Lifestyle and consumption

Sarah Callard, Diane Millis. The Complete Book of Green Living: A Practical Guide to Eco-friendly Living, Andre Deutsch, 2001, 0233999884, More information or Buy from Amazon

Jon Clift and Amanda Cuthbert. Energy. Use less, Save More information or Buy from AmazonInformation or Buy Now from Amazon: 100 Energy-Saving Tips for the Home, Green Books, 2006, 1903998883, - Did you know that lowering the temperature of your thermostat by a mere 2 degrees Fahrenheit could reduce your energy bill by 10 percent? Or that energy-efficient light bulbs last about 12 times longer than ordinary bulbs and consume one-fifth the energy? This is just the beginning of what you’ll learn in this handy book, containing More information or Buy from Amazonthan one hundred ideas for saving energy. These tips will save you money, and help you take your first steps in the fight against global warming. More information or Buy from Amazon

Donnachadh McCarthy. Saving the Planet Without Costing the Earth: 500 Simple Steps to a Greener Lifestyle, Fusion Press, 2004, 1904132391, More

William Rees, Mathis Wackernagel and Phil Testemale. Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth, New Society Publishers, 1996, 086571312X, -Equipped with useful charts and thought-provoking illustrations, this book introduces a revolutionary new way to determine humanity's impact on the Earth and presents an exciting and powerful tool for measuring and visualising the resources required to sustain households, communities, regions, and nations. More

Godo Stoyke.Carbon Buster’s Home Energy Handbook: Slowing Climate Change and Saving Money, New Society Publishers, Feb 2007, 0865715696,-Most people are unaware that environmental problems such as climate change can be easily avoided, at a profit, through the intelligent application of appropriate technology. The Carbon Buster's Handbook describes how to achieve this goal in the residential field. The handbook reveals North Americaʼs best-kept investment secret: that the highest rates of return can be found not at your bank, but in your home! Environmental problems such as climate change can be easily avoided, at a profit, More

Dick Strawbridge. It's Not Easy Being Green: One Family's Journey Towards Eco-Friendly Living, BBC Books, 2006, 0563493461, -Dick Strawbridge and his family decided that they needed to reduce their eco-footprint—the amount of land, water, and other natural resources required to support their lifestyle. To accompany the BBC2 TV series, this book chronicles the Strawbridge family's journey from a perfectly normal life and house in the Midlands to a self-sufficient environmentally friendly dream home in the West Country. Written by the flamboyant, moustachioed, eccentric presenter, Dick the Colonel Strawbridge, this book is an inspiration to people thinking of becoming eco-friendly or even just a bit greener. Full of specially commissioned color photos and screen grabs, it is also full of practical advice, with essential addresses and contact details at the end. More

Julia Hailes. The New Green Consumer Guide , Simon & Schuster, 2007, 9780743295307 -Green consumerism is on the rise, but many of us are confused by an avalanche of information - much of it conflicting. We want to do the right thing to help save energy and resources, but where can we start as everyday consumers? Can we do anything to really make a difference? Julia Hailes, environmental expert and co-author of the original Green Consumer Guide (Gollancz, 1988) , is adamant that we can. The New Green Consumer Guide is accessible and reader-friendly, addressing all the questions the general consumer is asking, giving authoritative advice on a wide range of issues, explaining which products, brands and companies are getting it right - and which ones are getting it wrong. More

Lisa Harrow. What Can I Do? The A-Z guide to eco-friendly internet sites, ideas and information in the UK, Transworld Publishers, 2007, 9781905811045,-Are you hoping to change the world? in this handy little Yellow Pages of ethical choices, Lisa Harrow shows you how small changes to the way you live can make a difference. Whether you're concerned about pesticides in food, toxic substances in your home, poisons in children's play equipment, polluted waterways, or, most alarmingly, water supplies drying out, this guide to eco-friendly internet sites will give you ideas, information, inspiration and the tools you need to make the world a better, healthier and greener place. if you have a green shopping bag, a compost heap or a recycling bin you are already helping to protect the Earth. What Can i Do? will open your eyes to other changes you can make to protect yourself, your family, and our world, without completely altering your way of life. More

Barbara Kingsolver. Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: A Year of Food Life, Faber & Faber, 2007, 9780571233564,- When Kingsolver and her family move from suburban Arizona to rural Appalachia, they take on a new challenge: to spend a year on a locally produced diet, paying close attention to the provenance of all they consume. "Our highest shopping goal was to get our food from so close to home, we'd know the person who grew it. Often that turned out to be ourselves as we learned to produce what we needed, starting with dirt, seeds, and enough knowledge to muddle through. Or starting with baby animals, and enough sense to refrain from naming them." Animal, Vegetable, Miracle follows the family through the first year of their experiment. They find themselves eager to move away from the typical food scenario of American families: a refrigerator packed with processed, factory-farmed foods transported long distances using nonrenewable fuels. More

