Sustainable Home

In Zero Waste Home, Bea Johnson shares the story of how she simplified her life by reducing her waste. Today, Bea, her husband, Scott, and their two young sons produce just one quart of garbage a year, and their overall quality of life has changed for the better. They now have more time together, they've cut their annual spending by a remarkable 40 percent, and they are healthier than they've ever been.

Essential Rainwater Harvesting is a comprehensive manual for designing, building, and maintaining water-harvesting systems for the warm and cold climates of the world. Presenting design considerations and approaches for the most common household rainwater supply scenarios.

Go Gently is a guide for sustainability at home that offers simple, tangible steps toward reducing our environmental impact by looking at what we consume and the waste we create, as well as how to take action for environmental change. The title reflects Bonnie Wright’s belief that the best way to change our planet and ourselves is through a gentle approach, rather than a judgmental one. This is a book of do’s rather than don’ts. It’s also an invitation to Wright’s followers to join her on this journey to sustainability.

Solar power is a great way to reduce your dependence on the grid and save money on your electricity bill, but it can be expensive and confusing to set up a solar system yourself. You might not know where to start or what kind of equipment you need. There are a lot of choices out there and it can be hard to know which one is right for you.

In her landmark investigation Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion, Elizabeth L. Cline first revealed fast fashion’s hidden toll on the environment, garment workers, and even our own satisfaction with our clothes. The Conscious Closet shows exactly what we can do about it. Whether your goal is to build an effortless capsule wardrobe, keep up with trends without harming the environment, buy better quality, seek out ethical brands, or all of the above, The Conscious Closet is packed with the vital tools you need.

Robert Pavlis, a gardener for over four decades, debunks common soil myths, explores the rhizosphere, and provides a personalized soil fertility improvement program in this three-part popular science guidebook. Soil Science for Gardeners is an accessible, science-based guide to understanding soil fertility and, in particular, the rhizosphere - the thin layer of liquid and soil surrounding plant roots, so vital to plant health.

Permaculture is more than just a way to design gardens; it is a way of life centered around building an ecosystem that thinks and behaves just like nature. Not only does it favor reusing and recycling, but it also limits potential waste, allowing you to design a slice of nature in your own backyard. In fact, permaculture makes nature your partner in going green… And all you need to do in order to get started is open your eyes and observe.

You may think you don’t have the time or the money to start a big permaculture project. But permaculture doesn’t need to be overwhelming. You can start as small as you like, and you can move at a pace that suits you. Don’t feel you have to learn everything in one go and rush out to transform a whole wilderness in a year. Just deal in manageable chunks, and you’ll do just fine. Even if all you have done is tend to a few tomato plants on your window ledge, you can become an expert gardener; all it takes is a little time, patience, and practice.

If you want to save the planet, but your to-do list is already pretty long, and remembering your reusable coffee cup feels like a Herculean task, then this is the book for you. Covering every aspect of our lives from the stuff we buy and the food we eat, to how we travel, work, and celebrate. This audiobook provides stacks of practical ideas to slot into your daily life, alongside a gentle kick up the butt to put your newfound knowledge into action.

By explaining the lean system for identifying and eliminating waste and introducing efficiency in every aspect of the farm operation, The Lean Farm makes the case that small-scale farming can be an attractive career option for young people who are interested in growing food for their community. Working smarter, not harder, also prevents the kind of burnout that start-up farmers often encounter in the face of long, hard, backbreaking labor. Lean principles grew out of the Japanese automotive industry, but they are now being followed by progressive farms around the world....

If the power grid fails, it’s not just your lights that go out. It’s your water supply. It’s your heating and cooling system. It’s all your usual ways of cooking food or doing the laundry. Without the grid, life as we know it changes in an instant.

Homesteading is having a new surge in popularity as people look for more ways to become self-sustaining. You can learn all the basics to start a backyard homestead. That means you need not go buy a plot of land; instead, you can homestead with the very foundation of it in mind, use what you have on hand, and cultivate for the future.

Do something good for your family by learning how to plant a garden that will yield healthy, wholesome food throughout the year. Melissa K. Norris, fifth-generation homesteader and host of the popular Pioneering Today podcast, will walk you through each step of the process, from planning your food crops and garden space to harvesting and preserving the food you grow. Even intermediate to experienced gardeners will discover dozens of new ideas.

Give a Sh*t is the first eco-friendly handbook of its kind for these dire times when the Earth needs us most. Distilling the most crucial knowledge and advice from your favorite sustainable lifestyle brand, vegan cookbook, and eco-friendly beauty guide, Give a Sh*t guides you through small-but-impactful shifts you can make. With eco-lifestyle expert Ashlee Piper's succinct, no-nonsense advice, it's never been easier to live more thoughtfully and true to your values, get healthier, and give a shit about the planet.

Two manuscripts in one audiobook: Composting: The Ultimate Guide to Creating Your Own Organic Compost in Your Backyard and Using It for Organic Gardening to Create a More Self-Sufficient Garden and Worm Farming: An Essential Guide to Vermiculture, Vermicomposting, and Making Worm Bins. With this audiobook in your hand, you’ll be going from basic gardening to advanced techniques in no time!

The Abundance of Less captures the texture of sustainable lives well lived in these ten profiles of ordinary—yet exceptional—men and women who left behind mainstream existences in urban Japan to live surrounded by the luxuries of nature, art, friends, delicious food, and an abundance of time. Drawing on traditional Eastern spiritual wisdom and culture, these pioneers describe the profound personal transformations they underwent as they escaped the stress, consumerism, busyness, and dependence on technology of modern life.

Do you dream of walking through your own kitchen garden with baskets full of delicious food you grew yourself? But are you waiting to begin because you think you don't have enough space, sun, time, or experience? Then consider this: Plants want to grow. And when you match a plant's needs to your own resources, you're just one step away from success in the kitchen garden. Nicole Johnsey Burke—founder of Gardenary, Inc., and author of Kitchen Garden Revival—is your expert guide for growing your own fresh, organic food every day of the year, no matter where you grow.

Mini Farming describes a holistic approach to small-area farming that will show you how to produce 85 percent of an average family's food on just a quarter acre - and earn $10,000 in cash annually while spending less than half the time that an ordinary job would require.

Food & Wine editor Ray Isle does for wine what Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma did for food—showing listeners how to choose more delicious, interesting, and environmentally friendly wines without breaking the bank.

Mark Kurlansky's first global food history since the best-selling Cod and Salt; the fascinating cultural, economic and culinary story of milk and all things dairy - with recipes throughout. According to the Greek creation myth, we are so much spilt milk; a splatter of the goddess Hera's breast milk became our galaxy, the Milky Way.