best books on green living

A recent survey polled over 900 Americans and Australians on their individual choices when it comes to green living. The majority of respondents, 77% to be precise, said they were interested in learning more about sustainable lifestyles.

Most people noted that they already recycle, use reusable bags, and avoid single-use plastics. However, green living and sustainable habits go beyond just these three actions. 

So why donā€™t more people swap their lifestyle choices for greener options? Often, itā€™s difficult to know where to start. Luckily, there are many books on green living that can help anyone start living a better lifestyle.

Whether youā€™re looking for recommendations for your home, garden, personal life, or spending habits, these books will equip you with the tools to help fight against global warming and preserve our environment in its true natural spirit.

Letā€™s dive into some of the best books on green living that will surely inspire you to prioritize sustainable lifestyle choices.

20 of the best books on green living

1. Live Green: 52 Steps for a More Sustainable Life

Live Green is a practical guide of 52 sustainable living changes, one for each week of the year. These are changes you can make to be more self-sufficient and reduce your impact on the environment.

Presented in a colorful, easy-to-understand format, this is one of the best books on green living because it examines all areas of your life: your cleaning routine, home furnishings, food shopping, fashion choices, beauty routine, and even Christmas habits.

Some of the recommendations presented by author Jen Chillingsworth include making your own eco-friendly cleaning products, buying vintage furniture, and making your own moth repellent.

Her green ideas and small steps to help reduce our impact on the planet can also help save you money as well.

2. The Everything Green Living Book: Easy Ways to Conserve Energy, Protect Your Familyā€™s Health, and Help Save the Environment

Are you interested in making more sustainable lifestyle choices, but donā€™t know where to start? The Everything Green Living Book written by Diane Gow McDilda is an informative guide on green living.

McDilda covers several topics in this book, including ways to get involved on Earth Day, what goes into a green, sustainable house, non toxic cleaning supplies, organic foods, and many more.

Overall, the book presents green topics in an easy-to-understand manner, and because of this it is one of the best books on green living to share with children, teens, or keep on hand to reference later on.

If youā€™re just starting out on your green living journey, this is a great pick for you. McDilda makes it easy for the average homeowner, family, and individual to apply these sustainable changes to their own lives.

3. Prefabulous and Sustainable: Building and Customizing an Affordable, Energy-Efficient Home

Prefabulous and Sustainable is a highly recommended book on sustainable homes and green living. This book primarily dispels the wrong myths associated with prefab homes. In fact, this book helps the readers to understand the true idea behind green prefab homes.

Author Sheri Koones clearly explains how the prefabricated house is greener, more energy efficient, cost-effective, and sturdier than a site-built home. This book is divided into three basic categories: green, greener, and greenest.

Koones provides examples of sustainable prefab homes that have been customized to offer a level of sustainability beyond the inherent qualities of prefab.

The featured homes differ in terms of design, style, and mode of construction. Most of these homes are capable of offering the highest level of sustainability, making a great case for those with green and sustainable lifestyles.

4. The Green Body Cleanse: How to Live Green & Live Well

The Green Body Cleanse by Dr. Edward Group III is one of the best books on green living focused on organic cleanses. Winner of the Green Book Festival, this work has helped many people change their lives by offering clear, sustainable solutions to cleanse the body, workplace, and home from toxic materials.

Dr. Group explains that when the environment around you is toxic, you can suffer from different diseases. In fact, these toxic elements suppress our bodyā€™s self-healing mechanism.

To cleanse the body, Dr. Group asserts, itā€™s important to shift from eating processed foods to organic foods. This is because, as genetically modified crops, frozen meat, processed milk, white flour, MSG (Monosodium Glutamate), heavy metals, and industrial chemicals are harmful to humans.

With over twenty years of research, tips, recipes, and facts included in this book, The Green Body Cleanse is an informative guide that will allow you to make healthier, greener choices for yourself and the planet.

5. Easy to Be Green: Simple Activities You Can Do to Save the Earth

Easy to Be Green is one of the best books on green living for children who would like to play their part in the fight against global warming. Beside their eldersā€™ efforts, kids can do a lot when it comes to protecting our environment.

