10 great books on eco friendly living and sustainable lifestyles
A round up of my favourite books on eco friendly living
I love reading books from my local library, and borrowing books from friends. My favourite genre is non-fiction, particularly books that give useful advice on how to live a more eco friendly life.
Below are ten books that I recommend on eco friendly living, sustainability and self sufficiency.
Ten books on eco friendly living that I recommend
Books about Zero Waste living
1. Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson
In Zero Waste Home, Bea Johnson tells us how she simplified her life by reducing her waste. Bea and her family produce hardly any rubbish each year now, as a result of closely reviewing what they were buying in the first place.
If you are looking for a comprehensive book on reducing waste, this could be a fantastic book for you. I recommend it as a resource for practical ideas on living a more low wase lifestyle.
Read my full book review of Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson and see Bea Johnson’s website for more information.
2. A Zero waste life in thirty days by Anita Vandyke
This is a practical thirty-day guide to reduce your waste in thirty days, without losing your lifestyle.
Anita Vandyke shows that by living zero waste, you gain more – more time, more money and more satisfaction with life. In her thirty–day challenge, Anita provides tips and tricks to eliminate plastic and live a cleaner, kinder life.
Read my book review of A Zero waste life in thirty days by Anita Vandyke and see Anita Vandyke’s website.
3. 101 Ways To Go Zero Waste By Kathryn Kellogg
This book is a friendly and helpful guide for anyone who wants to reduce their waste. It is full of practical advice for reducing consumption, and making more environmentally friendly choices in the everyday items we do need to buy.
See Kathryn Kellog’s website and to download her ebook.
4. Sustainable home by Christine Liu
This book is a practical guide to maintaining a more eco friendly home. Christine Liu covers all the rooms of the home offering tips, and projects aiming to help you lead a more low-impact lifestyle.
See Christine Liu’s website for more about her work.
Books on eco friendly living for children (but still good reads for adults)
5. This book is not garbage, by Isabel Thomas
This is a fun book for kids about living a more eco friendly lifestyle. It doesn’t hide away from the fact that people are throwing away too much rubbish and causing pollution. However it offers lots of ideas for ways to reduce waste that are appealing to children.
From stopping buying straws, to upcycling common products that we might otherwise throw away, there are lots of practical ideas in this book for children and families to make small, eco friendly habit changes.
Books about Self Sufficient living
6. The New Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency by John Seymour
This classic book by John Seymour is still a key reference book to sustainable living. It is an inspiring guide to how to live a more sustainabe and self sufficnent life.
It features practical information on subjects including:
- organic gardening,
- harnessing solar energy,
- keeping chickens,
- foraging,
- preserving food, and
- making your own homebrew.
A must have for anyone who wants to learn the practicalities of growing and storing food, and keeping animals on their own block of land.
Books about frugal living that are also about eco friendly living
There is a crossover in the values and ethics of living sustainably, and aiming for financial independence. These approaches turn away from the societal expectations of consumerism and continually striving to own more. I enjoy stories about people choosing to leave the mainstream expectations, and dedicate themselves to these ways of living.
7. Meet the Frugalwoods: Achieving Financial Independence Through Simple Living by Elizabeth Willard Thames
This book covers the story of Elizabeth Willard Thames move from a successful career in the city, to a more meaningful life as a modern day homesteader in a rural part of the USA.
This is a great book about how a family realized that the mainstream lifestyle wasn’t for them, and explored the idea of living more sustainably and achieving financial independence.
See their website at The Frugalwoods
8. The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life Is Worth More Than Anything You Can Buy in a Store by Cait Flanders
This book documents the author’s realization that she was stuck in the consumerism cycle of buying more and getting into debt, and how she changed her life to break out of this spiral.
Cait Flanders decided to stop buying all the ‘extras’, and only bought consumables such as groceries and toiletries for a whole year.
Along the way, she challenged herself to consume less of many other things. At every stage, she learned that the less she consumed, the more fulfilled she felt. An inspiring story of a total change of attitude towards spending.
See Cait’s website for more information.
9. The Art of Frugal Hedonism: A Guide to Spending Less While Enjoying Everything More by Annie Raser-Rowland
This book was a fun guide to saving money and the environment, while still having a fabulous time. It includes many ways to tweak your habits to be more eco friendly, and to enjoy more of the low cost pleasures in life.
Find out more at the website Frugal Hedonism
Books on eco friendly living from a male point of view
10. Dude Making a Difference: Bamboo Bikes, Dumpster Dives and Other Extreme Adventures Across America by Rob Greenfield
Many books in the world of eco friendly living are written by women. This book is a rare example written by a man striving to live a lower waste lifestyle.
Rob Greenfield has embraced a radical style of sustainability, challenging himself to live with next to nothing.
In this account, Rob travels across 4,700 miles across the USA, on a bamboo bicycle. He uses only water from natural sources, avoids fossil fuels, generates electricity from solar panels, and aims for zero waste.
This unique travelogue is incredibly inspiring, even if you don’t see yourself going to such extremes as Rob. His book includes practical tips and ideas that any of us can use to reduce our impact on the planet,
Thanks
Lots a great sustainable inspiration here, including for the kids! I just brought three more stone fruit trees today so I need to read more about their care and how to get the best from them 🙂
Thanks Sarah. glad it was useful. Great to hear you have bought more trees – they are such a worthwhile investment! We planted some new plum and peach trees just over 18 months ago, and had our first fruit from them this summer. Awesome to go out in the garden and pick your own fruit.