Since kicking off this journey to a more sustainable life I’ve joined a few Facebook and online groups that have been invaluable. Through engaging with these groups I’ve learned so much and met a few incredible people who are doing amazing things for the planet along the way.

As part of my journey of discovery, I asked the wonderful people who are part of the Sustainable Living Facebook group what they are currently reading as I wanted to expand my knowledge. There were so many amazing answers that I decided to write them down and to keep track of all the suggestions. This will be my reading list for the foreseeable future. Below is their suggested sustainable living reading list in no particular order:

1. A Life Less Throwaway: The Lost of Art of buying for Life by Tara Button

Tara Button campion a lifestyle called mindful curation. The book explains the 10 steps of mastering the process of mindful curation, from understanding techniques and freeing yourself from external manipulation to finding your purpose and identifying your core style and tastes.

In her book, she outlines how you can consume less, and move away from impulse shopping. In today’s world, advertising puts tremendous pressure on us to buy more stuff, brands try to convince us that buying their products will make us happier, trendier and more beautiful. But euphoria is usually short-lived.

If you often fall victim to impulse shopping this book will change your perspective and possibly your finances too.

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2. The Concious Closet by Elizabeth L Cline

In her first book Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion, Elizabeth L. Cline revealed the secrets behind fast fashion and its toll on the environment, the garment workers and our overall satisfaction with the clothing we buy. Clothing is an expression of our own identity and very personal. The Conscious Closet shows us how we can live a more sustainable life and what we can do about the environmental impact of our wardrobes.

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3. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: Our Year of Seasonal Eating by Barbara Kingsolver

Barbara Kingslover opens her life to us while her family attempts a whole year of eating only sustainable and local food, of which most have been grown in her own garden. She is inspired by the local food culture and flavours while exploring farmers markets and organic farms closer to home and across the country.

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4. Our Wild Calling: How Connecting with Animals Can Transform Our Lives by Richard Louv

Our Wild Calling points us to real connection in an age where technology makes it easier to communicate, yet harder to truly connect. The book makes a case for promoting and creating a shared world for all creatures to thrive in out of love and not fear.

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5. The Nature Principle: Reconnecting with Life in a Virtual Age by Richard Louv

Best selling author of Last Child in the Wood Richard Louv, suggest that we change our view and vision of the future. He suggest that we recompute sustainability and our natural world, to evolve into a movement that affect every person in modern society.

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6. Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes by Dana Thomas

Seasoned journalist and best selling author Dana Thomas has scoured the earth to find answers about the damage done by big fashion brands. Fashionopolis celebrates the artisans, designers, visionaries and tech entrepreneurs who are inspiring change and fighting for a more sustainable fashion industry.

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7. On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal by Naomi Klein

Naomi Klein has written about the economic war raged on people and the planet for over 20 years. She is an advocate of the environmental and climate change agenda with fighting for justice at its core. In her book On Fire she describes the alarmingly high stakes of our actions, with new facts and material brought to the fore.

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8. Blessed Unrest by Paul Hawken

Hawken is has been a leader in the environmental and social justice fields for many years. Blessed Unrest will inspire all those concerned with the planet’s fate and the conclusion of the book comes at a surprise to most. The diversity of movement is explored along with its innovative strategies and incredible ideas of our hidden past.

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9. Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too by Beth Terry

From steps for beginners to those who are more advanced, the author Terry outlines checklists and tables that provide an easy reference for those looking to reduce plastic use. In Plastic-Free Heroes, Terry profiles individuals who have gone above and beyond to create change for a more sustainable life on a larger scale.

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10. In Defence of Food: The Myth of Nutrition and the Pleasures of Eating by Michael Pollan

This book is an invitation to re-evaluate our ideas about diet, urging readers to rediscover the joys of eating well. In Defence of Food advocates a few easy to follow pieces of advice – eat at a table – your desk doesn’t count. Eat what your grandma will recognise, don’t buy food where you’d buy your petrol. This book will help to enrich your plate and your life, giving you a greater sence of what it means to be healthy and happy.