This book not only includes tips on how to protect our environment but also coloring pages and simple activities for kids to help save the environment.

From activities like recycling to composting to finding their voice by writing to politicians and talking to people about climate problems and solutions, this book will encourage children (and their caregivers) to take action in their communities.

This work not only talks about sustainable living but also gives practical implications.

For instance, the paper in this book comes from 100% post-consumer waste recycled material and is printed in soy ink.

6. Green, Greener, Greenest: A Practical Guide to Making Eco-Smart Choices a Part of Your Life

Green, Greener, Greenest by Lori Bongiorno is one of the most practical, easy-to-implement works on green living available today. Bongiorno includes hundreds of flexible tips on making greener choices that you can use in almost every aspect of your daily routine.

Interestingly, this book offers tips in accordance with the specific budget and schedule of its readers. It helps readers choose the green advice that fits their schedule, their budget, and interests, with the understanding that there’s more than one way to make a difference.

Ultimately, the expansive research and applicability of this work will improve your ability to live a more sustainable lifestyle, no matter your schedule. Making an individual difference is all about your choices to live a more eco-friendly life.

If youā€™ve been looking to make practical, greener substitutions to your routines, this guide is a great place to start living sustainably and doing your part to make the world a better place.

7. Self-Sufficiency for the 21st Century: The Complete Guide to Sustainable Living Today

Any reader can find their way to a more sustainable lifestyle with Dick Strawbridge and his son, James in Self-Sufficiency for the 21st Century. This book empowers readers to take steps to reduce their carbon footprint and be more self-sufficient.

The book references green living choices such as cutting back on plastic or food waste, growing vegetables, preserving meat and fish, preparing jams and chutneys, or keeping a chicken or two.

This book is particularly unique because its authors know what itā€™s like to make more sustainable lifestyle changes: they’ve lived on a smallholding, in a terraced house, and even in a chateau.

Now, theyā€™re sharing everything they’ve learned and providing the tools you need for a more rewarding and environmentally conscious life. Check out one of the best books on green living for a realistic, experience-backed take on sustainable lifestyles.

8. Year-Round Solar Greenhouse: How to Design and Build a Net-Zero Energy Greenhouse

The Year-Round Solar Greenhouse is one of the best books on green living to help readers design and build a solar-powered greenhouse that promotes carbon-free sustainable living.

Authors Lindsey Schiller and Marc Plinke have laid out exactly how to build your own greenhouse that is capable of harnessing the sunā€™s energy and storing it. You can grow lush green plants, vegetables, and fruits even in the winter season.

The main premise of this book is to teach anyone how to build a unique greenhouse that utilizes the sunā€™s natural energy and manages all its operations without using the grid. There are numerous sustainable advantages of greenhouses and vertical indoor farming.

An in-depth section of the book covers sustainable ways of heating the greenhouse without fossil fuels. If youā€™re looking to grow your own crops sustainably, look to this complete guide on one green way to do so.

9. Easy Green Living: The Ultimate Guide to Simple, Eco-Friendly Choices for You and Your Home

In her book Easy Green Living, RenƩe Loux demonstrates that being green at home is easy, affordable, and better for our health, families, and the planet! This is one the best books on green living by creating an eco-friendly home.

Loux illuminates expansive topics like global warming, climate change, and renewable energy while also talking about smaller, everyday choices and how to deal with them.

This book is filled with examples of people’s daily choices that can keep their homes, personal care, and beauty routines free of toxins.

Loux includes compelling and inspiring facts, “5 Step” lists, products and recipes for green cleaning, helpful charts, safer choices for every room, and inspirational advice so that anyone can make more sustainable actions in their own life and home.

10. Going Off the Grid: The How-To-Book of Simple Living and Happiness

Are you interested in living off the grid, but donā€™t know where to start? Going Off the Grid by Gary Collins is a great book to learn more.

Collins provides step-by-step instructions that you can follow to live your sustainable living dream in the wild, off the grid. The book helps you identify the primary factors associated with off-the-grid living, including identifying and removing unnecessary stressors from your everyday life.

