My Favourite Eco Living Books

I love learning as much as I can about sustainability so I’ve been doing lots of reading recently, so today I thought I’d share my current favourite eco living books with you all, as well as those on my to-read-next list! I’d love to hear your favourites as well in the comments!

eco living books

I’ve previously shared some of my favourite gardening books and vegetarian cookbooks (although I’ve added some more cookbooks to the shelf in recent weeks too!) so the books I wanted to share today are more broad eco living books than those categories. For novels I have been moving towards ebooks much more than physical copies, but for some reason I much prefer having ‘real’ versions of my eco living books, probably because I go back to them so often!

Down to Earth – Rhonda Hetzel

Down to Earth is from the blog of the same name and is a really wonderful book. It focuses in on creating a simple life, with tips for all stages of life and covers everything from reducing your spending, keeping chickens, gardening, preserving food and a whole lot more. Rhonda makes everything seem very achievable and introduces changes that can be made gradually which is something that really resonates with me. It’s the kind of book I come back to time and time again to get information and inspiration, so I highly recommend popping a copy on your shelf as well.

down to earth - eco living books

Slow Death by Rubber Duck – Rick Smith & Bruce Lourie

The full title of this book is a bit of a mouthful – Slow Death by Rubber Duck: How the toxic chemistry of everyday life affects our health but don’t let that put you off! This book is a super interesting (and more than a little concerning) read about pollution in our lives, with the two authors using themselves as guinea pigs and exposing themselves to a whole host of toxins in everyday items and tracking the outcomes. Somehow they also find a way to make this both funny and interesting, and thankfully they also provide solutions on how to be more aware of, and therefore avoid, some of the problems they encounter. A definite must read (you can see how well-thumbed my copy is!).

slow death - eco living books

Plastic Free – Beth Terry

Another book with a long title, Plastic Free: How I kicked the plastic habit and how you can too is a new addition to my eco living books collection but has fast become a favourite, particularly as we’re in the midst of Plastic Free July. The book follows Beth’s journey towards a plastic free life and is full of incredibly useful tips and checklists that suit both beginners and more advanced eco-warriors. It’s a really practically written book and is full of information about alternatives to plastic across all areas of our lives, as well as what to do when you feel overwhelmed or demotivated about it all (which happens to all of us!). This book is a fabulous resource, so much so it hasn’t even made it into my bookshelf yet, I keep going back to read more!

Eco living books - plastic free

Eco living books next on my to-read list

I’ve got a shortlist of eco living books I’m waiting to get my hands on, and these ones are pretty close to the top. I’d love to hear your thoughts if you’ve read any of them!

  •  No Impact Man – Colin Beavan, this is the book version of the documentary that I included in the my 10 Eco Films to Watch post, and follows one family’s attempt to go zero-impact for a year in New York City
  • Eco Equation – Alex Shimo-Barry, this is an excellent resource for really working out the impact of changes you’re making to live a more eco friendly life, as it quantifies the changes and helps show how easy it can be to make a big difference
  • In Defense of Food – Michael Pollen, I’ve always loved Michael Pollen’s approach to food – “eat food, not too much, mostly plants” and this book explores the concept in more detail, looking at how we can all make more thoughtful decisions around our food choices which in turn should result in us all being healthier and happier

Have you read any eco living books? I’d love to hear your recommendations!

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6 Comments on My Favourite Eco Living Books

  1. Kira
    July 15, 2015 at 9:19 am (9 years ago)

    Slow death by rubber duck is awesome! It was a book I ‘had’ to read for uni but ended loving it. Down to earth is next on my reading list. You should also try The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City by Kelly Coyne
    Kira recently posted…Donate & Win with Country Road

    Reply
    • I Spy Plum Pie (admin)
      July 21, 2015 at 8:27 pm (9 years ago)

      Excellent, I’ll add that to my to-read list right now! Thanks Kira!

      Reply
  2. merilyn
    July 15, 2015 at 5:43 pm (9 years ago)

    interesting thanks liz!
    love m:)X

    Reply
    • I Spy Plum Pie (admin)
      July 21, 2015 at 8:27 pm (9 years ago)

      Anytime M xx

      Reply
  3. Maxabella
    July 22, 2015 at 12:35 pm (9 years ago)

    I was going to say In Defense of Food – it’s so good! I also love A slice of organic life. It makes me feel like I could set up a small holding Iin the backyard!! x
    Maxabella recently posted…The story of Mr Sock

    Reply
    • I Spy Plum Pie (admin)
      July 25, 2015 at 10:23 am (9 years ago)

      Ooh I’ll have to check that out, thanks for the suggestion! xx

      Reply

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