31 Days of Green Little Things: Read an Eco-Book

Welcome back to my 31 Days of Green Little Things!  This is my place to talk about the little things that I do to help the environment.

O.K. so I mentioned last week that I enjoy reading.  I failed to mention that I read mostly non-fiction books: travel books, memoirs, environmental, foodie, self-improvement.  I read them all.  I have no doubt that my Book Club friends just love when it’s my turn to pick our read. ;)

Today's little thing is to find an eco-book that interests you and read it.  I'm even including some of the ones I’ve enjoyed the past few years.  In lieu of a synopsis, I’ll just tell you one of things that stuck with me most from each book.  Without further ado, here they are:

Moby-Duck by Donovan Hohn. I don’t see a lot of container ships living in the Midwest, but I can’t see a semi-truck pulling a shipping container (especially Evergreen) without thinking about the North Pacific Gyre. This is not the “best” book that I’ve read but it is the one that I think about most often so that says something.

No Impact Man by Colin Beavan. Every time I use a tissue instead of handkerchief, I can’t help but think that I’m using a dead tree to wipe my nose.  I thought his description of this was hilarious.

Restore, Recycle, Repurpose: Create a Beautiful Home by Randy Florke with Nancy J. Becker. I’m keeping my eyes open for some burlap coffee bags to make cushions for my dining room.

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. If my great grandma wouldn’t recognize it as food, I shouldn't eat it. Oh, and don’t trust bread!

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba. I learned about Malawi, electricity, and some fabulous TED videos thanks to this book.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingslover. Eating local foods can be hard but is worth the effort AND everyone should get one non-local treat – my weakness is dark, dark chocolate, too.

Wildflower: An Extraordinary Life and Untimely Death in Africa by Mark Seal. One person can make a difference.

Sustainable Sailing:  Go Green When You Cast Off by Dieter Loibner. One of my favorite suggestions is to challenge others to “out green” each other with practical and environmentally-friendly prizes like homemade granola or organic bottle-fermented beer. 

Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too by Beth Terry. I’m reading this one now so I don’t know what will stick with me the most but I did have a really awesome experience when I was checking it out at the library.  The librarian got excited about it and said that she hadn’t known about it (until right then) but was going to read it.

There are many, many more but I just wanted to list some of my favorites on a wide range of topics.  What are some of your “green” book suggestions?

Peace,

Stacey

To follow other "31 Days" journeys, check out The Nester.  She's hosting this party.  Thanks for the motivation to join this year.
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