This month we’re sharing a book each day that aims to educate us to work together to understand, and help, the planet. Today’s pick is Live Green which guides us to live a full, albeit simple life. Click through to read more.
What does sustainability mean to you? Most people are aware that sustainability is important, but may struggle to decide how to incorporate sustainable practices into their lives. This week Team Booko has brought together lots of ideas on how to get started. Many of these ideas only require small changes – such as ditching plastic straws, or walking instead of driving short distances. Others are fun and creative, encouraging us to try making / cooking / upcycling. These books also show that sustainability are interlinked with mindfulness and decluttering – meaning that it is not only good for our environment, but good for our health and our wallets too!
A Life Less Throwaway: the Lost Art of Buying for Life by Tara Button
Tara Button was a work-hard, spend-hard advertising executive when she realised that her shopping habits – meant to make her happy – was having the opposite effect. So she started to fight back against the current culture of planned obsolescence – the idea that products should have a limited (ie short) lifespan – and instead, started a movement that celebrates products that are made to last. A Life Less Throwaway explains the concept of “mindful curation”, with plenty of tips and strategies to help us only buy things that fit the purpose, that we love and that can last a lifetime.
Simple Acts to Save our Planet: 500 Ways to Make a Difference by Michelle Neff
If you want to live in a more sustainable and environmentally responsible way, but don’t know where to start, then this book is for you. Michelle Neff has created a bumper book of “Simple Acts of Kindess” for our planet. Many of the ideas look at how to reduce waste, bolster animal and insect populations and lower energy consumption. These Simple Acts show us that even the tiniest change to our lifestyle – such as BYO coffee cups and shopping bags, and buying items with minimal packaging – can have a lasting positive impact on the environment. What’s more, many of these ideas – such as eating less processed food, and using meat and veg scraps to make stock – can also benefit our own health.
Upcycle: Turn Everyday Objects into Home Decor by Sonia Lucano
Upcycle is a fun, contemporary project book that shows you how to turn some everyday items into home furnishings. Sonia Lucarno has chosen starting materials that are available cheaply or for free, such as old dishes, glass jars, bedsheets and wooden pallets. Learn how to turn cotton sheets into a tote bag, wooden pallet into a coffee table, or glass jars into terrariums. There are detailed instructions including lists of materials. Start salvaging these bits and pieces from the waste stream and turn them into chic, functional pieces for your home.
Perfect Imperfect: the Beauty of Accident, Age & Patina by Karen McCartney, Sharyn Cairns and Glen Proebstel
Perfect Imperfect is a sumptuous coffee table book with a subtle environmental message – by celebrating the beauty of age and imperfection (some may call it “character”), it encourages us to purchase thoughtfully rather than frequently, to value curation rather than consumption. Perfect Imperfect puts a modern spin on the age-old Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi, bringing together contemporary design with well-worn objects. The stunning interiors feature a mix of comfort, design and thoughtful beauty, and are selected from homes, hotels, shops and studios around the world.
Low Tox Life: a Handbook for a Healthy You and a Happy Planet by Alexx Stuart
Alexx Stuart has distilled the learnings from her own quest for a Low Tox Life into a guide to help you live with better health and less stress. Alexx Stuart was fighting chronic inflammation when she realised that our hyper-industrialised society was contributing to her ill-health. She started to pay closer attention to product labels, and reducing the use of synthetic fragrances, disposable plastics and processed foods, and has seen a dramatic improvement in her physical and mental health. Organised into four intuitive sections of Body, Home Food and Mind, Low Tox Life is a guide that encourages us to make more informed choices about the food we eat, and the things we surround ourselves with – and highlights that better choices can benefit both ourselves and our environment.
100 Things to Recycle and Make by Fiona Hayes
It’s never too young to help children understand the importance of sustainability, and what better way to do it than through a fun activity such as crafting. Fiona Hayes, author of the popular Crafty Makes series, has chosen 100 of her favourite projects for crafting with recycled materials. Ideas range from the decorative to the practical, including toys, stationery, decorations and storage. The projects are helpfully arranged by the main starting material, eg cardboard tubes, egg cartons, paper plates and materials from nature, and include step-by-step instructions. 100 Things to Recycle and Make is a great sourcebook for anyone who spends time with children!
