Sustainable Living

"How can each of us live Cooler Smarter? While the routine decisions that shape our days-- what to have for dinner, where to shop, how to get to work-- may seem small, collectively they have a big effect on global warming. But which changes in our lifestyles might make the biggest difference to the climate? This science-based guide shows you the most effective ways to cut your own global warming emissions by twenty percent or more, and explains why your individual contribution is so vital to addressing this global problem. Cooler Smarter is based on an in-depth, two-year study by the experts at The Union of Concerned Scientists. While other green guides suggest an array of tips, Cooler Smarter offers proven strategies to cut carbon, with chapters on transportation, home energy use, diet, personal consumption, as well as how best to influence your workplace, your community, and elected officials. The book explains how to make the biggest impact and when not to sweat the small stuff. It also turns many eco-myths on their head, like the importance of locally produced food or the superiority of all hybrid cars. The advice in Cooler Smarter can help save you money and live healthier. But its central purpose is to empower you, through low carbon-living, to confront one of society's greatest threats"--

Comprehensive resource on ecological health in the home and how to achieve it.Called the "new architecture for the new world," sustainable building is firmly established as an important influence on residential design. Eco House is a complete guide to the structural features and interior and exterior elements that make a house healthy for its residents and for Earth. From solar roofs to sinks that flush the toilet by recycling their gray water, there are any number of options, expensive and inexpensive, that can turn a home into an "eco-house."The book covers all of the essentials of sound bioclimatic design: Structures that works with sun and wind directions Optimum ventilation and heat recovery Green roof insulation and cooling Solar heating Geothermal heating and cooling Radiant heating Pellet-fuel heating and ventilation Photoelectric power Turbine wind power Rainwater-cistern and gray-water plumbingThis practical reference also takes readers on a room-by-room tour of hundreds of eco-friendly lifestyle options, including how to clean with chemical-free products.Home owners can make one change or plan an entire refit to take their house off the grid -- nothing is too little. In addition to the well-known measures, such as straw bales and solar panels, Eco House describes the many newer options available, providing photographs and illustrations as well as a directory of manufacturers. These include thermal and acoustic bricks, living walls, vegetable-fiber insulation and solar-sourced indoor lighting.This is a fascinating volume packed with descriptive photographs and the most current expert information.

A practical guide packed with tips and projects for increasing your home's energy efficiency while reducing costs and cutting down on waste and pollution.

Explains climate change-- its implications for the future, and what we can, and cannot, do to avoid further change.

This thorough, informative, and up-to-date reference on environmentally conscious, energy-efficient home construction gives builders and architects the tools to respond to growing requests from homeowners for green houses.

Enhanced by recipes, a cross-country tour introduces people growing and cooking healthy, natural foods from grass-fed beef, vegetables, and grains to cheese-making and wild edibles.

Reveals the land grab taking place around the world and how corporate and governmental promises about the benefits of development are masking environmental and social destruction and the transfer of wealth out of host countries.

In his book Simple Prosperity, the author showed readers how to have an abundant, sustainable life. In this book, he challenges us to do some heavy lifting and transform our non-sustainable culture by transforming ourselves. For the author, our current "old normal" lifestyle, buying water in disposable bottles, allowing the government to ignore global warming, will not preserve the planet. To nurture our world, he challenges us to rethink our lives, stand up for a healthy planet and move towards a "new normal" lifestyle in an agenda that includes: Initiating local business alliances that actively lobby for local buying ; Creating an investment strategy that values the balance of nature ; Supporting the design, manufacture, and use of products made with natural chemicals ; Publicly advocating a more efficient use of water by placing a higher cultural value on wetlands, streams, rivers, and lakes. He urges readers to promote environmental health by lobbying for sustainable lifestyle habits, covering such practices as buying locally, using natural chemicals, and conserving water. This book proposes a new way forward, a blueprint for a better life that preserves our world.

Draws on "Sunset magazine's" One-Block Diet blog to instruct readers on how to raise and produce all ingredients for numerous "from-scratch" meals, providing plans that include a sustainable vegetable garden, backyard bee hives, and a chicken roost.

"Country Living contributing editor Randy Florke shows how to decorate and renovate a home inexpensively with repurposed, restored, and recycled materials. Providing inspiration and practical information, he perfectly captures why sustainable living is important and reveals how everyone can create a home that's a harmonious with the environment as it is beautiful. What's more, 'Restore. Recycle. Repurpose.' explains how to do it without buying costly materials from far-flung places or throwing out what you already have. Room by room, Florke presents ideas, examples, and resources that are "shades of green." His approach begins with a major focus for each room, such as vanities, sinks, and tubs in the bathroom. Sharing his flea market and thrift shopping skills as well as some savvy wisdom inspired by his grandmother, Florke will help you create a welcoming, lovely, earth-friendly décor--without spending a fortune"--P. [2] of cover.

Going green doesn't mean spending big bucks on organic food, solar panels, and hybrid cars. At its core, green living is simply about moderation, efficiency, and living less expensively. Included are hundreds of habit-shifting suggestions to leave you with thousands of dollars you would otherwise never see again. These are tiny modifications that any family can make.

Explains the political and economic reasons behind the simultaneous hunger and obesity epidemics worldwide, and describes what is being done to eliminate these disparities.

"Total Housing Is A Selection Of 61 Exemplary Multi-Family Residential Projects Built In Europe, North And South America, And Asia During The Real-Estate Boom Of The Last Decade, Total Housing Provides Evidence Of The Desirability Of Dense, Urban Living, It Is An Antidote To Sprawl, Total Housing Projects Are Accessible, Compact, Connective, Diverse, Economical, Flexible, Responsive, And Sustainable, Total Housing Is Compiled And Edited By Actar."--BOOK JACKET.

City-dwellers across the country are finding creative new ways to live, and urban farmers are reclaiming heirloom agrarian practices as strategies for responsible living. Get to know real people who are changing their lives and the lives of their neighbors through the urban homesteading movement.