As climate change becomes an evermore pressing topic around the world, more books about sustainability and climate change have also cropped up. If you’re looking to expand your knowledge in the new year about sustainability, here are eight books to put on your reading list – from a cookbook to novel and everything in between:
This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate
In her New York Times Nonfiction bestseller, This Changes Everything, Naomi Klein puts forward the argument that it is capitalism, not carbon, that is worsening the climate crisis. Klein’s thought-provoking book breaks down key climate debates, highlighting that the free market model in most developed nations is a primary barrier to curbing greenhouse gas emissions. The good news is, Klein suggests that we can still fight back by fixing our broken democracies reducing inequalities and rebuilding our economies.
Available on Amazon
Braiding Sweetgrass
Botanist, indigenous scientist and mother, Robin Kimmerer, reminds us of Mother Nature’s intellect through stories learnt through a career studying flora and fauna. In her book Braiding Sweetgrass, she highlights lessons that other beings – strawberries, salamanders or sweetgrass – can teach us about life, and ourselves. Through her book, she reminds us that ‘only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return.’
Available on Amazon
All we can save: Truth, Courage & Solutions for the Climate Crisis
Lauded by Smithsonian Magazine as one of the ’10 best Science Books in 2020’, All We Can Save shines light on the feminist voices in the climate movement. Featuring the voices of over 50 women from the United States, All We Can Save is a compilation of essays about climate activism, policy and science. From designers to farmers, each voice tells the story of climate change in their unique perspectives, illuminating experiences and solutions that shed light on the climate crisis, as well as our common humanity.
Available on Amazon
One: Pot, Pan, Planet: A Greener Way to Cook for You, Your Family and the Planet
Foodies who want to cook in greener ways will appreciate chef Anna Jones’ (@we_are_food) new cookbook, One: Pot, Pan, Planet. Jones’ cookbook offers simple vegetarian meal recipes that uses minimal pots and pans to keep things simple and sustainable.
From one tray dinners like Baked Dahl with Tamarind Glazed Sweet Potatoes and Halloumi, Broccoli and Chickpea Traybake, each recipe is designed to celebrate vegetables and encourage more mindful eating. Tucked within the cookbook are bits of advice on how small habits during planning, shopping and cooking can significantly reduce food waste.
Available on Amazon
The History of Bees
Maja Lunde’s novel, The History of Bees, is ideal for those who want to learn about the devastating effects of the climate crisis whilst immersing themselves in a spellbinding story. Telling the story of three generations of beekeepers, each facing their struggles while keeping their beekeeping business alive, the novel is both a story about biological disaster and human relationships. The New Yorker describes it as as ‘haunting, illuminating and deftly written…a story that joins the past, the present and a terrifying future in a riveting story as complex as a honeycomb.’
Available on Amazon
How to Break Up with Fast Fashion
If you’re contemplating a change of style, but want to do it in a more sustainable way, Lauren Bravo’s book, How To Break Up With Fast Fashion will be an insightful read. Bravo shares how sustainability and fashion are not mutually exclusive and tips on how to repair and recycle old garments in creative ways. Her honest, realistic tone and dash of humour makes the book a fun, easy read for the beginning of the year.
Available on Amazon
The Fragile Earth: Writing from the New Yorker on Climate Change
The Fragile Earth is a collection of The New Yorker’s groundbreaking articles from the front lines of climate change. The anthology weaves the story of our planet’s past, present and future through the lens of climate change. Readers are taken on a journey from the laboratories to rainforests and across continents, bringing us closer to nature and underlining the urgency of the climate crisis.
Available on Amazon
Don’t Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change
British environmental campaigner and founder of Climate Outreach George Marshall embarks on a mission to find out why, despite the overwhelming evidence, the majority of our population still does nothing to stop climate change.
In his book, Don’t Even Think About It, Marshall speaks to global experts, from Nobel Prize winning psychologists to liberal environmentalists, to find an answer to this question.
Sign up for the 8Shades weekly newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox!