The weekend is just around the corner and this week’s blog has inspired us to get out and spend some time in the garden. We’re loving this green wall.
New year, new start. A new year encourages us to try new things in the hope of personal improvement. Why not challenge yourself with goals that benefit both yourself and your environment or wider community? Even small changes can make a positive impact. Here are some ideas on how to make a difference in 2019.
Waste Not: Make a Big Difference by Throwing Away Less by Erin Rhoads
Modern society is full of stuff designed to be short-lived and then thrown away – from plastic packaging to coffee cups to clothes and even phones. Many of us are trying to create less waste, but find the idea of being Zero-Waste too daunting (even though we are impressed at the same time). Waste Not is a collection of tips and tricks that Erin Rhoads learnt during her own Zero-Waste journey, covering different aspects of life, including food, cleaning, beauty, entertaining and kids. Many of the ideas are small and very approachable (such as BYO fabric shopping bag) and there are also creative DIY ideas for making your own cleaning products, gift wrapping and much more!
Scraps, Peels and Stems: Recipes and Tips for Rethinking Food Waste at Home by Jill Lightner and Shannon Douglas
Scraps, Peels and Stems is a recipe book with a difference – it minimises food waste by making the most of every part of an ingredient. It shows you how to turn items such as beef bones, broccoli stalks, wilting greens and parmesan rinds into easy but impressive snacks and meals; there are also tips on planning your shopping to avoid overbuying; how to store food to keep it fresh for longer; and guides to composting and recycling. Jill Lightner and Shannon Douglas show how you can make your kitchen sustainable with minimal effort – it’s kind to the environment and kind to your wallet too.
Lagom: the Swedish Art of Balanced Living by Linnea Dunne
Lagom is the Swedish concept of moderation – not too little, not too much, but just enough. Linnea Dunne suggests that lagom can deliver sustainable happiness, because it’s a philosophy that promotes balance and shared experiences while minimising waste and extravagance. Lagom: the Swedish Art of Balanced Living is a compact guide on how to introduce lagom into different aspects of our lives. Many lagom activities, such as pot-luck dinners, choosing functionality over fashion, or upcycling, are low-cost or sustainable practices that also encourage mindfulness and living in the present.
The Reducetarian Solution: how the Surprisingly Simple Act of Reducing the Amount of Meat in your Diet can Transform your Health and the Planet by Brian Kateman
Plant-based foods and veganism are hot topics right now, with ideas such as Meatless Mondays and reducetarian / flexitarian eating (people who are committed to eating less meat, without becoming fully vegetarian or vegan) gaining traction. The Reducetarian Solution is a good introduction to this topic, with 70 short essays describing the wide-ranging consequences of eating meat – on health, environment, ethics, even finance. There are also recipes for meat-free meals and tips on how to sub-out meat from your current diet. The Reducetarian Solution offers positive yet non-judgmental inspiration for everyone interested in this lifestyle.
And finally – two super-topical bestsellers that are very much about mindful consumption:
The Barefoot Investor: the Only Money Guide You’ll Ever Need by Scott Pape
Team Booko have recommended The Barefoot Investor several times now – but its powerful message is worth repeating. Scott Pape does not promise to help his readers become millionaires, but he does show us simple and achievable ways to develop good money habits and work towards financial independence. Whether you are 8 or 80, trying to shake off debts or saving for a goal, you can learn something from The Barefoot Investor. No wonder this has been Booko’s most popular book for two years running.
The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo
The recent Netflix series Tidying Up with Marie Kondo has brought a whole new audience to Marie Kondo’s bestselling books. Shopping may be fun, but you can end up with too many possessions that weigh you down both physically and mentally. Simplify your life with the KonMari method of decluttering – systematically reviewing items and only keeping those that “spark joy”. You’ll feel great about yourself, gain new appreciation for the things you choose to keep, and kick that impulse buying habit as well.