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11. Food Choice and Sustainability: Why Buying Local, Eating Less Meat, and Taking Baby Steps Won’t Work by Dr. Richard Oppenlander

Dr. Oppenlander’s, with this book, aims to increase awareness about the food we eat and its impact on the environment and climate change. Food Choice and Sustainability takes a groundbreaking look at the urgency and extent of the issue. It’s a must-read for policymakers, businesses, organisations and anyone who cares about the future of the environment and the human race.

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12. Cradle to Cradle: (Patterns of the Planet) (Patterns of Life) by Michael Braungart and William McDonough

Cradle to Cradle advocates the principle of “Reduce, reuse, recycle”. It outlines a standard cradle to grave model for manufacturing that dates back to the Industrial revolution that many organisations are still following to this day. The authors outline how we should create value instead of minimising waste to create a more sustainable world. In essence, the book describes how waste should not exist at all.

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13. Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming by Paul Hawkin

Drawdown is described as the point where greenhouse gasses peak in our atmosphere and begin to decline. This book covers changing how we consume food, produce and even educate girls in third world countries. If the strategies outlined are deployed we could very well slow the earth’s warming and reach drawdown in the next thirty years allowing us to build a sustainable future.

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14. This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate by Naomi Klein

Naomi Klein in this book challenges the methodologies of environmental activist groups. This Changes Everything contends that the profound changes required ought not to be seen as disciplines to fear but as a gift of kindness. It’s an ideal opportunity to stop running from the full ramifications of the climate emergency and start to embrace them.

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15. Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale by Adam Minter

In Secondhand, writer Adam Minter takes us on an adventure into the frequently covered up, the multibillion-dollar industry of reuse: second-hand shops in the American Southwest to vintage shops in Tokyo, swap meets in Southeast Asia to used products businesses in Ghana, and that’s just the beginning. En route, Minter meets the captivating individuals who handle-and benefit from-our rising tide of throwaway stuff, and poses an urgent question: In a world that aches for glossy and new, is there space for all the stuff?

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16. Kiss the Ground by Josh Tickell

Kiss the Ground outlines how we can reverse climate change by changing our diets to support regenerative agriculture, abundant food and soil loving practices. The book explains how to eliminate poisonous substances that are harming us, our children, pets and the planet.

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17. The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac

The Future We Choose is an enthusiastic invitation to battle from previous UN Executive Secretary for Climate Change, Christiana Figueres, and Tom Rivett-Carnac, a senior political specialist for the Paris Agreement. We are as yet ready to fight off the most exceedingly awful and deal with the impacts of climate change, however, we need to act now. We realise what we have to do, and everything we need to do it.

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18. How to Be a Conscious Eater by Sophie Egan

Eagan looks at the questions, is organic food really worth it? Should we be eating eggs? What does “Fair Trade” or “Biodynamic”, or “Cage Free” really mean? She evaluates the hype around farmed fish, coconut oil, fake meat, carbs, fats and calories using three criteria – is it good for me? is it good for others? is it good for the planet? Eagan is an expert in nutrition, health and sustainability and looks to revolutionise our understanding of the food we eat and the way it will change how we shop, eat and cook.

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19. Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of our Planetary Future by Geoff Mann

Climate Leviathan delivers a new and radical way of thinking about how environmental change will escalate the existing challenges globally. It uncovers the impact of change on existing forms of sovereignty. Wainwright and Mann draw from a range of political thinking, arguing that the climate crisis will transform the global political landscape and economy, leading toward a capitalist global sovereignty.

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20. As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock by Dina Gilio-Whitaker

Researcher and activist Dina Gilio-Whitaker looks at the history of treaty violations, struggles for water and food security and the protection of sacred world sites while showing the prominent leadership of Indigenous women in an age-old struggle.

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21. Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World by Paul Stamets

Mycelium Running provides a manual for rescuing the planet. Growing mushrooms may be the best action we can take to save the planet and be more sustainable. In this groundbreaking book, Stamets shows you how it can be done.

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Sustainable Lifestyle Books In Closing

It’s easy to get overwhelmed when you’re just starting out so take it one step at a time.

If you want to live a more sustainable life, remember that it’s a journey, you’ll learn along the way and probably make many mistakes as you go. But that’s fine when you know better you do better, right?

Feel free to browse around our site for more tips and advice on sustainable living, we hope you enjoyed our post!

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