Nick Rosen. How to Live Off-Grid: Journeys Outside the System, Doubleday Transworld, 2007, 9780385611275, More

Tony Juniper. How Many Lightbulbs Does It Take to Change a Planet? 95 Ways to Save Planet Earth, Quercus Publishing, 9781847240491 -The human world sits on the brink of potentially catastrophic environmental change. If we do not drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and start that process now, then it is projected that by 2050 the cost of climate damage will exceed global GDP. The latest science confirms that there is now only a decade left for action. How Many Lightbulbs Does it Take to Change the Planet is a clarion call for urgent action in the face of climate change that threatens to devastate human civilisation. Writing with missionary zeal, Tony Juniper plays the role of a modern-day Martin Luther and presents his programme for staving off environmental, economic and social disaster. More

Scott Boylston. Designing Sustainable Packaging, Laurence King, 2009, £12.97, 9781856695978 This is a practical book on creating packaging prototypes that reflect sustainable and ecologically sound principles. It challenges the next generation of graphic designers to re-envision packaging design as a less environmentally destructive practice than it presently is, and examines an array of techniques and methodologies for creating innovative and sustainable packaging designs, from first concept to final production. The book is organised into two distinct sections embracing first the theory, including many case studies, and then the practice of eco-friendly packaging design. In the first part of the book, after introducing the student to the background of packaging design and its purpose, the author focuses on issues of sustainability. Through a series of case studies and interviews he looks at some of the companies that are leading the way in sustainable/green packaging. More

Chris Goodall. How to Live a Low Carbon Life: The Individual’s Guide to Stopping Climate Change, Earthscan, 2007, £14.99, 9781844074266 - That climate change is happening is now all too clear. Many of us want to take action to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions. Yet the lack of a consolidated source of reliable information on how to calculate one's individual emissions and the difficulty in assessing different options for effectiveness and cost savings has proven to be a major stumbling block. But personal actions to reduce carbon emissions, if replicated on a sufficient scale, might just save the planet. How to Live a Low-Carbon Life provides the first comprehensive, one-stop reference guide to calculating individual carbon emissions and it lays out clear plans for how individuals can reduce their emissions. More

Rob Hopkins. The Transition Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience, Green Books, 2008, £9.07, 9781900322188 -We live in an oil-dependent world, arriving at this level of dependency in a very short space of time by treating petroleum as if it were in infinite supply. Most of us avoid thinking about what happens when oil runs out (or becomes prohibitively expensive), but The Transition Handbook shows how the inevitable and profound changes ahead can have a positive outcome. These changes can lead to the rebirth of local communities that will grow More information or Buy from Amazonof their own food, generate their own power, and build their own houses using local materials. They can also encourage the development of local currencies to keep money in the local area. More

Tamzin Pinkerton and Rob Hopkins. The Tranbsition Guide to Food: How to Unleash a Food Revolution Where You Live, Green Books, June 2009, £6.56, 9781900322430 -So you buy your vegetables as locally as possible, eat organic and seasonal food where you can, and are perhaps even coming to grips with managing an allotment. However, as the scale of the recession and rising fuel prices start to be keenly felt, you may be wondering what else you can do? Local Food offers an inspiring yet practical guide to what can be achieved if you get together with the people on your street, the people in your village, town or city. It is an exploration of the potential power of working collaboratively. Drawing on the practical experience of Transition initiatives and other community initiatives around the world, this guide powerfully shows how by working together the results can be far greater than the sum of their parts. Local food guides, Community Supported Agriculture schemes, community gardens, even the creation of local currencies to support local food production, are all explored here, with all the information you will need to get started. An explosion of activity at community level is urgently needed, and this book is the ideal place to start. More

Brenda Vale and Robert Vale. Time to Eat the Dog? The Real Guide to Sustainable Living, Thames & Hudson, June 2009, 9780500287903 -The world and its resources are finite, yet we are seemingly locked into a system based on growth: growth of population, growth of income and growth of consumption. From this irrefutable starting point, Time to Eat the Dog? attempts to uncover what sustainability really means. Brenda and Robert Vale explore the environmental impact of the decisions we make, from what we eat and what we wear to how we travel and enjoy ourselves. Their book will make you see your life and your place in the world in a completely new light. Challenging the orthodoxies that underpin our entire economic system, this is one subversive read. More