Sustainable Living

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.

Climate models show that global crop production will decline every decade for the rest of this century due to drought, heat, and flooding. Water supplies are in jeopardy. Meanwhile, the world’s population is expected to grow another 30 percent by midcentury. So how, really, will we feed nine billion people sustainably in the coming decades? Amanda Little, a professor at Vanderbilt University and an award-winning journalist, spent three years traveling through a dozen countries and as many US states in search of answers to this question.

If 20 percent of the population implemented half the solutions in this book, it would solve the biggest global problems. All without writing to politicians, joining protests, signing petitions, or being angry at the people that are causing the problems. Good solutions are often different from conventional environmental wisdom. The average American adult has a carbon footprint of 30 tons per year. Replacing a petroleum car with an electric car will cut 2 tons. But if you live in a cold climate and you switch from electric heat to a rocket mass heater, you will cut 27 tons!

Everything you've been told about being green is wrong. The quest for a breakthrough battery or a 100-mpg car is a dangerous fantasy. We are consumers, and we like to consume greenly and efficiently. But David Owen argues that our best intentions are still at cross-purposes to our true goal: living sustainably while caring for our environment and the future of the planet. Efficiency, once considered the holy grail of our environmental problems, turns out to be part of the problem - we have little trouble turning increases in efficiency into increases in consumption.

In 2015, England's last and loneliest golden eagle died in an unmarked spot among the remote eastern fells of the Lake District. It was a tragic day for the nation's wildlife, but the fight to restore the landscape had already begun. Lee Schofield, ecologist and site manager for RSPB Haweswater, is leading efforts to breathe life back into two hill farms and their 30 square kilometres of sprawling upland habitat. The farms sit at the edge of the region's largest reservoir, beneath which lie the remains of a submerged village.

The Backyard Beekeeper, now in its 4th edition, makes the time-honored and complex tradition of beekeeping an enjoyable and accessible backyard pastime for urban and rural beekeepers of all skill levels. With this completer esource and the expert advice of Bee Culture editor Kim Flottum, your bees will be healthy, happy, and more productive.

Kindred means “tribe” or “family”, and at a time when we’ve lost many of the rhythms that connect us meaningfully to the human experience, The Kindred Life offers an invitation to cultivate a life of rich simplicity in the midst of difficult circumstances. In this collection of stories, photos, recipes, and gathering ideas from her home on Kindred Farm in Santa Fe, Tennessee, organic farmer Christine Bailey shares the moments that have shaped, challenged, and changed her.

Shedding her possessions and stripping back life to the basics, Charlotte Bradman used the last of her savings to buy a campervan...a creaky, old van with no loo or onboard water. It was the best thing she ever did. Come along on this moving ride as Charlotte finds true stability and security, learning that all she needs is a recharging van battery, a dry bed, and an unspoilt sea view. Self-confessional, observational and darkly humorous, this is an engrossing and inspirational story of resilience and fortitude.

Are you drowning in clutter? Do you dread opening your cupboards because of the mess that awaits inside? Are you ready to sort out your house for good and discover a happier, calmer you? In this audiobook, Nicola will arm you with the tools you need to clean and clear your home. With a step-by-step, room-by-room plan to get rid of clutter, recipes for natural, eco-friendly cleaning products and tips on upcycling your household items, housework and organising have never been this easy!

Less Stuff is a guide for people who find it difficult to declutter and who don’t want to see things go to waste. Step by step, you’ll explore finding your ‘enough’, learn how to let go of your old possessions without sending them to landfill, and eventually break the cycle of stuff. The end result is a planet with less strain, a home with more peace and a life with more meaning.

Whether you already have the experience, or you are looking to learn the basics to live off-grid, part one of this audiobook offers over 50 ways to become a successful off-grid dweller. You’ll learn how to live off-grid without sacrificing the things you love. You will feel closer to your family and to the land, where you know you are doing your part to reduce climate change and help to create a more sustainable life.

With these practices, you’ll become increasingly comfortable and confident in working through your inner experiences in real time. Instead of burning out, you can follow the lead of Jesus toward a sustainable, fulfilling life.

Ducks are a great source of meat and eggs. You'll find that ducks are easier to take care of than chickens, and they're perfect for backyard homesteading. Duck eggs are even considered to be better than chicken eggs due to their size and nutritional value. Ducks are also less aggressive and noisy than chickens, making them perfect for your backyard.

The industrial age made possible by fossil fuels will surely decline as these fuels run out. In The Ecotechnic Future John Michael Greer alerts the listener to possible changes future generations may face as these dwindling fuel supplies lead first to a deindustrial age, then to a society which salvages the remnants of our current plenty, and eventually to a time in which people may learn to live in balance with the environment: an ecotechnic society.

The Power of Dreams tells the story of a couple, already in their 40s, who uprooted themselves from urban life to follow their dream of living in the wilderness. They settled in a remote mountain valley called Precipice Valley, part of the ancient trade route linking B.C.’s Chilcotin plateau to the Pacific Coast. These are the stories of how the two of them designed and hand-built a solar-powered, two-story post-and-beam house while learning to live off-grid and in harmony with nature.

Are you concerned about the rising costs of feeding your family, where your food comes from, or what’s in the cleaning products you use every day? Melissa K. Norris, host of the popular Pioneering Today podcast, wants to help you embrace a simpler, more natural lifestyle. In The Made-from-Scratch Life, Melissa shares easy-to-follow instructions and plenty of inspiration. Filled with helpful charts, checklists, and recipes, this guide gives you the know-how you need to incorporate time-tested homesteading practices into your everyday life.

Are you overworked and overcrowded? Do you dream of dropping off the radar? Do you crave the peace of mind that only nature can provide? Fitness and military intelligence expert Gary Collins has helped thousands of people roam free with firsthand advice shared on his popular website. And now he's here to help you reclaim your independence. Going Off the Grid: The How-To Book of Simple Living and Happiness contains step-by-step instructions for creating your self-sustaining refuge in the untamed wild or the blacktop jungle.

There is a better way to live. Humans should have free time, good food, affordable shelter, time in nature, space to think, and living systems that help people thrive while healing the land. Welcome to Acorn Land Labs. We fuse permaculture, off-grid systems, local lifestyles, and simple living into a fresh way to live well. Join us as we reinvent the world around us into something healthy and good.

Save yourself from more than half of the trouble most beginning and advanced homesteaders have to deal with. Homestead gardening has exploded over the last few years. One in three US households now gardens to provide food for their families. If you have a garden or are considering one, now is the perfect time to start or take it to the next level. Optimizing your efforts provides superb results that no grocery store could ever compete with. It’s also the start of a self-reliant lifestyle because once you get proficient in gardening for food, it has real economic benefits....

Welcome to the urban farming revolution, where men, women, and children are learning how much their home has to give. No matter your living situation, it’s easy to take up the practice of sustainable gardening. In this audiobook you will learn: How to create rich soil, perfect for growing nutritional food, what tools you really need, organic farming methods to keep your harvest natural, ways to achieve a chic look on a budget, the best crops to grow for you, how to garden in all seasons, and storage and preservation methods.