Youā€™ll also learn the basics of off-the-grid living from home construction to energy alternatives, from sewage disposal to internet access. By following these rules and suggestions, you can easily come up with a lifestyle that promotes sustainable living.

This book will empower you to start living off the grid by building a self-sustainable home. Collins provides all the information and regulations imposed by relevant state authorities that can impact your off grid journey.

All in all, this is one of the best books on green living if you are switching to an off-grid green lifestyle.

11. Make Your Place: Affordable & Sustainable Nesting Skills

In Make Your Place author Raleigh Briggs collects zines, illustrations, and thoughts around what it is that makes a great DIY household.

He dives into creating homemade cleaning solvents that aren’t made from poison, herbs that can heal you, and even how to set up your own excellent home garden.

This book is highly recommended as a go-to reference for any homeowner or anyone simply looking to learn practical skills that apply to their everyday life.

Written in a conversational and witty tone, Briggs inspires readers to better their lives with his simple tutorials.

12. The Green Book: The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time

Did you know that turning off the faucet when you brush your teeth could conserve up to five gallons of water per day?

In one of the best books on green living, The Green Book, youā€™ll learn more about surprising actions that can actually make a huge difference in conserving the Earthā€™s water, energy, and valuable resources.

This New York Times Bestselling book provides a wide range of solutions related to almost every aspect of our lives. The authors Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas Kostigen highlight the small changes that create a big impact on our struggle to save the planet, and why with research-backed explanations.

The book is a quick read at around 200 pages, but is jam-packed with hundreds of practical tips and ideas to conserve energy and resources at home, work, and school every day.

13. Building Green, New Edition: A Complete How-To Guide to Alternative Building Methods Earth Plaster

This best-selling book and its latest updated version is a great option for those who love the idea of sustainable living. This is a completely revised version with more interesting stuff to read.

Building Green: Alternative Building Methods doesnā€™t just dive into green house-building techniques: it actually shows readers with more than 1,200 step-by-step photographs that follow the actual erection of an alternative building from site selection to final-touch interior details.

In addition to the clear step-by-step guides, this book also throws light on the fundamentals of green building and construction. It helps anyone follow alternative approaches when it comes to style and design, allowing you to build a greener home.

One such example is using cob to build a pizza or bread oven and create inexpensive walls around your garden. This useful reference guide will help anyone learn more about green building styles.

14. The Forest Garden Greenhouse: How to Design and Manage an Indoor Permaculture Oasis

The Forest Garden Greenhouse is a groundbreaking book by Jerome Osentowski, one of North Americaā€™s most accomplished permaculture designers.

This book shows plant and flower enthusiasts alike how to bring the forest garden indoors is not only possible, but doable on unlikely terrain and in cold climates, using near-net-zero technology.

Unlike other greenhouse design and management books, Osentowski advocates for indoor agriculture using permaculture design concepts. These are focused on integration, multi-functions, perennials, and polycultures.

This belongs to the list of the best books on green living. Osentowski demonstrates how it is possible to create a natural forest in your backyard without using energy from the grid.

15. The Rough Guide to Green Living

The Rough Guide to Green Living is a fact-filled book that offers insight into living an eco-friendly, low-carbon life. Author Duncan Clark includes hundreds of green tips that specifically address consumer topics like recycling, green shopping, and renewable energy sources.

Duncan thoroughly explains how we can lower the level of carbon footprint by making small lifestyle changes. This guide explains a wide range of simple and easy-to-adopt green choices. The most notable changes include green travel habits, kitchen gardening, and ethical shopping.

The book itself is interesting, surprising, and highly readable. It helps the readers to set their environmental priorities and identify the facts.

In short, this book is the ultimate guide to understanding everything about green living. If you want to make a difference in your daily life, this book is an excellent pick.

16. 40 Projects for Building Your Backyard Homestead: A Hands-on, Step-by-Step Sustainable-Living Guide

40 Projects for Building Your Backyard Homestead is one of the best books on green living for those that want to be completely self-sufficient. Author David Toht is a former contractor with decades of hands-on experience, infusing his knowledge into this informative guide.

