. Making eco-friendly choices, such as purchasing clothes with more sustainable fabrics or adopting a “Meatless Monday” regimen can help decrease your carbon footprint. Learn to live a greener, more sustainable life!Â
Green interior design : the guide to sustainable high style / Lori Dennis & Courtney Porter
Green Interior Design is the most comprehensive guide to sustainable building, designing, and decorating on the market. This beautifully illustrated guide covers every detail of your home–from the drywall to the finial on the curtain rod–and how to find the most environmentally friendly versions of products and décor. This second edition of Green Interior Design is meant as much for the budget DIYer as it is for the luxury homebuilders looking to dip their toes into sustainability.
The self-sufficiency bible : 100s of ways to live more sustainably– wherever you are / Simon Dawson
In our current era of pandemic and environmental crisis, self-sufficiency is a means of taking control of our lives and safeguarding for the future – and this new, fully updated edition of the sustainability classic will help every householder do just that. You’ll find all the practical information and expert guidance you need on every aspect of self-sufficiency, from gardening and baking through health, beauty and cleaning to foraging and livestock, whatever your needs, circumstances and resources. This means that the gardening chapter, for example, is appropriate both for people with an urban back yard or a more substantial plot of land.
Written in a down-to-earth, engaging and often amusing style, and charmingly illustrated with line drawings, the book will appeal to anyone who wants to be more creative, resourceful and independent, who wants to rediscover their inner hunter-gatherer, to single people as much as to large families, and to parents looking to equip their children with basic life skills.
The humane home : easy steps for sustainable & green living / Sarah Lozanova ; illustrations by Candace Rose Rardon
Create your own unique sustainable home and life with tools, tips, and inspiration from The Humane Home. Sarah Lozanova shows us how to evaluate all the ways our lifestyle and living choices can be more sustainable, from powering our homes to the food we consume and the air we breathe. Small steps empower us to act immediately by starting an herb garden, reducing utility bills, and learning how to conduct a home energy audit. The fun, DIY activities and easy-to-follow, ecofriendly practices reshape how we think about our living spaces and help us create a blueprint for our own personal version of a humane home.
Radical sewing : pattern-free, sustainable fashions for all bodies / Kate Weiss
Radical Sewing is a guide for learning how to make your own clothes. Kate introduces you to the basics and best practices of garment sewing for yourself at home, as well as advice and info on things you wouldn’t even know to ask about sewing. Topics include hand sewing, picking out a sewing machine, adding pockets to anything, sewing a button so it stays on, altering your clothes to fit your unique body, and so much more! Regardless of your sewing experience, gender, or body type, this illustrated guide will empower you to make your wardrobe your own. With loads of encouragement to try things out, all you’ll need to do is experiment and break the rules to create the clothes and outfits that you want to wear.
The backyard homesteader : how to save water, keep bees, eat from your garden, and live a more sustainable life / Alison Candlin
Absolutely all you need to know to provide you and your family with homegrown food throughout the year. Offers easy to follow advice on planning, establishing, and maintaining a small-acre farm, an allotment, or a backyard garden. Includes step-by-step instructions, photographs, and illustrations, this book is a practical and comprehensive guide to living off the land.
Sustainable gardening : grow a “greener” low-maintenance landscape with fewer resources / Vincent A. Simeone
Take practical steps to protect the Earth for future generations by creating a sustainable home landscape that is also beautiful, budget-friendly, and low-maintenance. In this updated edition of Grow More With Less, author and horticulturist Vincent Simeone shows us that gardens are living laboratories where we can experiment, grow, and connect with other living things. There are tens of millions of gardeners across the globe. Together, we can create a huge and lasting positive impact on the planet and all the creatures who share it with us. With the well-researched plan found in the pages of Sustainable Gardening, gardeners and homeowners are taught how to: Grow more plants while using fewer resources Conserve water through plant choice and proper landscape care Stop the disposable mindset Mitigate the effects of climate change through intelligent landscaping Plan and plant with low-maintenance in mind Build healthy soil to sequester carbon and grow healthier plants Create a garden that supports wildlife and soil life Design your garden for resiliency and a long, healthy life Banish synthetic pesticides and herbicides for more eco-friendly choices Reduce plastic waste in the garden and the landfill Set your garden on a schedule to reduce maintenance needs Harvest rainwater for future use Adopt a sustainable lawn care program that requires less work and fewer resources Plus, discover profiles of some of the best shrubs, perennials, and ornamental grasses to include in your sustainable landscape. Not only are they beautiful and low-care, they also provide valuable ecosystem services. Sustainability is defined as the capacity to endure, and while the term sustainability may seem a bit overused these days, the truth is that there are few other words that convey the same message. Adaptability and resilience are close, but they miss the mark in conveying the long-term aspects of true sustainability. Being more mindful of your actions and learning how everything you do in your landscape impacts the ecosystem found there generates a more thoughtful and responsible approach to gardening we all would be wise to adopt.
A pocket guide to sustainable food shopping : how to navigate the grocery store, read labels, and help save the planet / by Kate Bratskeir
Limit your waste and reduce your carbon footprint with this modern and practical guide to sustainable grocery shopping. We all try to live more ethically in our day-to-day lives, but sometimes it’s difficult to implement all we have learned about sustainability into our hectic schedules. This is particularly true when making shopping decisions at the grocery store. In The Pocket Guide to Sustainable Food Shopping you’ll learn the key ingredients to living a healthier and more eco-friendly life, particularly when shopping for the food that fuels you.
To find more great books, go to our book recommendation page and browse book lists created by the librarians at Robbins.