Illustration Debs Lim
The topic of sustainability has become more and more mainstream in recent years, but it’s also often shrouded in misinformation and marketing spin. There’s a lot of talk around ditching plastic and next-level recycling techniques – but how else can you live sustainably in a meaningful way? A weekend reading session, accompanied by a cup of coffee, can be a good place to start. Take your own cup to 7-Eleven and get a 50 cent discount on their Fairtrade coffee to get you all set.
We’ve rounded up a list of books on sustainability – all you have to do is choose one.
How To Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates
Microsoft founder Bill Gates has invested billions into his charities, which tackle poverty, inequity and disease. His book is a natural next step, exploring how the climate crisis will exacerbate existing issues of inequality and affect disadvantaged groups first. In How To Avoid a Climate Disaster, he explains why it’s so important for the world to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero, and uses engaging spreadsheets, graphs and statistics to outline how investing in research and new technology can help us get there.
A Zero Waste Life by Anita Vandyke
Not so fun fact: every piece of plastic created since the 1950s still exists. It’s little-known information like this that dominates influencer (and qualified rocket scientist) Anita Vandyke’s book, which makes the bold promise to have you living a zero-waste life in 30 days. A self-described former maximalist and current minimalist, Vandyke has filled the book with realistic tips and strategies to get there, including prompts to make you think about why you want to get started in the first place and ways to make no-plastic grocery shopping stress-free (for both yourself and shopkeepers).
We Are the Weather by Jonathan Safran Foer
From the author of Eating Animals (an exposé of animal farming that’s often credited with helping drive the wider adoption of vegetarian diets in the West) comes We Are the Weather. It focuses on climate change and how our daily actions, including our diet, affect the world we live in. It’s an accessible read that fuses scientific statistics with Foer’s personal story and the message that, ultimately, we’ll all have to give up some of the comforts we’re used to if we want to save the planet.
Home for the Soul by Sara Bird
Interior design is increasingly acknowledged as an important factor in sustainability, and interior stylist Sara Bird and photographer Dan Duchars’s book Home for the Soul focuses on how we can achieve a sustainable home simply by implementing better design. The book is split into two parts, with the first section highlighting easy ways to bring sustainability into your home through things such as lighting and linens. In the second part, Bird and Duchars visit other beautiful and sustainable homes for inspiration.
No-Waste Kitchen Gardening by Katie Elzer-Peters
If taken care of correctly, it’s possible for our food scraps to grow into functioning plants (you’ve probably seen the videos of avocado seeds miraculously turning into trees). American author and horticulturist Katie Elzer-Peters’s book No-Waste Kitchen Gardening teaches readers how to turn everyday scraps such as apple cores, carrot tops, lettuce heads and coriander stems into plants that will ultimately reward you with more produce. It includes helpful photos that show exactly what your scraps need to look like in order to succeed, as well as the best time to pick from your new plants.
This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with 7-Eleven. Every cup of coffee from 7-Eleven is now Fairtrade certified, and the cups and lids are made entirely from plants. Available now at all 7-Eleven locations.
08 Nov 2022
03 Nov 2022
03 Nov 2022
02 Nov 2022