The book includes 40 sustainable projects that readers can learn how to build, from garden structures to fences, chicken coops, and many more.

Inside the book, you’ll find every project broken down into step-by-step directions with sequenced photographs for easy reference. Each project has a handy list of tools and materials at the beginning, as well as an overview of the design you’re about to build.

The projects in this book are designed with simplicity, convenience, and budget in mind, while also meeting the needs of those who wish to live more sustainably.

17. Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less Are the Keys to Sustainability

David Owenā€™s Green Metropolis is a fascinating book that will challenge the way that you view cities. This book demonstrates how residents of urban centers individually consume less oil, electricity, and water than other Americans.

How? They live in smaller spaces, discard less trash, and, most important of all, spend far less time in automobiles.

Written in an easy-to-understand format and backed by research, this book makes a strong case for green urban living in surprising ways.

This book explains how other settled locations can become more like urban centers and come closer to meeting the environmental goals that our planet desperately needs. If youā€™re looking to learn more about how sustainability factors into different living situations, this book is an informative choice.

18. Sustainable Home: Practical Projects, Tips and Advice for Maintaining a More Eco-Friendly Household

Sustainable Home is an inspirational and practical guidebook to maintaining a more environmentally-friendly household. Written by sustainable lifestyle blogger and professional Christine Liu, readers are taken on a tour of the rooms of their home.

On this tour, Liu offers tips, tricks and 18 step-by-step projects designed to help you lead a greener lifestyle.

From guidance on living minimally to advice about plant-based foods to tips on repairing old clothes, this book touches every aspect of home life. Liu even includes a recipe for making your own toothpaste.

If youā€™re looking to make small changes in your home and daily life, this book can give you a great place to start, and continue on your green living journey throughout the years.

19. Living Off the Grid: What to Expect While Living the Life of Ultimate Freedom and Tranquility

Living Off The Grid is your first step towards a simplified off-grid existence. One of the most comprehensive, informative, and best books on green living, it clearly shows how this unique off grid lifestyle would look in practice.

Off-grid lifestyle expert Gary Collins uses a conversational tone in this book, making it easy-to-understand complex topics and activities that you may not be familiar with. He dives into theoretical situations as well as practical instructions that will help you save time and resources.

The book is filled with wisdom about the off grid lifestyle: strategies for running a business while remaining mostly unplugged, and ways to remain socially and professionally connected in your new lifestyle.

When you are living off the grid, your energy source is completely behind the meter, and you are participating in one of the most sustainable forms of living. You wonā€™t need to rely on power prices and utilities to consume your natural resources.

20. Itā€™s Easy Being Green: A Handbook for Earth-Friendly Living

The climate crisis has illuminated the fact that although everyone is aware of the damage being done to our beloved planet, most are not doing much to save it. In Itā€™s Easy Being Green, Crissy Trask dives into just why so many people find it so difficult to make sustainable changes.

This book can also serve as a practical day-to-day guide that offers easy suggestions to start living more sustainably in many aspects of your life.

For instance, Trask suggests initiatives such as installing rain barrels and gutters to collect rainwater, and then reuse it to water your plants. The book even delves into how to make effective household cleaners instead of relying on commercial products.

Trask includes comprehensive advice for adopting greener buying habits and identifying earth-friendly products, shopping for green products online, and even participating in online activism. For those with busy schedules, this book offers several ways to make greener habits.

In conclusion: these are the best books on green living

All of these books on green living are written by knowledgeable authors who are committed to spreading awareness about global warming, sustainable lifestyle choices, and guiding people on how to do their part no matter the daily routine.

These authors are highly influential experts in their fields who have the authority and knowledge to discuss the key issues related to climate change and living green.

By going through any of these books, you can extend your knowledge and inspiration about green living. The suggestions and tips will help make certain changes in our lifestyle which, over time, may prove to make a big difference against global warming and climate change.

If you are an advocate of environmentally-friendly living or want to learn more about how you can do your part in saving the earth, any number of these green living books can help you on your journey.

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